TIME MANAGEMENT

Every person in his lifetime, comes across various kinds of examination from time to time. But in case of a student, it’s a whole lot important story. We’ve to deal with weekly, monthly, trimester, semester and annual examinations. Then, as a cherry on the top, we’ve got NEET, JEE, CAT, MAT, CLAT and what not that we’ve to worry about. A student can never run away from examinations. While some stress about it, there are some that face it with utmost courage and preparation. And yes, the latter do exist. They’re no aliens or some imaginary creatures. The only difference being, in those two kinds, is how well they understand the importance of “TIME MANAGEMENT”.

While the former “worrying” ones spend most of their time actually worrying about things, stressing out about the shortage of time, lengthy syllabus, results, expectations, the  latter and “very real” students don’t abide to anything alien but just prepare for the exams accordingly, with the time in hand and the work left to do.

There are two very important things to keep in mind when you’re preparing for any kind of examination- the first being self-confidence & then time-management.

So here is a few tips that you can keep in mind to manage time & cover more course in the given time-frame.

• Calculate the time left- yes, you heard it right. You’ve to actually use a calculator to find out the number of hours left for the examination. Never think about time in terms of days or months as these just fly by and all you can do is wave them “goodbye”. When you know the actual number of hours left, then you can take out your sleeping hours, entertainment hours, family time and the list goes on. After all these deductions, you’ll realise that the actual time left is not in months, but in hours and that’s the number of hours you’ve to devote daily to actually get the result you dream of every night. So start preparing now to surprise them later.
• Give time to each subject- it goes on without saying that each subject in the syllabus is equally important although you may not be equally comfortable with each one of them. So you have to make time for every subject but pay special attention and a little bit more time to those that you’re weak in
• Go through last years’ question papers- I know it’s a cliché but it’s also the gospel truth. Nothing can prepare you better for the examination than going through previous papers. After carefully examining last few years question papers, you’ll notice a certain pattern, certain questions that make a comeback every 2-3 years. On this basis, you can make your own guess paper.
• How to remember- Now, here comes the tricky part but to every problem, there is a solution my friend and in this case, there are many solutions. So cheer up.

Firstly, you’re your own teacher. So study every topic in detail and after every topic, make short notes, references, pointers that’ll help you remember the whole topic. (I had the football and cricket ball reference to understand the overlapping of molecular orbitals).

The most important thing here is – NO ROTE LEARNING. Try to understand every topic, relate it to real life, it’ll make it easier to understand & remember.

• One day before examination- just go through all those short notes, wierd references and pointers. If you’ve any problem remembering a topic, read about it in detail.

Now here comes another cliché, – get a proper good night sleep. It’ll give you the energy to power through the next day.

• The Big Day- Don’t forget to double & triple check your admit card, Id card, pens, pencil & other important stuff. You can’t worry about other students, how many sheets they’re taking, how much stuff they’re writing as it’s just not worth it. Focus on yourself, focus on the paper in hand. Take a deep breath. Think about why you went through all the trouble in the first place, what this all means to you. Then start writing. Your answers should be to the point. Don’t use flowery language and try to finish the paper 5-10 minutes before the end time so that you can go through it one more time. See if you’ve written the correct roll no. & attempted all the questions.

After the examination, don’t even bother discussing the answers with others as it won’t do any good. Take a good rest, do what you enjoy and hope for the best.