Exams!!
A word that scares every person who is about to attempt an exam whether it is a school exam, college exam, entrance or competitive exam, bank PO or bank clerical, or a government job exam like SSC, IAS or PCS, GMAT, NET, or any other exam.
Before giving exams several questions revolves in your mind like:
- Whether you will be able to clear the exam?
- Whether you will get good marks in the exams?
- What will happen if you fail the exams?
- How will your family and friends react if you fail the exams
- Are you going through immense stress due to exams?
In this article, we will give you 10 tips that will not only help you to deal with the stress of the exam but also enable you to get good marks in your exams. So, here are the tips:
Tip 1 – Start early
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
- Benjamin Franklin
If you are not preparing for something, you will definitely fail in it.
- Start your preparation of exams today.
- Do not keep it for the last few days or last night before the exam because if you do so, you do not have enough time to grasp your entire syllabus in one go.
- So, do not take such risks, always start studying a few weeks before exams instead of a few days before exams.
Tip 2 – Make a plan
Planning is important to achieve a goal in your life.
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
If you want to achieve something in your life and you are not planning how you will achieve it, then you will miss your goal.
As a student, your goal is to get good marks in the examination, so, you need to make a plan for it.
Following are some of the tips that you can use to make your plan:
- Make a study plan or schedule for all the subjects in a manner that you can complete all the subjects before exams and you just need to revise during exams.
- Do not leave the toughest subject for last because in the last moments you will neither be able to understand the topics nor be able to memorize them.
- Write down your study schedule on a piece of paper and paste it on the wall of your room to remember it always.
- Every day, before going to bed, review your study schedule to check whether you are on schedule or lagging behind. If you are lagging behind, then try to cover the gap as soon as possible.
Tip 3 – Rest is the key
In your study schedule, you should include breaks and time for rest. This is because your mind gets tired after a particular time.
So, if you take short breaks and give rest to your mind, it will help your mind to get back his energy and revive and you will be able to memorize and understand the topics easily and quickly.
However, make sure that your breaks are short. Do not make them long; otherwise, your study schedule will hamper.
Tip 4 – Eat and drink well
Sometimes students skip their meals during exams due to stress.
They often say, “I am not feeling hungry.”
You should remember that your body needs the energy to work whether it is physical work or mental work. While studying, you are doing a mental work.
The body gets energy from food and water. If you are not giving enough fuel to your body, it will not work properly.
If you skip meals, then:
- Your body will not work properly as you are not giving enough fuel to your body.
- You will not able to learn or memorize anything
- You may also fall sick.
If you get sick, how you will give the exams?
Remember:
Eat nutritious and healthy food instead of junk food during exams because healthy food contains certain nutritional elements that will make your brain strong and increases your memory as well.
Tip 5 – Organize your study place
Every student needs a different environment to study.
Some students require pin-drop silence to study while some students can study in a noisy room as well.
Identify your comfortable place to study.
Once you have identified the place, clear all the distractions like music, television, laptop, mobile phones, etc. from this place. This will help you to focus on your studies only.
Tip 6 - Make notes, learn concepts and reward yourself
Making notes is a good habit. It helps you to know the important points discussed in a chapter without reading the complete chapter.
If you have not done it before, then do it now.
Steps to learn anything you want:
- Read the chapters/concepts one by one and underline all the important concepts and learn them.
- After learning the chapter/concepts, close your book and write all the important concepts you have learned in your textbook.
- Cross-check with the book to know how many of your concepts are correct?
- If all are correct move to the next chapter/concept, if some of them are wrong, then learn them again, and write them up till you get them correct.
You can also attach some rewards with your accomplishments.
For example, on completing one chapter/concept, you can reward yourself with a piece of chocolate or any other food item of your choice.
You can also give five minutes of free time to yourself as a reward.
These kinds of rewards will help you keep motivated.
Tip 7 - Quiz yourself
Collect some previous year question papers and solve them. This will help you in understanding the format and type of questions that may come in the exams.
You can also draft your own question papers based on the format of previous year question papers and the questions that most likely come in the exams.
This will not only help you to judge yourself, to understand how much you actually know but it will also help you to overcome the stress and pressure you will face in the actual examination.
It also enables you to identify the areas in which you are lacking. You can work in these areas.
Tip 8 – Use visual aids
If you can grasp more by what you are seeing than what you are reading, then you should use visual aids like flowcharts, diagrams, and mind maps to learn.
This is beneficial when the topics of a chapter are interrelated or interconnected, which often are.
You can also use visual aids during revision.
While revising, make a mind map or flowchart of all the points related to a topic.
Identify the gaps or the points you forget or not remembered in the mind map or flowchart and work to fill up this gap.
When exams are near, a one-page diagram of a complete topic is more helpful in recalling everything about the topic.
Tip 9 – Use modern technologies
Nowadays, you can use the Internet to study a topic in detail.
You can also get videos and mobile apps where the complete concepts are explained in the easiest form with the help of various examples.
Tip 10 – A night before the exam
One night before the exam, pack everything that you will require in the exam. This will avoid the last-minute rush for you.
Go to bed early or on time so that you are not late for the exam.
On the day of the exam, do not cram till the last minute. Close your books and relax before 15 minutes of the exam.
While giving the exam, read the questions carefully and first answer the questions which you know. This will provide you time to think about the questions you are not very much sure about.
If you adopt the above 10 tips, you will definitely get a good score in your exams.
Always remember, you have to start; if you want to finish.
So, start studying from today, from this moment.
Best of Luck!
