The exam is the academic exercise for which we all hustle. It may seem straightforward like you will sit in an exam and write everything you have learned the whole year, but it isn’t. Giving exams is like riding a roller coaster, not knowing what comes when. In all this, a few common mistakes make the ride much more complicated. If you do not avoid these common pitfalls, consequences might not be easy on you. However, how will you avoid these when have no idea what these are? Well, this is what brings us here. We are going to discuss 8 mistakes to avoid when preparing for your next exam so you don’t harm your grades unknowingly.
1. Procrastinating Until the Last Minute
Studies on this subject suggest that 50% of college students procrastinate constantly, while 75% of them accept themselves as procrastinators. It is indeed has become a common thing among not only students but working professionals as well.
But if not start looking for a solution, the results might upset you. To avoid this happening to you, do not wait till the last minute to do things. Instead, take control of yourself and start working on things immediately so that you can kill in exams.
2. Not Having a Study Plan
Going to take the exams without having a plan is like entering into battlefield unprepared. Students who do not plan things before go and sit to that last academic battle, should not be surprised if things go south for you.
Also, this not only decreases how you perform in exams but makes you feel stressed and overwhelmed at the same time. As Jeff Bezos said, “Stress comes from not working hard at something you could have”. So, we advise you to make a plan before it’s too late.
3. Ignoring Health and Well-being
You can find many students who do everything to perform well at their exams but do not take a look at their health and well-being. This can negatively impact the outcome of their hard work as their body might not support them at the very moment. You can somehow, unwillingly, push a car to the destination while not looking at its condition but at some point, it is going to break down.
Our body is like just that car, if not notice its condition and keep pushing it, you might face heavy consequences. All we are saying is that with everything you do, keep a check on your physical and mental health.
4. Not Reviewing Past Papers
Past papers are something that can help you learn a lot about what you are going to face in your exams. Still, a lot of students can be seen ignoring this valuable source of learning and putting their focus on their current material.
Hope you do not come to those. Even if you do, make sure to change your track as soon as possible. Arrange past papers and dedicate time to practicing these. Do this and you will know what you were missing.
5. Studying in Distractions
If you keep your phone, laptop (if have no work of it in your studies), or anything that can distract you when studying, you are going to get off-track many times. You are just one notification away from destroying all the focus you gained in all these times. It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back your focus after getting distracted - The University of California, Irvine study. If you want to ensure having effective study sessions, you must choose a quiet, organized study space, turn off your phone or set it to 'Do Not Disturb' mode and remove anything that can pull you off the track.
6. Neglecting Difficult Topics
If a mouse closes its eyes in the hope of not getting hunted, a cat standing in front is still not letting it go. Just like that, many students neglect difficult topics imagining in their minds they might not have to face any questions from those. Instead, they only study material they feel comfortable with or find easy to learn. This is the biggest mistake a student can make in their whole academic life. We advise you not to do this and study everything in the books to avoid having one of the biggest regrets of your life.
7. Not Seeking Help When Needed
A study shows that 40% of students are introverted. This means 4 out of 10 students reading this might hesitate to seek help even if they needed it the most. If you ask them why they do that, many will answer “I need to figure out everything on my own”. Do you see what’s happening here? This sentence is an escape for them to avoid interactions with others. But there is a solution as well for introverts, they can find an assignment help website online by googling it and asking them to help. These are genuine helpers who help students in doing their academic work and can also teach you if you want without even interacting in real life.
8. Memorizing Without Understanding
You can always forget the ‘what’ but never the ‘why’. Many students get confused between these two. They think they only need to memorize and they are done with their part. What they don’t realize is memorizing without understanding is just like walking through a street not knowing what it looks like. You might remember it a few times but it’s guaranteed not going to stay in your head for a long. If you do the same with your academic material, there are a lot of chances you might go blank when you sit in the exam. So, instead of taking a shortcut, give more time and focus on understanding the material rather than just memorizing it.
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Final Words
These 8 common mistakes happen without even realizing them but have a great impact on the grades. Now, that you are well aware of these, you have the power to take over the control and perform well in your next exam. You might have to be a bit hard on yourself in the beginning but all will be worth it in the end.