Beat Exam-time Stress with Exam-time Strategy

Exams worries all of us, don’t they? Yes, all of us! They even make some of us quite queasy – at least, I know the feeling, the churnings in the stomach. If you haven’t gone through the feeling, I would assume you to be among the rare few percentages who exist in legends. In my experience, everybody gets affected, in one or many ways, by the thoughts of the examination.

You have felt the same at one time or another, haven’t you? You all are familiar with exam time fear, going blank just before the exam, the feeling of nervousness, and all sorts of negative thoughts erupting in the mind.

You also know that we cope differently with this exam-time stress; some of us get motivated to perform well and some of us are overwhelmed by the feeling. We all somehow get past these anxious moments and continue our journey.

Do you know that this exam-time stress if taken in the right way may become an indicator for healthy performance? The stress is bad only when it can’t be managed. The key is how to manage this stress. What’s the strategy?

Moreover, the year 2020-21 has been tough for the students as the physical schools got closed for the whole of the academic session. The transition to online learning wasn’t smooth and experiences varied from student to student.

Once comfortable in the online learning environment, students expected exams in the same mode. But, much to students’ discomfort, the final exams have been announced to be held offline. This unexpected online-offline switch has added extra stress this year.

For classes IX and XI, the final exams are to begin in March in the offline mode. The Board examinations for class X and XII, along with various entrance examinations for UG admissions, are set to happen in May.

The students must not stress out at this crucial juncture. The short time at disposal must be meticulously planned and optimally utilized. Actually, this is the testing time and your resilience and strategy will be the key to success in the examination. Let me quickly guide you on how you may keep stress at bay and prepare yourself for the exams.

Keep the Syllabus Handy

In this academic session, several topics and chapters have been removed to reduce the burden. You must keep this revised syllabus handy for this year’s exam. During exam time, adhering to the syllabus is a very effective strategy.

The syllabus guides and defines the boundaries of the subject. It helps you stay focused and save time. If possible, keep a printed copy of the syllabus with you. Always refer to the syllabus and use it to categorize the content into easy, average, and difficult topics. You can begin with easy and go on to the difficult ones.

You must never stray away from the content in the syllabus. Don’t read what you don’t need!

Get Familiar with the Exam Pattern

Get to know the exam pattern. The CBSE exam pattern for all subjects has changed this year.

The objective component has increased with the inclusion of MCQs, assertion-reasoning type questions, and case-study-based questions.

Getting familiar with the exam pattern will help you prepare for answering those types of questions. You can also assess your options and prepare your strategy for attempting the paper. For example, attempting the descriptive part first and the objective later may lead to the loss of fewer marks if the time is short or the paper is lengthy.

Go for Selective Study

As you are short of time, a selective study strategy may prove to be useful. Don’t fret or panic thinking about the volume of the syllabus and the level of your preparation.

Although year-round studies have no match, you may decently score in the exam by the method of strategic-selective studies. For selective studies, you need to analyze the previous year’s question papers to find out the topics from which questions are regularly asked every year.

By looking at the past 5-10 years’ question papers, you will gain a fair idea of the most important and least important topics. Your teachers may also provide a list of important questions.

Use more flow charts, mind maps, mnemonics, acronyms, flashcards, etc. for making your study effective.

Calculate & Organize Time

Time is the most important asset during examinations. Calculating the time available to you and planning a study or revision schedule will help in utilizing every second.

Remember to align your revision with whatever time you have. Say you have 5 days preparatory leave for one paper and only 2 days for another paper. The pre-examination plan should be to spend a few more days with the subjects with less preparatory leaves (say paper with only 2 days leave).

Boost Your Concentration

Increased alertness and high concentration level assist the exam time preparation.

You may follow some easy ways to stay focused and alert like designating a clutter-free study space, resources like notes and books organized at a single place, taking small breaks every 40 minutes or so, listening to music, or going for a brisk walk during these breaks, etc. Doing meditation or physical exercise for 30 minutes a day may improve your energy levels and motivation to study.

Eat Healthy, Sleep Plenty

Missing exams or not able to perform your best because of poor health is something nobody wants. Still, it’s common to find many students in this situation. To avoid this to happen to you, take care of yourself during the exams.

Avoid eating junk or unhygienic food that can make you sick. Eat such food that is good for the brain and enhances immunity like citrus fruits, nuts, green and colored vegetables, eggs, fish, etc. Instead of overeating in a single meal, eat small doses in regular intervals to keep you going.

Dark chocolates and cocoa drinks can stimulate the brain and increase your alertness. Keep yourself well hydrated by drinking water and lots of fluids. Many research studies have shown that 7-8 hours of sleep helps increase brain activity and retain important information. So, don’t compromise with your sleep as it is a great brain booster.

Relieve Stress

It’s common for the stress to set in during the exams. Don’t get overwhelmed with the stress. A little stress, i.e., eustress is good for performing in the exams. What was I saying about the stress managed well?

Watch out if the stress level increases and try relieving it out through various stress busters. Talking the stress out with your family and friends, or indulging in something you like, for instance, dancing, painting, writing, and watching TV may help a lot when you feel overstressed. Stress is good until it keeps you motivated to do well.

Keep a Positive Attitude

We become what we think! Our thoughts govern our actions, our actions determine our future. Does that ring a bell? If we think positively, we will carve a way for positivity in our life by taking rational decisions and looking forward no matter what comes. Such an attitude builds your confidence and increases motivation. Think good before you do good! It’s necessary.

Set Realistic Expectations

You’re the best assessor of your abilities or, to say, inabilities. If you know what you can or can’t do, setting achievable goals would be easy. I know the sky is the limit for what you can do, but you need to know how fast you can fly or if you have time enough to touch the sky.

The expectations you set for yourself should be realistic. If you started studying a month before exams and expect a perfect score, then your expectations are highly unrealistic.

Assess your potential and level of preparation before you set your expectations because unrealistic expectations will always disappoint you.

Treat Exams as Opportunity

Change your angle of looking at exams. Exams are not always determinant of your capabilities, and no result is final. Exams provide an opportunity to assess your level of knowledge about a subject. This helps you improve further by working on your weak areas. Perfection is trying to get better each time we fail.

These are very simple and useful ways which will help you score better in exams. Try them and reach out to me to share your experiences or queries related to examinations. I would be happy to help! Wishing you all the best for your exams!