Clock is ticking and countdown for board exams has begun. Students who are appearing this year must be feeling stressed. Stress due to family pressure, time management or not being confident enough for the preparation done. Though the stress is inevitable, but there are ways to deal with it. It is important to know that how one can eliminate the stress and focus on their end goal.
To start with, it is important to distinguish that study table is for studying and bed is for sleeping. Make sure that study table is clean and have only the study material sans all the distractions, like the phone, magazines etc. Avoid taking nap at the study table and use the bed for relaxing after every 45 minutes. Remember, ‘No Distractions’ is the mantra that will help in dealing with the exam stress.
Lack of concentration while studying is one more problem that create lots of stress. To deal with it, students should try doing concentration exercises. These exercises are interesting and will surely prove to be of great help. Here is an example. Focus on one musical instrument while listening to a song, or start highlighting one single word while reading a para; for example, start marking all the ‘“A’s” in the paragraph or all the “B’s”.
Doing proper revision time-to-time help in building lots of confidence. In order to make revision easy, students should make mnemonics and flowcharts and highlight the important topics, while studying a chapter. By doing this they will avoid the pain of reading the chapter/topic again and again; rather one will just have to go through the highlighted portions. This will directly contribute in being able to retain enough knowledge to remain confident throughout.
Many students have a fear that they will forget what they have read once they reach the examination hall. To overcome this fear, we suggest that students should do self-assessment by creating examination hall like environment. Take a print-out of the question papers, set the time and start writing the exam, do not forget to score yourself.
Some of the common mistakes every student commit right before the exam are, reading just before the exam, discussing with friends and classmates about their preparation, getting nervous when the fellow students asks for extra sheets and worst of all discussing the question paper once the exam is done. We strongly advise students not to do any of the things mentioned above.
Once the students have the question paper in their hand, they should start reading one question at a time. Start answering them one by one, if student doesn’t know the answer to any question then instead of wasting time on thinking over it, they should move on to the next one. Students should not look at the clock and shouldn’t think of finishing the paper first because they are not participating in the race.
After the exam is over, students should go back home, relax and then start preparing for another subject. In case the stress is taking a toll and students are unable to cope up with them, then instead of keeping it inside, they should go and discuss it with their family and friends.
