Exam fear – Beat exam stress and score (last-minute mashup?)
It is natural to feel stressed and nervous.Don’t worry it will pass.
Here are my suggestions to overcome these jitters and to fulfill some study schedules.
Action plan to get the demons out of your mind:
- Have a simple plan of study. Keep it simple. Simply list down all major headings and sub-headings of a particular lesson on a sheet of paper. I call this the stock-taking method. You will be ticking off whatever is completed.
- Tick for those topics that you studied reasonably well.
- Circle where you also practiced and are quite confident.
- Underline for those where you need revision and repetition.
Rules for the day’s schedule
- First thing in the morning, plan targets for the day. For this planning, spend 5 minutes maximum.
- Take a short target for next 30 minutes, one specific ‘heading’.
- Don’t think beyond 30 minutes at a time.
To gain maximum out of the above 3 pointers you have to follow some recommendations.
- Take small break every 45 minutes. Stretch lightly during the breaks.
- Maintain a regular sleep pattern. Leave study at least 45 minutes before sleep. During these 45 minutes, wash your face, settle down, breathe deeply, close your eyes, relax your mind, and allow yourself to drift to sleep.
- Unless really necessary, avoid tea and coffee. They may lengthen your waking time. But they can also disturb your sleep, reduce grasping capacity of brain, and make you feel tired when you wake up next day. Instead of tea or coffee, have lemon water or green tea with sugar.
- Avoid TV, films, chatting, long phone calls, social media unless absolutely necessary. These will tire your brain. Speak less with others. Allow your brain to spend time with yourself.
- Play music, or sing, or dance, or simply meditate during the short study breaks.
The best advice I can give to CBSE chess students is to keep the learning schedules consistent throughout the year. Prepare well when you have time, because no one knows how tomorrow is going to be.
It is better to start sharpening the sword during peace, rather than after a battle has begun, as an old story says.
Education will not give what you want. It is what you want that will give what you want.
Exam fear – Beat exam stress and score
Exam fear is a very common phenomenon among children, and it has a avalanche effect, there is no doubt about it. But, have the powers to be, ever tried to think about how to remove the fear & make exam a fun task rather than a jittery one? How to make them capable to overcome their fear of exams and especially on weak students to make them stronger?
Share your thoughts…
The author Kish Kumar is a trainer and Coach at Golden Chess Centre. He can be contacted on his Facebook page.
Latest posts by Vishy (see all)
- Correct Attitude to Learning chess | 5 Tips to success - December 30, 2020
- Chess and Zen – Wonder what is similar? Read till the end! - December 3, 2020
- Review: Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith - August 26, 2015