Whilst for many, the Christmas break will be a time of relaxation, enjoyment and a break from the stresses and strains of student life, some amongst us will be spending the festive break preparing for exams upon returning to University in early 2015. If you’ve got precious little time for recharging your batteries due to upcoming exams, here are our top studying tips for creating a revision space, whether you’re at your family home, or back in Leeds. Get a neat space It’s hardly surprising that untidiness can lead to increased stress, and with concentration being an absolute must during your revision period, a disorganized study area will not help you to boost productivity levels. Before you get your head into books and study materials, take some time to get rid of unnecessary clutter and tidy up the items you have lying around. A tidy space will help you achieve a clearer mind, meaning you’ll be able to order your thoughts if your surroundings are neat and orderly as well. Find a quiet haven Whether you’re at your student house or your family home, it will be almost impossible to maintain the required levels of concentration if you’re surrounded by loud noise. Your housemates shouting at the PlayStation or your sister shouting in the next room hardly makes for an environment conducive to revision, and you’ll be unlikely to remain focused through it. If you’re struggling to maintain concentration, lock yourself away with the door shut and completely isolate yourself from exterior noise. If rowdiness happens to still be carrying through walls or doors, plug your ears with headphones; you don’t need to listen to music, but they should help keep the sounds of your home at bay. Also, it’s worth letting your family or friends know whenever you’re studying so that they can at least attempt to keep the noise down. Add some background noise This might slightly contradict our above point, but many people find concentration easier to come by with a bit of ambient background noise. If this is the case, it makes sense to stick a bit of light music on to keep you going. It might not be a help to everyone, and the song choices may need to be carefully selected, but if nothing else, it might help to drown out house noise and stave off your boredom. Turn your phone off Nothing is a concentration killer more than your mobile. With texts, group WhatsApp messages, Facebook alerts and Snapchat photos popping up as notifications every few minutes, there’s no way you’ll maintain focus on your work. Pre-emptively strike against this distraction by simply turning off your mobile. To do Once you’ve got a plan in place to maintain your concentration, it’s worth planning out your time and schedule with a to-do-list. Make sure you’re putting your time to good use, and ensure that nothing you need to revise slips under the radar. It might seem a bit overly-orderly, however staying organised is one key to getting all your work done.