How to prepare for Exams

Most of the students get stressful time when the exams are nearby. They make themselves busy for preparing for exams and hence gets stress and become anxious. Not only students but the parents also gets tension during the exam preparation times.

There are some important points to keep in mind while preparing for examination. The points to keep in mind are

1. Reduce Your Anxiety by Changing your attitude.
2. Don’t forget the basics
3. Revise Regularly – Do not cram
4. Change your mindset from result oriented to performance oriented
5. Take regular breaks while studying
6. Study time

Above points are important to keep in mind while studying for examination. Let us discuss one by one what it means.

Reduce Your Anxiety by Changing your attitude:

It can help to change the way you think about taking exams. An exam will not predict your future success or determine your self worth. Changing your attitude can actually help you enjoy studying and learning. Here are some ways you can work on changing your attitude:

Remind yourself that it is only an exam and there will be others.

Reward yourself when the exam is over. Think about all the things you will do once you’ve given your last paper!

Think of yourself in a positive way. Think of all the hard work you have done already or think of what you do know.

Plan ways to improve next term.

Don’t forget the basics:

Don’t forget about yourself and what you need. This means thinking of yourself as a total person, not just as an exam taker.

Maintain proper nutrition and exercise, and continue some of your social or recreational activities. It is all right, in fact, better, to take a break once in a while.

Make sure you get plenty of sleep. You can’t function at your best if you are tired.

Do something relaxing when you feel adequately prepared.

Again, try to do something relaxing before the test. Cramming minutes before can produce anxiety. Reach early, so that you are spared the last anxious moments.

Revise Regularly – Do not cram

This is a sure-fire way to ensure that you do not do well. See box for why cramming produces just the opposite results of what you intended. It is always a good practice to revise regularly. Go through your work the day it was taught, so that it remains fresh in your mind, and revising it ‘embeds’ it into your long term memory so that you retain it well. Then just an additional revision or two will suffice to ensure that you are well prepared for the exams.

Change your mindset from result oriented to performance oriented.

The most common mistake we do is that while studying we start thinking about the result and its impact on our life.

Studying for result is known as result oriented approach. It is good to have aim (target) in mind but if aim becomes rigid, it leads to anxiety and stress.

Getting good or bad marks is not in our hand. Change your approach from result to performance oriented – how much have you understood and grasped? Are your concepts clear? If not than what’s the reason for falling behind your target. This mindset will improve your concentration and reduce your stress. You will start enjoying your studies without worrying about results!

Take regular breaks while studying.

Study shows that human brain cannot concentrate more than 30 to 50 minutes continuously. So it is important for us to take a break for about 10 minutes to recharge our brain. Call up a friend, watch TV, listen to music, take a walk or simply snack on something healthy. Do not eat junk food as that has an adverse effect on your mental powers. Instead, eat green vegetables, sprouts, fruits, protein rich foods like cheese and paneer.

Study time

The time you study has an important effect on how well you study. According to research our brain has been in most active state from 5 to 8 in the morning and 7 to 11 in the evening. Try and schedule your study time around these hours. Also manage your available time well so that you have enough time for rest, recreation and study. If you have revised regularly, you will find that you have enough time and more to do all the things you want to do even when exams are around the corner. Plus you will keep your cool and do well.

How to prepare for Exams

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