TimeManagement tips for
Boards and Competitive exams
As the popular saying goes, “Time and tide wait for
none”. Yet, both can be tapped efficiently with the
right technique. While tide can be harnessed to
generate electrical energy, effective utilisation of
time inevitably generates positive results in all
walks of life. All that such a feat demand is proper
time management along with a goal-oriented
strategy and focus to achieve the favourable
outcome.
With board and competitive examinations fast
approaching, students are becoming more
conscious about their exam preparations. With
ample time still remaining, a lot can be achieved
provided students exercise the right time
management approach. Just implement the
following tips to boost your performance in the
exam:
Time-table
Study your daily patterns for at least a week. This
includes each and every activity from dusk to
dawn. Note down all such activities and their time
consumption. At the end of the week, sum up the
total time that you devote to an individual activity
and minimise the time wastage on pursuits other
than study. One of the biggest mistakes that
students often make while devising their
time-table is that they set steep goals for
themselves to follow and make drastic changes to
their lifestyle, which they cannot cope up with.
Make the time-table more realistic by keeping
goals that you can meet and allocate adequate
time in the beginning to your other day-to-day
activities, while gradually decreasing it. Moreover,
look towards strict implementation of your
time-table as it will help you to structure yourself
for the upcoming exam and will enable you to
channelize your complete energy on the
preparation.
Prioritise
While some students find it easier to grasp
conceptual topics, for some, the numerical section
is easier to cover, and some are more adept in
learning theoretical portions. First, understand
what style of learning you prefer the most. Moving
on, prioritise these subjects in accordance with the
time that you require for their preparation as well
as their weightage in exam.
Assign yourself goals
Analyse the total time that is required by different
areas of ability to improve in order to generate
optimum results. Set weekly and monthly goals
with respect to each and every aspect that needs
improvement as well as with respect to individual
topics and subjects. Mark deadlines on the
calendar for all topics and activities that enhance
your performance. Also, make sure that you spare
amonth before the exam for full-syllabus revision.
Rearrange your daily activities
Many day-to-day activities can be rearranged in
order to generate an ideal result. For example,
studying right after an exhaustive physical
exercise session when you can barely manage to
concentrate or taking a long break at night when
your home is quieter is hardly logical. Switch your
daily activities in a way that they help you
optimise your time.
Weekly reviews
Right from the beginning, make a separate review
sheet that includes tracking the progress of your
weak areas, revision of strong areas, time spent on
recreational activities, implementation of
time-table, and meeting your time-bound goals.
Make appropriate changes to your time-table and
weekly goals accordingly. Such reviews will
increase your level of preparedness and hence
boost your confidence greatly as the exam
approaches.
Expect the unexpected
The most important factor that plays a big role in
exam preparation is the right mind-set. Students
often make the biggest mistake by delaying their
preparations believing that they can easily cover
up for the delay they are causing. While, this belief
may or may not become fruitful eventually, the
examination, nevertheless, constitutes of broad
topics from the syllabus. Some of these topics
require in-depth study to obtain a meticulous
understanding of the concept and higher level of
preparedness in order to solve the given question.
Often enough, students complain that most of the
question paper was ‘out of syllabus’ or was ‘too
lengthy’. In reality, all it required was the right
approach, which a student could only have
acquired through constant practise and revision.
So, most essentially, prepare your mind-set that
though you can cover given topics even if you
delay your present schedule, by doing so you are
also simultaneously reducing your scoring ability
in the exam and hence, substantially reducing the
scope of achieving your end-goal.
Calm down
Examinations have an obvious psychological effect
on students. They give rise to anxiety, fear,
restlessness, and loss of concentration. This, in turn,
decreases the brain function and overall efficiency
of the student. Calming down your brain becomes
most essential as there is no point in rigorously
studying for 6 long hours, when you cannot retain
the information that can be grasped in 2 hours.
Maintain a good physical and psychological
balance by taking part in physical activities as
well as activities that boost your overall
performance such as meditation and yoga.