Well not to worry you guys who have a Stage 2&3 day to come, but i'm sat here thinking 'thank f***' I managed to get through it all before this change has been made! I'm sure it'll give you an even greater sense of satisfaction if you manage to get through though.
Regarding the question of preparing for S4, as other have said there isn't any preparation as such. However, for me S3 was always going to be the biggest hurdle and I was on an incredible high after passing that. I chose to leave it 2/3 weeks until my S4 (although that was partly due to having to give notice to work for annual leave) just so I could calm down a little and get my head together ready for S4.
I was conscious of getting through S3, being high on adrenaline and then underperforming at S4. OK it may not have happened that way in the end and maybe I would've still managed to get through S4 anyway, but looking back now knowing I'm off to NZ in June, I can only look back at the decision to delay my S4 as the correct decision.