Prepare to scream #relatable.

Week One: A Rollercoaster of Emotions

The first week of receiving your syllabus is a balanced mixture of panic and denial. There's absolutely NO way you have to start preparing already, don't you remember relishing the joys of the end of another exam season just a week ago? And then comes the panic, because by now you know the dreaded pattern that keeps repeating every single year, yes, the one that ends up with you cramming last minute. This time you're prepared to avoid that at all costs. But oh wait, isn't that what you tell yourself a month before every exam?

Week Two: Smart Prep

Ok, so the last week was spent coming to terms with how you felt, but it's about time you take some actual preparation. By now you're invincible. You're armed with a study schedule, enough entertainment that's enjoyable yet not too addictive for proper relaxation between study sessions, and all necessary stationary including a whole bunch of overpriced notebooks because hello? Investments. A cleared out study space made it into your priority list too, but it's only at the end of the week when you realize all of this extensive preparation did cost a lot of time. And now you have two weeks remaining to enlighten yourself with the contents of your syllabus.

Week Three: Motivated Mondays

By now all other exam preparations, except for the studying, have been completed. And it takes you a couple of days to get used to your new studious way of life. Uneventful days of laid-back revision are spent as you refuse to put any pressure on yourself because stress kills productivity, right?

Week Four: Oh cram! Last Minute

If you thought your first week of preparing was emotional, I pity you. This week starts with the realization dawning upon you of how even after years of the same pattern, you have not gotten any better at time management. This remarkable week just speeds by with you cramming in all the information you can, drowning in all the work you've let pile up, all the while wallowing in self-hatred for letting this happen to you yet again. By now you don't need any more of those ever familiar reminders of how 'exams are knocking at the door' by your beloved teachers. You don't know if you should be pitied or punished, knowing full well you're the one who's brought this upon yourself.

Now that you're acquainted with a dramatized version of how the next four weeks before exam season will be spent, I must say it's worth trying to avoid procrastination and prioritize actually trying rather than just 'preparing'.