15 Effective ways to tackle mental stress in your pursuit of IIT-JEE examinations
Factors that trigger stress
Before we talk about the effective way to deal with mental stress, here are a few factors that commonly trigger it among students.
- Social factors: There are various social factors that can trigger mental stress among students. Sometimes it can be triggered by the pressure from the parents with their high expectations from you to compete in the examinations or sometimes it can be pressure from your teachers, who want their students to score the best. Yet, in most cases, it is pressure from the peers and classmates, who sometimes are better in their overall academics and the end result is a risen mental stress.
- Economic factors: Economic factors are the most common reason for mental stress among students. Most students leave their hometown behind and stay in a hostel and even have to bear expenses to prepare for the IIT-JEE examinations. In such a scenario, students come under pressure to give their ‘hundred per cent’ in the exams, which can ultimately trigger mental stress.
- Daily habits: Sometimes it is the daily schedule or routine of the students which can trigger mental stress. Ahead of the examinations, students work hard day and night and endure a lot of pressure. They study for long hours, which can bring drastic changes in their daily habits including changed sleeping patterns, which ultimately leads to them taking a lot of mental stress during the IIT-JEE examinations. To deal with mental stress, it is vital for students to bring a change in their daily habits, which will be discussed later in this article.
Effective ways to tackle mental stress:
Now that we have discussed the main factors which trigger mental stress among students, the next and most important step in our way ahead is to talk about the effective ways to deal with it during the IIT-JEE examinations. Here are 15 steps for students to effectively deal with mental stress. Let’s begin.
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Table of Contents
- Minutes of meditation
- Yoga and physical activities
- Taking breaks at regular intervals
- Taking a proper sleep
- Work smart, not hard
- Keep your expectations realistic
- Manage time
- Take mock tests
- One goal at a time
- Say no to stressed peers
- Don’t leave behind work for another day
- Keep a happiness quotient around
- Do something you love
- Talk to your family members
- Most importantly, stay positive
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- Minutes of meditation: In the pursuit of your goal, apart from mountaineering your physical health, it is important for you to keep yourself mentally fit. Meditation is said to be the best exercise for your brain. It keeps you mentally fit and relaxes your mind. This is the reason why experts suggest that, where they are students, millennials or office employees, a few minutes of meditation is vital for all individuals to stay motivated and keep mental stress away. You can start by sitting in a relaxed position, closing your eyes, and taking long, deep breaths for at least five to ten minutes a day. Though it may seem like a hard thing to do at first, believe us, meditation can be a good start to keep mental stress away from you ahead or during your preparation for the IIT-JEE examinations.
- Yoga and physical activities: Yoga is another way to keep your body and mind relaxed in your pursuit of performing well in your IIT-JEE examinations. While preparing for your examinations, you might have to sit at the same place for long hours and study, but this widely affects your health both physically and mentally. Thus, it becomes necessary for you to engage in some or other physical activity to stay healthy and fit. While Yoga can be the best physical activity for students, sports, stretching and running can also help them get rid of mental stress.
- Taking breaks at regular intervals: While long hours of study become vital for students as they head towards the IIT-JEE examinations, it can invite a lot of mental stress as well. So, it is necessary for students to take breaks at regular intervals and relax their body and mind. In your spare time, you can engage in something that you love or even go for a walk or drink tea or water.
- Taking proper sleep: Long hours of study can bring change in the sleep pattern of students, which as discussed above, becomes a factor that triggers mental stress. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests that while it is necessary for students between the age group of 6-12 years to sleep for at least 9-12 hours a day, teenagers should take at least 8-10 hours of sleep per day. A healthy sleep keeps your mind relaxed and focused, which is why it is an essential step towards keeping mental stress at bay.
- Work smart, not hard: While most teachers or even your peers would recommend you to study for long hours or even gobble up every portion of your syllabus for the IIT-JEE examinations, working smartly will help you save time and stay away from mental stress. You can prepare a strategy on which portions of the syllabus, you need to focus more on and even discuss the same with your teachers and seniors, who are more familiar with the pattern of the examination than you. Devising a strategy will surely help you prepare well for the examinations and even save time for revision.
- Keep your expectations realistic: Believe it or not, IIT-JEE examinations are one of the toughest competitive examinations in India. Though you would definitely want to qualify for the JEE Advanced examinations and get admission to one of the top colleges, it is necessary for you to keep your goals and expectations realistic. You, as a student, would know your potential best and should aim for the target which can be realistically achieved.
- Manage time: Time management is one of the best ways to prepare for the IIT-JEE examination. Believe us, you have a limited amount of time that is three hours to attempt and accurate answer all questions in your exam, which is why time management becomes one of the most vital steps to prepare for your ultimate test. Moreover, this healthy habit from the beginning will also help you keep mental stress miles away from you.
- Take mock tests: Another recommended way to keep stress at bay is to take up frequent mock tests. These tests not only help you understand the pattern of the examination well but also make you understand your strength and weaknesses in your pursuit of qualifying for the IIT-JEE examinations. By knowing your strong and weak topics, you can devise your plan to prepare for the exams accordingly and even manage your time. Here are (add link) a few mock tests for IIT-JEE examinations that Ixpoe recommends!
- Take one goal at a time: Though for preparing for IIT-JEE examinations, you have a vast syllabus to study, taking up multiple tasks at once can bring in a lot of stress. Completing one task and then going for the other, on the other hand, helps you save time and also keeping you motivated in your JEE pursuit.
- Say no to stressed peers: While you would have many peers, who much like you, would be preparing for the IIT-JEE examinations, some of them can induce negativity in you, by showing you their own worries and stress. But, it is important for you to not take their share of stress yourself and stay focused on your own goals.
- Don’t leave behind work for another day: As we discussed above, IIT-JEE has a vast syllabus that you need to study. But when you are months away from taking the examinations, it is necessary for you to save time and not leave behind your work for another day. Believe us, you wouldn’t want to burden yourself in the end and to save yourself from such a situation, you should study up to your full potential. This would give you ample time for revision and even help you keep mental stress away.
- Keep a happiness quotient around: Sometimes students feel unmotivated to study after spending long hours with their books. However, finding motivation is easy with a happiness quotient around. Happiness quotient can be anything, ranging from a family photograph, a small figurine of your favourite superhero or even your old certificate, which would keep you motivated and reduce your mental stress.
- Do something that you love: Though in your pursuit to qualify for IIT-JEE examinations, it is important for you to stay focused and study hard, sometimes the same can bring you a lot of mental stress. To avoid such a situation, you can take a break and do something that you love which can range from reading motivational books, playing a guitar, listening to music or even showing your art in sketching or painting.
- Talk to your parents: Much like we discussed, keeping a happiness quotient around you to reduce stress, talking to your parents or even your old friends on phone for a few minutes will keep you relaxed after long hours of study. Believe us, your parents know you the best and they can motivate you to achieve your goal.
- Most importantly, stay positive: Apart from studying hard for the IIT-JEE examinations, the important factor that keeps your mental stress away is to stay positive and motivated all the time. Always remember, you have a big goal ahead of you and to achieve that, you need to stay positive and upright throughout your pursuit for the JEE examinations.
So, these were a few effective ways to keep mental stress away from you in your pursuit of the IIT-JEE examinations. We hope that these steps would definitely keep you motivated and stress-free in your preparations for your exams.
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Bayard Herbert