Leaving Cert week three: How to stay motivated for the final hurdle

It’s always an intense start, but ’s Leaving Certificate cohort will have the bulk of their exams completed with just a final couple remaining. They may, at this stage, be feeling fed up and done with the exam process, but as the saying goes, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” and this final lap is just as important as those early exam days. Staying motivated as the exams progress is “probably the hardest part of the Leaving Cert because the initial adrenaline and the novelty of it has worn off ”, says psychologist Malie Coyne. “It’s very normal to feel like you’re so done with this” she adds, explaining that just like a marathon, you don’t suddenly find a whole new energy reserve. “You pace yourself. You put one foot in front of the other and focus only on the next thing, on the next exam … Don’t think, ‘I have another week of this’. Think, ‘what do I need to do today,’ you know, to prepare myself for tomorrow. And if you don’t even have the motivation, just start packing your bag at the very least.” It’s difficult for students to study when they’re feeling tired or burned out, but “more hours don’t necessarily equal better results”. She suggests students focus on the “active recall” study method instead, a method discussed O’Mahoney on a State exams episode of the Conversation with Parents podcast. “A tired brain doesn’t absorb information well, so short, focused bursts of study of active recall can be much more effective than sitting at a desk for eight hours feeling guilty”. It’s important that students continue with the basics of “sleep, movement, fresh air, proper meals, little moments of pleasure”, Coyne says. “They are part of maintaining your emotional battery. They are absolutely essential.” Where previous exams have gone badly, students can be left feeling distracted and unmotivated. “It can come up like a mental trap,” she says. “You replay the questions. You compare answers with friends. It gives the illusion that you’re doing something useful, but it actually robs you of energy for the exams that still count. “We all compare ourselves to others. And because we have this negativity bias as well, we’re going to kind of compare ourselves negatively to others. “You don’t know your result yet and students are often poor judges of how they’ve done.