With NCEA exams set to get underway, clinical psychologist Dougal Sutherland joined Breakfast to share his top tips on creating the best study environment.
His first tip, for parents, was to “give your teen some space and some time off”.
“If they have to do some chores or look after the younger kids, give them some space from that so they can actually have some space to study.”
His next tip was to “map out” when the exams are scheduled, and study accordingly, giving priority to those which are set for closer dates.
But when it comes to actually studying, Sutherland said “just do little bits” at a time.
“There’s this thing called the Pomodoro Technique when you’re studying and you can do 25 minutes and then have 10 minutes off and then 25 minutes of study and 10 minutes off.”
He said this gives “concentrated” bursts of study without “depleting your energy”.
The next tip was to “get rid of many distractions” as possible, such as phones or other things which could be attention grabbing.
“You want to be focused. The more [things] you have competing for your attention the less focused you’re going to be, and the less attention capacity you’re going to have to focus on your work and study.”
When it comes to music, Sutherland said some people will find music relaxing and others will find it distracting.
However, he added to not “fool yourself” and let music become a distraction.
If people did want to listen to something, he recommended white noise, which “does really help focus”.
