Does this sound familiar???????
You have a big exam coming up next week, so you know it’s high time to hit the books. You sit down at your study table and start scrutinizing your notes.
Five minutes later, your phone beeps. It’s a tweet from Dr. Harsh Vardhan (Union Health Minister) of keeping well being of young medical students in mind & postponing the NEET PG Exam that was scheduled to be conducted on 18th April 2021 by NBE, keeping in view the fresh wave of covid-19 cases in India.
Surprisingly atrocious news that shatters down the dreams of innumerable PG Aspirants leaving them speechless, depressed, and distracted.
Where you have been fighting all these months from abounding distractions, suddenly they all have appeared again.
Where you only intended to spend a few minutes on Facebook & WhatsApp, you end up browsing through them for many hours exchanging text messages with your friends and talking with your colleagues.
Study distractions are everywhere and every time following you. And distracted study leads to poor understanding of concepts resulting in low grades and feelings of frustration. But there is hope. Improve the levels of your productivity and be more focused.
Study distractions can either be internal or external.
Internal distractions include various physiological needs like hunger, sleep, and some emotional thoughts like missing someone, wanting to talk to your loved ones. External interactions include mostly technologies surrounding you like mobile phones, laptops.
Very firstly, you have to overcome your own distractions:
- Deal with your hunger first
- Take frequent breaks while studying
- Keep open internet tabs to a minimum
Learn how to focus on your goals & how to concentrate on your tasks-
- GET ORGANISED WITH TO-DO LIST
Use the calendar and create a routine to stay organized. Plan your studies effectively according to the organized list and stick to it till the exam is finally announced. This time period is very crucial, if you become loose in studies, it will leave a great impact on your scores.
- FIND BEST ENVIRONMENT FOR EFFECTIVE STUDY
Choose the environment that suits and fulfills your criteria for studying effectively. Select your study place according to your preference that may be outdoors like on the balcony in fresh air or either a room indoors that keeps you more concentrated. Distractions in this phase mean lowering down your performance and that must not be there.
- USE MUSIC & HEADPHONES TO CUT DOWN NOISE
Music has always been the best healer for almost everything. Listening to your favorite music will not only soothe your mind but will also help you in ignoring other irrelevant distractions.
- REWARD YOURSELF
The peak time where you can analyze yourself. Take this period as your analysis period. Give as many mock tests and grand tests as you can and compare your results to every test. For your each time score, reward yourself which will boost more confidence in you.
- SPLIT THE SCHEDULE UP IN SECTIONS
Studying for long hours durations leaves you less focused and less productive. If you have to manage and increase your productivity, split up your study schedule so that you don’t feel stressed or pressured. Once you have completed your topic, take a break and recall the same while relaxing. This will help you in effective revision without any burden of studies.
At this stage, you have to be very clear with your studies. Learn to enjoy studying. If you are enjoying whatever you are studying, you will never feel distracted in any situation and will able to concentrate properly on your studies getting good ranks.
- IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION-
As a student and as an aspiring aspirant, you should understand that studying is a path to what lies ahead in your life. Studying is a path to achieve all your dreams. Once you have learned the value of education, you tend to enjoy studying as well and no longer take it as a burden.
- STAY POSITIVE-
Staying positive is necessary to enjoy studying. Think of all benefits that you can derive from scoring high ranks.
- BANISH EXAMINATION FEAR
Make it a point to study every day till your exam. This will boost your confidence and help you in being prepared for assessments. You can banish the fear of exams only when you make it a habit to be prepared for it in advance. When the fear of exams will banish from your mind, you will truly start enjoying your studies.
HOW MUCH TO STUDY IN A SINGLE DAY
- Maximum quality input can not be more than 7-8 hrs per day. If you still tend to study for more longer duration, you will fail to absorb and therefore feel bad at the end of the day that you are not able to memorize whatever you have studied.
- Keep all the subject books, except the one that you are studying, out of your sight. Avoid unnecessary mental burden. It will help you concentrate more and study effectively.
- Set practical targets for yourself. Impossible targets are depressing. If time is less and pending work is more, then the best would be, decide what to leave.
- Have a night of proper sleep and rest. You can not add to your study hours by sleeping less. This will lead to less productivity.
- Keep some time aside for breaks and entertainment. It will not be waste of time rather it will increase your output.
STUDY TECHNIQUES
- Mark or underline important points. After reading a topic mentally review what you just read. Do not go on mechanically reading without understanding. Otherwise, when you read it for the second time, after a few days, you will be as blank as you were the first time and that will frustrate you and hamper your efficiency.
- After you finish a chapter, try to attempt questions. You will be surprised to discover how much you missed. At this point, consult your notes.
- Carefully remember all flowcharts, diagrams, and mnemonics. This will help you in solving your questions correctly.
REVISE, REISE & FINALLY REVISE –
It has been scientifically established that one tends to forget three forth within a week of the reading. Memory graph is a steeply downward sloping line. If you revise the matter within hours, the retention improves significantly.
“STOP GETTING DISTRACTED BY THINGS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR GOALS.
YOUR RESULTS ARE THE PRODUCT OF EITHER PERSONAL FOCUS OR PERSONAL DISTRACTIONS. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.”
