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.