Spinning the wheel before the exam

It was the night before the big test, and my notes were just a blur of highlighted text. I knew I needed to study, but my brain felt too full to pick a starting point.

The quiet panic of too many notes

I had flashcards spread out on my desk, a whole stack of them. Each one felt equally important, and that made it impossible to choose where to begin. My usual method of just going from the top wasn't working at all.I needed something to decide for me, to take the pressure off that first choice. It wasn't about avoiding the work, just about getting started without the mental block.

Letting the wheel choose the focus

I wrote down the main topics from my flashcards on a piece of paper and drew a circle. It wasn't fancy, just a way to break the paralysis. Giving up that little bit of control actually made me feel more in charge of the situation.I'd spin my pen, and wherever it landed was what I'd review for the next fifteen minutes. It turned the massive, scary pile of information into a series of small, manageable moments. I wasn't studying "everything"; I was just studying "this one thing" right now.

The rhythm it created

There was a quiet rhythm to it. Spin, review, breathe. Spin, review, breathe. It kept my hands busy and my mind from spiraling into worry about all the things I hadn't covered yet.

Finding what stuck

Some topics would come up more than others, and that was okay. It showed me which concepts needed a second look, not because I planned it, but because the random chance highlighted a gap.

A different kind of preparation

By the end, the desk was still covered in cards, but my head felt clearer. I hadn't magically learned everything, but I had engaged with the material in a calm, repeated way. The frantic energy was gone.It felt less like a last-minute cram and more like a final, gentle walk through the ideas. I put my pen down, knowing I'd done what I could with the time I had, in a way that didn't leave me exhausted.