Exams Tips

This is the time of the year that thousands of students take various examinations.

There are no short cuts to hard work and burning midnight oil but to get the best and maintain the tempo over a period of several weeks and months there are several simple things that one can adopt to be more efficient and successful.

Of course every child is different and so is their way of working but there are some common things and these are listed below -

    Have a proper and realistic schedule laid out for the day and week and that must include time for ‘chilling’ or for a hobby.

    Daily exercise regimen – active physical exercise for 25-30 minutes at any time that you are comfortable with (keep the time fixed otherwise it often gets pushed from morning to evening and then to next morning!) but you must sweat. This not only helps you relax, gets your muscles active, avoids you to gain weight and brings upon a sense of well being and a good deep sleep. Research has clearly shown that individuals who exercise regularly get fewer infections!

    Proper nutrition – while concentrating (studying) the brain uses up a lot of energy and that must be replenished. If you are on study leave, make sure you eat small meals at frequent intervals. Don’t forget what grandmom would say - eat food of all colours. This is now proven by nutrition science that fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and anti – oxidants and the all important fiber.

    Take a multivitamin daily or better still put a healthy food powder (containing good quality protein and other micronutrients) to milk or water on a regular basis.

    Stop eating food from outside – this could be contaminated and several diseases (food poisoning, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever) can occur. Some diseases have incubation periods up to 6 weeks (e.g. Hepatitis A or E) and this would coincide with your exams in March-April. Giving up ‘outside or junk’ food maybe the most difficult thing for some children but extremely important!

    Have fixed time to get up in the morning. Our body clock easily allows us to stay up for one hour extra every evening provided we get up also one hour later. This often results in the child sleeping one hour later everyday and hence getting up one hour later everyday – so now the child sleeps in the early hours of the morning and getting up in the afternoon! And what if the examination time is 9 AM! Definitely the quality of sleep you get at night is much superior to the sleep you get in the daytime. So it is important to have adequate sleep hours as well as fixed times.

    Taking self tests – avoid leaving things to the end and be regular. Try to sort of the difficult chapters early so that they also become easy at the end! Get the clutter out of your desk. Some anxiety increases the efficiency but unnecessary anxiety reduces performance and outcomes.

 As an accomplished individual once said, 'Luck seems to favour me when I work hard' and remember 'Tough times don't last, tough people do'. Good luck!