Exam season is the most challenging season for a student. Examinations often lead to stress, and anxiety and can hamper your self-esteem. Many students face difficulty in sitting and concentrating for hours. Maintaining focus can be quite tough with multiple subjects to revise and consecutive exams to tackle. We often come across the question, “How to stay focused during exams?” However, there are practical strategies that can be beneficial, if followed religiously. Here are some effective methods to help you stay on track and to help you maintain your focus throughout.
How to Stay Focused During Exams: Tips & Tricks For Productive Exam Preparation
It can be challenging during exam season to stay focused. However, by taking care of a few things, you can improve your focus during exam preparation. Here is how to focus during an exam:
1. Find a Suitable Revision Spot
The atmosphere in which a student prepares is extremely important. Your surroundings do have an important role to play. Creating a comfortable and distraction-free study space is key to maintaining focus during revision sessions. Choose a location with a good-sized table that would easily accommodate all your books and notebooks, along with a comfortable, posture-friendly chair. Your study spot should have proper lighting to avoid eye constrain. Maintain a comfortable temperature. Inform your parents, friends, and everybody around that this study space is a “no disturbance zone”, to consistently focus on your studies without any disturbance from anybody. Adjust your chair and desk height, according to your convenience to have a mindful study session.
2. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
When considering how to stay focused during exams, getting good sleep is important. Getting sound sleep for about eight hours is extremely important. Getting a “good night’s sleep” shuts your brain, and helps it to rest. As a result, the brain becomes more active than ever before. Just like our body, our brain needs an ample amount of rest. Sleep is crucial, especially during the exam preparation days. Although it might be difficult to rest the night before your exams, staying well-rested ensures a more alert and better ability to recall information, especially academic information. Avoid screen time before bed to improve the quality of your sleep. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine helps your body to relax and regain your focus the next day.
3. Learn to Ignore Distractions
It is very easy for teenagers these days to fumble and lose track. It is advisable to learn the art of ignoring distractions and it is one of the important things when considering how to focus during an exam. In the exam hall, try not to get distracted by movements or noises around you. Concentrate on your task and stay calm and composed. Don’t keep your phone around you. Keep your desk clutter-free and silence all your electronic gadgets like your phone, tabs, laptops, etc. Keep all these electronic devices out of your sight. You can try listening to soft music if it helps. Turn off all the notifications, during your study sessions. Allocate specific periods, to check social media rather than spending your whole day on social media and this is important when thinking of how to stay focused during exams.
4. Plan your Study Schedule
A well-structured, organized study-action plan can help you to avoid feeling nervous and anxious. Planning out the study plan can be quite overwhelming but with the right approach, you can create the best study-action plan. Have a deep analysis of your syllabus, tick out all the high-weightage chapters and topics, and allot productive hours to study that topic or subject. This study plan will help you to focus on your weak areas and will help you to complete your task, on time.
Make notes, and make them an integral part of your study sessions. Keep your resources ready, to avoid wasting time. Break your study time into manageable chunks. Allocate productive hours for each difficult chapter and topic. This activity will help you to efficiently complete your syllabus. Break down your study sessions into smaller, achievable tasks. This is one of the important tips when considering how to stay focused during exams.
5. Avoid All-Nighters
This generation hates sleeping early. Pulling off the whole night seems like a ‘cool idea’ to them. It can harm your physical as well as mental health in every way possible. Follow your study plan religiously, and stick to it so that you don’t need to stay up all night, studying and cramming. Sleep consolidates memory and helps with information retention. Our brains are the most active, during the early hours. Hence, plan all your productive study sessions, during the day. Pulling an all-nighter, and having coffee as your savior is not a healthy idea, at all. Limit your intake of coffee or energy drinks, as they can hamper your sleep schedule.
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6. Practice Meditation and Yoga
When planning how to stay focused during exams, it is important to practice Yoga and Meditation. Improving your focus requires your mindful and spiritual presence. Before you start studying, practice some deep breathing exercises like taking deep breaths to calm your mind and gain concentration. Breathe in, and breathe out for a few seconds. Practice this several times before studying or during stressful moments, while you’re in the exam hall. Meditation helps your mind and body to relax. It is advisable to meditate every day for at least fifteen minutes. Starting your day with meditation, helps you to stay focused and alarmed. Along with meditations, engage yourself in some physical activities. Regular exercise can boost your mental clarity and can help you stay active and healthy.
7. Stay Hydrated and Eat Well
Your physical health directly impacts your ability to concentrate and this answers on how to focus during an exam. Having a balanced diet can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Snack on fruits, nuts, or other nutritious food items, to keep your energy levels up. Set reminders to drink water every day in regular intervals to stay hydrated. Avoid junk foods during the exam season to avoid being sick. Stay away from sugary snacks, street food, and high-fat foods that make your brain sluggish. Eat almonds, dry fruit,and all the foods that’ll keep your brain active. You can add dark chocolate to your daily diet as it caters to your brain and keeps your brain active.
8. Take Breaks in Regular Intervals
Allowing yourself to take breaks is quite necessary when thinking of how to stay focused during exams. While staying focused is important, giving yourself time to relax is equally crucial. After finishing a chapter, go out for a walk, and do something enjoyable. Avoid jumping from one study session to the other, rather give yourself some time to relax and your brain to unwind and regain focus. Use new methods to avoid burnout. Use the Pomodoro technique, to maintain focus. Study for 25 minutes, and then take a break for five minutes. Repeat this cycle. Reward yourself for all your small and big achievements. Remember, you’re worthy enough of every reward. Reward yourself with your favorite slice of chocolate, or something that truly excites you after completing an important yet difficult topic, chapter, theme, or subject.
Final Thoughts
So here, in this blog, we have tried our best to answer the question of “how to stay focused during exams?”, in the best way possible. These are practical tips that can help a student to gain concentration, and avoid unnecessary nervousness and anxiousness. Exam season can be quite demanding, and stressful but with the rightfully smart strategies, one can secure satisfactory marks. Remember to take care of your mental as well as physical well-being, avoid eating junk, meditate, engage yourself with breathing exercises and Yoga, stay organized, and most importantly, have a positive approach to life and these examinations. Keep your calm, and chill out. Remember, examinations are just a mere way of checking out your academic progress. Your marks do not define your worth. It’s all going to work out, in the right way. Good luck to every aspirant!