What to do if you have only one month before olympiad?

Accept That You Can’t Learn Everything in the Final Month

When there is less than a month left before the Olympiad, you need to accept one simple truth: you won’t learn every topic you missed — and that’s completely fine.

At this stage, trying to “catch up on all the theory” or forcing yourself to study brand-new chapters will only lead to stress and lower focus. The final month is not the time for massive learning.

The final month has one purpose: to sharpen your performance, not to expand your knowledge.

This is period when you should:

• Double down on your strengths
• Turn your existing skills into automatic reactions
• Refine the way you solve problems under real exam conditions

Simulating the Real Exam Conditions

Let’s imagine you are preparing for the IChO, and you know that the first theoretical exam lasts 5 hours. To perform well under this kind of pressure, you must train your brain to feel as if you’ve already been in that exam room. So how do you do that?

1. Print the most recent IChO problems

Start with the newest theoretical exam available — for example, IChO 2025. Always work with printed paper, not a screen. This makes the experience much closer to the real conditions.

2. Create a distraction-free environment

• Sit at a clean desk
• Turn your phone to silent mode
• Close all tabs, notifications, and distructions
• Tell your family not to disturb you for the next 5 hours

3. Set a 5-hour timer and start the exam

Your goal is simple: solve the entire IChO theoretical exam as if you were actually there.

No breaks. No checking solutions. No shortcuts. Just you and the paper.

I strongly recommend doing this on Saturdays or Sundays, or any day without school. Wake up rested, eat properly, and start the full 5-hour session with a clear mind.

4. After finishing the exam, take a break

Rest for at least 30–60 minutes. Then return to the problems with a fresh head and start analyzing your solutions. This is where the actual improvement happens.

5. Gradually reduce your time

Once you become comfortable with the full 5-hour format, start tightening your timing step by step. First, try completing the same type of exam in 4.5 hours. If this becomes manageable, reduce it again — to 4 hours, and even lower if you feel completely confident

Why? Because training at a faster pace makes the real 5-hour exam feel easier, calmer, and more controlled. This approach builds speed, confidence, and one of the most important skills in olympiads: efficient time management.

6. Don’t do this every day

Full 5-hour simulations are mentally exhausting. Doing them daily will burn you out and destroy your focus. Thrice a week — is ideal for this type of training.

The Final Week: Rest, Reset, and Build Mental Hunger

When there is less than a week left before the Olympiad, you should stop running full exam simulations. At this point, they no longer help — they only drain your energy and create unnecessary stress. Instead, switch to solving a few problems casually, in a relaxed way, whenever you feel like it. No strict timings, no pressure.

Three days before the Olympiad: do nothing.

Seriously — don’t solve problems, don’t review theory, don’t watch explanations. For these three days, allow your brain to fully rest. This “pause” builds a natural psychological hunger: by the time you sit down in the exam hall, you’ll actually want to solve problems again.

And that feeling changes everything — your mind becomes hungry

Avoid all digital noise

During the final week, stay away from TikTok, Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, and any other fast-dopamine distractions. They overload your attention, weaken your focus, and make it harder to stay calm on exam day.

Instead, spend your time peacefully: read something pleasant, go for walks, talk with family or friends, sleep well, and let your mind reset. Your only goal in the final week is to arrive at the Olympiad rested, calm, and mentally hungry.

Because once the exam begins, that hunger turns into energy — and energy turns into performance.