Last Minute Exam Preparation Tips

Last Minute Exam Preparation Tips

Exams are around the Corner. Tensions are high and. expectations are  Hereby some simple tips that can  help you perform much much better in exams.

1. Positive Stress

Stress is not always negative. In some cases its a great motivating force for improving performance. In a majority of students, small amounts of positive stress, increases the mind's cramming capabilities by few hundred times. Parents and students should identify and use positive stress.

REMEMBER- its will increase your cramming capacity not learning capacity.

2. Night Study

Night time study is in vogue these days. Every student who promotes and practices it, abides by the explanation "when the world sleeps,I can  concentrate better as nobody can disturb me."

Many Parents who contact me to help improve their child's memory power,  feel proud in proclaiming how their children spend an entire night studying. 

I hate break hearts, but THIS IS ILLOGICAL!!!!

I would just like remind you. All schools in India start at 8-9am. Hence for their entire school life, a child has woken up around 7am, and reached school by 8. And his brain has been conditioned to start functioning  to process information by 9-10am.

When such a life cycle is disrupted, night time study only helps to create disharmony within the sleep cycle. This leads to increased body fatigue, body pains and mental weakness.

REMEMBER- the exams are normally timed to happen in the morning. Your brain should be accustomed such, that during exam timings you are at the days peak performance levels.

3. Sleep

Most children sacrifice a lot of their sleep during exams. This leads to increased stress levels. For those who can battle the stress level, the brain uses this as positive. But for those who cannot handle it, it decreases the brain output and performance.

Make sure you get a minimum of 6hr continuous sleep every day.

4. The important First

Most students seem to be in some sort of race to finish the syllabus. They myth that "the more you attempt the better your result" plagues them too doom. 

If you go through old question papers, you will find that 70% of questions are asked from specific topics. And 30% are asked from diverse topics. 

Its logical to concentrate on that 70% first. As it will gives you chance of getting the best marks.

REMEMBER- When studying, always focus on the important topics first. Don't leave them for the end. 

Study them properly as they will give you maximum chance to score good.

5. Know How to Answer

While researching for this article, I asked a lot of teachers, "how much time the spend on an answersheet, what do they look for in a good answer, and what is their mind set while checking."

Most teachers said that the first look at the way an answer is written, fixes their mind on how much they want to score it. They look for specific points, and simplicity in finding those points helps them judge an answer better.

They also complain that most students feel that by fill pages and pages for a single answer, they will get better scores. 

Its important that a student understands, how to write a good answer for a particular subject.

Ask your teachers. Tell them to show you sample answers... 

REMEMBER- make it a practice, to take a minute after getting the question paper. See those questions which you can answer best. Formulate a game plan, keep it simple and enact on the planned.

6. Short hand strips

Have you ever used a cheating strip. It's a small strip of paper in which only the important points are mentioned. It works as a great refresher for the mind. Its a great help to create short-hand strips like these for yourself while studying. These will help you revise a great portion of the syllabus within minutes. 

REMEMBER - utilize them to revise not to cheat!!!

7. Eat 

Glucose is the fuel that drives the brain and body. Proteins are the building blocks of the brain and body. Water helps to maintain a positive circulation around the body.

When in high stress situations, the brain and body tend to utilize glucose and proteins at hundred of times the normal rate. 

Drink a glass of water every hour and eat small portions of balanced diet (high on energy and protein) every 2hourly to keep your body at peak performance.

8. Supplements

In a world of processed food, every important nutrient is available in capsule or tablet form. Make sure you get a daily dose of anti-oxidants and vitamins to help you boost brain performance.

9. Negative Stress

Like positive stress is beneficial in increasing the cramming capacity of the brain, negative stress is detrimental in decreasing the ability to learn, decreasing the ability to write the learnt in an exam and increasing the subconscious anxiety which can lead to running away from the exams or drastic steps like self-harm and/or suicide attempt.

If stress is causing an emotional roller coaster within the student, it's important to consult your local psychiatrist and get a short term course of non-sedative, non-addictive medications which will boost the brain and memory power along with decreasing the negative stress.

regards,

Dr.Hemant Mittal (MBBS, PG.DPM)

Psychiatrist

Emotional, Behavior, Sleep, Memory and Sexual Health consultant at Mind Mantra

www.mindmantra.in

For free online consultancy email at - eksoch@gmail.com