The complete list of all life-guiding messages for young people – click the titles for further information
In multiple-choice exams, it’s useful to read each question carefully, predict the right answer, read all the options before you pick one, eliminate obviously wrong options, and skip questions you can’t answer and come back to them later.
In multiple-choice exams, you have to recall lots of information quickly, because you can only spend a short period of time on each question. When revising, focus on factual information, like definitions and multi-step processes.
Mindfulness lets us stand back from our thoughts and start to see their patterns. We can train ourselves to notice when our thoughts are taking over and realise that thoughts are simply ‘mental events’ that do not have to control us.
Mindfulness allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience, and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful.
When you over-generalise, you exaggerate the frequency of negative things in your life, like mistakes, disapproval and failures. You might think to yourself: I always make mistakes, or everyone thinks I’m stupid. Instead, be specific: What are the facts? What are my interpretations?
When things go wrong, you might have a tendency to exaggerate the consequences and imagine that the results will be disastrous. What’s the worst/best/most likely that can happen? Will this matter in five years? Is there anything good about the situation, or a way to fix it?
You shouldn’t handle food for others if you are ill with stomach problems, such as diarrhoea or vomiting or you have any uncovered sores or cuts, as you could spread harmful bacteria and viruses.
It’s important that you’re clean when handling food. Wash your hands with soap and warm water, particularly after going to the toilet or changing a baby’s nappy, before preparing food, after handling raw food and after touching bins or pets.
Time is likely to be scarce in an open-book exam. Make sure you know the basic answers and, if necessary, look up an exact formula, a numerical value, or supporting evidence for your answers.
In an open-book exam, the books are just memory aids so you don’t have to remember pages of information. Trust what you know from your revision; only look up key information such as quotes and formulas; if you’re allowed, place flags in key sections to save time.