As board and other competitive examinations start from next month, here are a few tips straight from Dr Bindu Hari, Director TISB, NAFL & NPS Group of schools, an acclaimed academician and school leader for benefit of all our student readers appearing in various examinations.
Have a daily timetable:
Allot time every day for study, home work, sleep, and recreational activities such as sports, art, music, Zumba, martial arts, aerobics etc., your favorite TV show etc. It is important to factor in 6-8 hours of sleep everyday as sleep is necessary for retention and improves memory.
Allot time to help you be organized:
For example, allot about 8 minutes every evening to fill your bag with the books you need based on the next day’s school time table. Allot about 5 minutes every day to tidy and arrange your notebooks, textbooks, and stationery on your study table, so you don’t waste time searching what you want these to ensure everything has a place and everything is in its place.
Allot time twice a week to your hobbies such as origami, philately, crochet, etc.
Some students like to be engaged in activity all the time, while others need downtime, moments of quiet time for rest or contemplation. If you need downtime factor it into your daily schedule. Limit your time spent on social media, computer games, browsing the internet to a maximum of 45 minutes a day.
Since all schools start early, get into the habit of becoming an early riser, otherwise your morning can become extremely rushed and stressful. Besides this gives you time in the morning to carry out a quick revision especially if you have an assessment that day.
Allot separate time for homework and study:
Distinguish between study time and homework because homework is not the same as studying. Homework is done is to check your understanding of your new learning and study time is to reinforce all the new concepts you have learnt that day. In order to remember and retain new concepts you have learnt, review the same day.
Time management on the weekends
Design your weekend time table to include all your subjects.
Commit time on the weekends to reviewing what you learnt throughout the week. Research has proved that reviewing and revising every weekend improves retentively. Students who complain of going blank during exams or being unable to remember usually do so because of last minute cramming and the brain being unable to suddenly remember or recollect vast quantities of information.
Rather than study a single subject right through the day continuously, break the monotony by studying different subjects for an hour or an hour and a half each, depending on how long you can concentrate without distraction.
Give yourself 5 to 10 minutes relaxation between periods of intense study. And during these breaks -stretch, do yoga, jog dance, do aerobics, do any physical activity that will increase the oxygen to the brain making you more alert.
Prepare ready reckoners
Ready reckoners are time savers. If you are unable to remember formula or an equation take a quick look at your ready reckoner. It is a topic based list of commonly used formulas, equations, terminology etc. to help you quickly revise during tests and exams, usually written on the last few pages of your notebook so you have ready access
Use post it’s liberally.
Write formulae, equations, key terminology on post it’s and stick it in your study space or your mirror. Look and recollect every day to help you commit to memory, as you may not have enough time to work out equations and formulae from first principles in an exam. The aim is to move these bits of information from working memory into long term memory. Once you have committed to memory replace post it’s with other post it’s
Become aware of when your brain is the sharpest and the most alert.
Are you a morning lark or a night bird? Are you most alert in the morning or at night? Choose the time when you are most alert to study tougher subjects and schedule study of easier subjects when you’re like brain is likely to be more tired.
