Tip #2: Teach Your Stuffed Animal (or Plant)

It may feel silly, but explaining complex topics out loud to an inanimate object—whether it’s a teddy bear, your desk plant, or even your mirror—forces your brain to simplify and clarify information. If you can teach it, you know it. Bonus: your cactus won’t judge you for stumbling over a definition.

Tip #3: Change Your Scenery—Radically

Forget the library. Try studying in a stairwell, under a tree, or even while walking around your room. The brain loves novelty, and changing environments creates stronger memory associations. So the answer to that tricky biology question might pop up simply because you remember where you were sitting when you reviewed it.

Tip #4: Chew a Weird Flavour of Gum

Pick an unusual gum flavour (like cinnamon, mango, or lavender). Chew it while studying, and then chew the same flavour during the exam. This little sensory trick is called context-dependent memory, and it can cue your brain to recall what you learned. Just be careful not to annoy the exam proctor with too much chomping.

Tip #5: Use the “Feynman Nap”

Take a 20-minute power nap with a pen or coin in your hand. When you drift off deeply enough, you’ll drop it and wake up. This technique, inspired by inventor Thomas Edison, is said to unlock creative insights while giving you just enough rest to stay alert.

Tip #6: Make Bizarre Mnemonics

We’ve all used acronyms, but the stranger the image, the stickier it becomes. Need to remember the stages of mitosis? Imagine a penguin wearing a tuxedo breakdancing through each phase. The weirder and more exaggerated the mental picture, the more your brain loves it.

Tip #7: Reverse Your Notes

Before bed, review your notes backwards—literally from the last line to the first. This forces you to think differently about the material, breaks the monotony of normal studying, and gives your brain a new perspective.

Tip #8: Record Yourself in a Silly Voice

Read your notes into your phone using a dramatic accent (Shakespearean actor, robot, cowboy—you pick). Listening later makes the information more engaging, and the humour makes it memorable. You’ll never forget that math formula once you’ve heard it in pirate-speak.

Tip #9: The Cold Shower Reset

If your brain is fried, jump into a 30-second cold shower. The shock snaps you into alertness, increases blood circulation, and resets your focus. It’s like hitting the refresh button on your brain—though definitely not for the faint of heart.

Tip #10: Phone you Folks

Call home and chat with your mom, dad or a sibling. It will ground you and give you perspective on where you’ve come from and why you are doing what you are doing. It will also remind you of what sacrifices were made for you to be there – which, in turn, will motivate you to never give up.

Final Thoughts

These unusual tricks aren’t meant to replace solid study habits, but they can add variety, spark creativity, and help push you through those final hours before the exam. Sometimes, being a little weird is exactly what your brain needs to perform at its best. The Campus Luxury Student Accommodation was designed with a variety of facilities that will encourage you to perform at peak during the final exams. Sporting facilities, like the free gym or basketball court and indoor soccer field will allow you to get some exercise during your study breaks. The games rooms, communal lounges and rooftop pool deck is the perfect social catalyst to check in with friends and commiserate/celebrate your study progress. But through it all one thing is certain; you are in a community of like-minded individuals, all of whom is going through the exact same stress from final exam time. So go on, look at your books through a different perspective and see if it helps…