Exams seem like a necessary evil to most students. They are the prime cause of nervousness and stress which naturally causes students to despise them. Moreover, stress is inversely proportional to self-esteem and confidence of the student. According to a research, highly test-anxious students score about 12 percentage points below their less anxious peers. So, getting organized is a must to perform better.
Here are 7 ways to beat the exam blues:
1. The principle of POI i.e. Prioritise, Organise and Implement
The principle of POI has proven to show great results. According to a research, more than 70% students show average performance and attain fewer marks due to indiscipline and unorganized behavior.
Before organizing, the first step is to prioritize – list down all the important activities a month before exams and prioritize them on the basis of importance. For example meeting relatives is not as important as organizing and cleaning up your study table. Once done prioritizing, organize the tasks and implement what you have decided. Let me simplify it for you with an example:
Prioritize: To study all the difficult chapters
Organizing: Deciding a schedule and allocating a certain time limit for studying each chapter
Implementing: To complete studying all the difficult chapters, within the time allocated for each of them.
2. Strategize Your Learning
Now that you are aware of your upcoming exams, create a strategy to ace them. The strategy must be based on factors like how many days you will need for each subject, which subjects are difficult and require more attention, which subjects can help improve your overall score, , and which subjects require lesser time. Answers to such crucial questions will help you create a faultless strategy. You can use this to design an ideal routine to make the most of your study time.
3. Gain Interest
Usually, students only aim towards gaining marks and get lost in this rush. Yes, you may be one of them, but it’s never too late to change! Interest develops gradually, by giving time to understand the subject.
Suppose, you have a Physics exam coming up; now to study electric fuse, you have two choices, either to mug up the entire page about it or to understand the concept by referring to other books or watching videos and tutorials about it. When you by heart something, it only remains in your short term memory. You might forget it soon after your exam. Whereas, when you understand the concept, it converts information into knowledge. This way it remains in your long term memory.
Always remember that at the end of the day you are LEARNING something not for rewriting it on a sheet of paper but to gain knowledge for your own betterment.
4. Work smart and be wise
Many students make two mistakes:
- They start right from the beginning
- They try to study everything right before the exam.
This would cause rush and panic if you start right from the beginning. Moreover, it is quite unlikely that you will cover all the topics. What you can do is cover the important topics first and focus on sample papers and previous years’ question papers. This will give a better idea of which topics are likely to come in the exam.
For a much better understanding, click here. This project illustrates that if you start something from the beginning, you will end up doing that for your entire life. Hence, you should be organized to choose topics wisely.
5. Pointers are better for sure
Imagine if this article would have just been one long paragraph. Would you have read it or ignored it altogether? Diagrams help you retain what you have studied for a longer time and the pointers will help you study faster and more efficiently. Similarly, in exams, it is important to structure your answers well. Here’s how to do it:
- Start with an introductory line or two to explain the concept
- Make diagrams and flows charts to understand it better
- Divide long paragraphs into concise pointers.
Even while evaluating answer sheets, teachers would prefer going through pointers rather than monotonous paragraphs
6. Learn like you are teaching yourself
While studying, read the matter and teach the concepts to yourself. It would be better if it is spoken out loud. This will help your brain understand and retain the information better. Ask yourself frequent questions to revise previously studied topics.This will help you retain the concept effectively.
7. Enough Sleep and Plenty of water
Sleep deprivation leads to lower grades owing to decreased concentration and memory loss. It also causes a problem while recalling information. So, a well-slept state is crucial for a student to score well. Additionally, water keeps us alert and helps in retaining what we study.
“Exams and grades are temporary, but education is important, what you learn today will be what you achieve tomorrow”
Prepare well and do well. All the best for your exams!
To know how to ace your exams like a boss, click here
