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Balancing work, rest and play is an important skills which helps students to sustain a high level of performance over extended periods of time, such as during the exam season. Often students focus predominantly on their academic life and neglect sufficient rest or leisure activities. However, incorporating rest, relaxation, sleep and play activities can enhance our learning capacity and our resilience to stress. Students can benefit from assessing how they currently allocate their time between work, rest, and play to evaluate if their life feels balanced. Adjusting the proportions of these three components can optimise wellbeing, better equip students to manage exam pressure and ultimately boost academic achievement. Author - by Lee Parker, Occupational Therapist, Cambridge Academic Performance Copyright ©Cambridge Academic Performance Online access will be provided instantly when payment is completed. -
Taking regular breaks while studying is vital for productivity, focus and wellbeing, yet many students resist taking breaks out of a misplaced fear that breaks will reduce productivity. The truth is that taking short, planned breaks helps the brain to recalibrate and restore functional levels. This leads to improved concentration levels, protection against fatigue and higher productivity that can be sustained over longer periods. Key best practices around study breaks include experimenting to find the right work-to-break ratio for you, planning what work you will do when you return from a break and ensuring your breaks are enjoyable and take place away from your desk or study situation. You can also supercharge your breaks by testing your memory after you return from a short break. Implementing these research-backed techniques around study breaks can transform studying from hard work into a long-term approach that you use throughout your education. By taking breaks, life becomes easier and the quality of our work becomes better. Author - by Lee Parker, Occupational Therapist, Cambridge Academic Performance Copyright ©Cambridge Academic Performance Online access will be provided instantly when payment is completed. -
Getting enough high-quality sleep is essential for students to perform at their best both academically and in their lives. Sleep has been clearly linked to improved memory, concentration, cognitive functioning and overall wellbeing and good health. Therefore students cannot afford to cut back on their sleep even if they want to use the time at night to study. Prioritising consistent, high quality sleep is a high-performance strategy for improving grades. This training helps students to buy into the idea of sleep as a performance enhancer and provides activities and tips to help optimise sleep habits. Author - by Lee Parker, Occupational Therapist, Cambridge Academic Performance Copyright ©Cambridge Academic Performance Online access will be provided instantly when payment is completed. -
Marginal gains theory is a powerful approach to achieving goals and self-improvement. Originally developed in elite sports training, the idea is to make small, incremental changes in multiple areas that compound over time to drive transformational results. As outlined in the workbook, this concept of seeking continuous 1% improvements across everything from sleep habits to study techniques can unleash great momentum. By detailing the roots of why marginal gains is so effective this workbook makes a compelling case that we should all be looking for marginal gains in our lives. Through real-world examples and activities that students can use, it provides a framework for applying marginal gains thinking to see gradual yet exponential benefits. Whether trying to optimise health and wellbeing or boost academic and career success, the marginal gains mindset offers practical inspiration. Author - by Lee Parker, Occupational Therapist, Cambridge Academic Performance Copyright ©Cambridge Academic Performance Online access will be provided instantly when payment is completed. -
Knowing how to manage your anxiety and cope with panic are key skills for any student to help them navigate the challenges of academic life and succeed in their exams. In this workbook the physiological effects of anxiety are explained clearly and simply in terms of adrenalin and how it triggers our fight, flight and freeze response. The guide outlines a five-step process to help you to understand, acknowledge and ultimately control your anxiety. The five steps include:- Understand the role of adrenalin
- Recognise that while alarming, the bodily reactions are not dangerous
- Actively calm the body to calm the mind
- Practice management techniques
- Utilise relaxation strategies such as controlled breathing and visualisation
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This training explores the positive and negative impact that stress can have on the academic lives of students. It uses the Yerkes-Dodson graph to explore the relationship between stress and performance and how too little or too much stress can negatively impact performance whilst a moderate level of stress can enhance it. The training includes activities to help students pinpoint where their current stress levels fall within the Yerkes-Dodson graph and identifies strategies to help them manage stress to optimise performance. It also provides additional reading and video resources related to stress, learning, memory and productivity for both students and staff. Overall, the training aims to help students better understand the role of stress in order to use it to their advantage and enhance their academic achievement. Author - by Lee Parker, Occupational Therapist, Cambridge Academic Performance Copyright ©Cambridge Academic Performance Online access will be provided instantly when payment is completed.
