Easy does it
The board
exams are just a few weeks away. Stay away from the Internet, take time for
systematic revision, pay attention to your health, and set realistic goals.
I get headaches every day.
I can’t eat. I feel like
puking when I look at food.
I haven’t slept well in
months.
I feel my friends are always ahead of me and
they have covered more syllabus than me. And that puts me into a panic.
I am blank. I don’t remember
a thing of what I’ve studied.
Welcome to the Overboard Over Boards Club!
All of these are signs of stress and distress. And if you manifest even one of
them, it is time to buck up and counsel yourself a bit.
Most of you are stressed at this period of
your life and doctors and counsellors have a field day. But they needn’t. You
can beat the stress all by yourself.
Firstly, stop thinking you are stressed.
And stop chanting the stress mantra every day. By constantly thinking and
talking about it, you are only reinforcing your stress. Remember repetition and
auto suggestion are very powerful mind tools. If you don’t have anything
positive to say to yourself, at least refrain from negative chanting.
Then, put away the mobile and your other
gadgets. Deactivate Facebook, Orkut, Whatsapp, Twitter, Viber, and the rest.
Relaxation and distraction are two different things. Gadgets and technology are
addictive. Once you are glued to them, you just can’t get away. And when you
notice the time you’ve spent on them, you will panic and add to your stress.
Next, don’t worry about what your friends
are doing. Constant updates and feverish comparisons can drive you crazy. Your
friends may sound like they’re super cool cats. They might solve in a jiffy
that nightmare of a sum that had you gnawing away at your pencil for the last
two hours. That’s ok. The less you follow their status updates of exam
preparedness, the more relaxed you will be. You only need to keep account of your
own progress. Talk to friends only when you need help.
Don’t whine about the amount of stuff you
have to cram. Full 900 pages of chemistry and 1,200 of Biology and all that.
Millions of your peers are doing the same. Millions have done it year after
year. It is obviously doable. If you relax, you will do it with ease.
Don’t imagine that this year of all years
will be the worst ever examination. That nobody could have had it any worse.
Every crop of Board examinees has felt this way. By imagining yourself to be
some sort of a special victim, you are only stressing yourself.
And do you feel blank at times? As if
you can’t remember anything that you’ve studied? Even that’s fine. That’s just
you panicking. Your brain’s information retrieval system doesn’t crash like
your computer. You will get the answers back when you need them.
HEALTH
FOCUS
Headaches, fever, loss of appetite, sleeplessness,
irritability, gloom and depression, rage, nightmares — all are manifestations
of your stress. Stress is all about how you deal with an unusual situation. If
you don’t see the unusual situation as the world’s biggest disaster since the
tsunami, you will feel more competent about handling it. Planning and
organising your work, tracking time and your progress, and being realistic can
make your exams less tedious than it is now.
Remember always that an exam or any other kind of
challenge in life is mostly a mind game. If you can prepare yourself mentally
for it, you’ve won half the battle. And that leaves only the other half to
tackle. Looks easy now, doesn’t it?
Courtesy ; http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/school/easy-does-it/article4427924.ece?ref=sliderNews February
18, 2013
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