With the examinations round the corner, the burning midnight oil is an indicator of the level of stress you must be going through. I advise you all to turn off the midnight lamps and go to sleep, so that you can start your day afresh tomorrow, to prepare for the examination.
Here is a seven-step strategy, which you can take to overcome stress –
- Improve conceptual clarity, avoid rote learning – You would be a more confident person while facing the exam if you are thorough with the concepts. However, if your conceptual base is weak and you resort to rote learning, it would build up stress since you are not sure whether you would be able to grasp the essence of the question paper.
- Plan your study, avoid last-minute preparation - Plan your studies in advance. Make a detailed time table and try as much as possible to adhere to it. Procrastination always tends to build up stress. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
- Take short breaks while studying - Do not study continuously for long hours at a stretch since you may not be able to entirely assimilate what you have studied after a point of time. This is due to fatigue which sets in after a certain point of time, indicating that this is the time to break.
- Don’t lose out on your sleep – Do not stretch your study time by cutting short your night sleep. It is very important that you have a good night sleep for at least 6 hours so that you get rejuvenated in the morning for the next day’s preparation.
- Think positive – Avoid any sort of negative thoughts of not performing well in the examination since this may affect your preparation as well as your performance in the examination. Thinking positive will definitely help you to adopt the right approach towards examination. When your mind is at peace, without any anxiety, you would be in a position to perform better.
- Meditate and Exercise – Relax by practising deep breathing, meditation and yoga. Physical and Mental exercises will help to reduce stress.
- Eat healthy – You must stay healthy by eating good food and avoiding junk. Do not skip meals for the sake of saving time for studying. It is essential that you do not fall sick at the time of examination.
The Institute, on its part, is taking efforts to help students overcome stress. Holding the examinations on alternative days is a positive step in this direction. The Council of the Institute is happy to announce that the students appearing in PCC/IPCC and Final examinations would henceforth be given 15 minutes reading time in addition to the examination time of 3 hours. Accordingly, while the Question Paper would be distributed at 1.45 p.m., the answer book would, however, be handed over at 2.00 p.m. The students appearing in May 2011 examination would also be eligible for this benefit. I’m sure that this would help to ease the tension to read the paper hurriedly. It would also help you to decide the order of answering the questions based on your level of confidence.
Wishing you all the best,
CA. G. Ramaswamy,
President, ICAI
