Conquer your exam fears

Expert tips

Psychologist Dr Sharita Shah offers a few tips for parents and students:

Research has proved that the average attention span of a teenager is 45 minutes maximum. Parents must understand that it’s alright for students to take short, frequent breaks for them to charge up again.

Students shouldn’t completely ignore the hobbies they pursue or activities they like just because it is exam time. The brain needs its share of innovation be it sports, music or painting. Thirty minutes of recreation does no harm.

Set your own benchmarks rather than comparing yourself with your peers. Also it’s not advisable to compare and share notes just a few days before exams as it leads to anxiety levels soaring.

Limit your conversations with friends who are appearing for the exams themselves and for pleasant repartee, there is always a sibling or a friend who is not appearing for the exam.Talk to them instead.

Parents must be careful about not constantly double-checking the child’s preparation as their anxiety might tend to rub off on the child as well.

Eat right

Nutritionist Karishma Chawla offers a few essential pointers.

It’s very important to have a balanced diet. Eating at regular intervals, preferably every two hours, helps in keeping the blood sugar levels stable and eases concentration.

Having approximately two litres of water per day is necessary. If consuming plain water is difficult, add a dash of lime or orange for taste. Coconut water is a rich source of nutrients.

The focus should be on consuming iron and omega 3 rich food as it helps in concentrating better. Flax seeds, almonds, green leafy vegetables, cashew nuts are some of the rich sources. Adding a dash of lemon while serving green leafy vegetables helps in better absorption of iron as citrus contains Vitamin C.

Functional exercise in any form, thrice a week, is recommended as it aids blood circulation and keeps the body active.

Carbohydrates keep the body satiated for a longer duration and if the student is full, focusing is easier. Complex carbohydrates like wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi stabilise the energy better than refined flours like maida.

Consuming one to two seasonal fruits in a day is also advisable as they are a source of natural vitamins.

Topper Speaks

Parth Kothari of Pace Junior Science College, was a topper in the Science stream last year, scoring 95.69 per cent. He says: “It’s very important to have concepts clear and well defined in advance. The basic criterion in the Board exams is to present your answers well, according to the board format. I had made it a point to keep separate notebooks for formulae and definitions for each subject and that really helped me during last minute revisions. Also it’s advisable to skim through the textbook once. It always gives an upper hand as the questions that finally appear in the paper, are twisted. I made it a point to flip through the previous years’ question papers a day before the exams to have an idea about the pattern. While writing the paper, skip the question or section that scares you the most and move on to the next. There are always options available and you can attempt the questions you are comfortable with first.

Source | Asian Age | 23 February 2015