In this age and the years to come, competition to taste success in academics is/ will be very high. There can only be one topper and the mad race to become that topper will automatically induce stress in students as well as parents. Majority of the parents have high hopes on their children and without knowing, they induce stress in the children. The students are highly charged to compete on a very big scale. They are equipped with the latest technology, books, teachers, what else do they need to crack a competitive exam or excel well in academics? With so much of guidance given to them, why do they still get stressed? What are the ways they can get relieved from this stress? Can you have someone help you manage your stress? Mostly No, you need to handle your stress yourself not always will your father or mother or brother/ sister, etc will come to your rescue. They will/ may guide you, but it is you who has to think wise, act and come out of your stress.
Here are some ways to handle stress.
- Be strong, optimistic, ready to work hard
Academics always comes with certain amount of difficulty. The moment you enter grade 9, the road ahead is not so easy, so only the hard workers who devise great plans of study will win eventually. Be strong – “Strength is life, weakness is death”, says the revered Swami Vivekananda. Never lose hope or confidence. It is perfectly alright to have some amount of over-confidence but do not slip your mind to depression or develop inferiority complex.
- Reduce/ nullify anxiety
What will I do if the question paper is tough? What will I do if I am not able to finish my portions on time? What will happen if the question paper is too lengthy? What will I do if I cannot be the topper? If you are asking any or all of these questions to your brain, you are full of anxiety. You must learn to reduce/ nullify your anxiety by super-imposing the anxious thoughts with confident thoughts. Teachers’ and/ or parents’ interventions may help in reducing the anxiety in students. Teachers can serve as good role-models and help in removing the anxiety in the children.
- Check your eating and sleeping patterns – eat well/ sleep well
You should consider yourself lucky if you are eating well and sleeping well especially when exams are round the corner. It is only when exams are nearing that students will start getting nervous and they forget to eat well and sleep well. Regular and habitual eating and sleeping patterns is much appreciated. Eating junk foods is not so desirous. If you have trouble sleeping, consult a psychiatrist and get some minimum sleeping doses, there is nothing wrong in doing so, rather than sleep less and land up getting into mental/ physical health related complications.
Continuous study is recommended; it helps you to finish portions well on time. Also consider taking breaks in between your studies. Sometimes this might work and you might land being more productive. However, breaks should not be too lengthy that you get totally distracted from what you are studying.
- Exercise hard – sweat it out
Workouts are a wonderful way to keep you focused. Learning to let go of fears of exams is an important step in a student’s academic success and such thoughts of fearlessness and bravery comes to those who exercise hard. Initially it might be tough to set a routine but once you start enjoying exercising and making it a habit, no stress will harm your brain. Sound mind in a sound body, so if your brain needs to be active, tune your body first.
- Do not overuse gadgets and become addicted to them
Lot of stress is felt by students who over-use the gadgets. If you are addicted to text books and studies, it is ok but it is not so a great thing to be addicted to smart phones, tv, laptops, etc. What you do with the gadgets is important. There are many good ways of using technology, so use it only for good purposes. Gaming is an area where majority of the students are addicted. While there is not much of gains in gaming, some students argue that gaming helps them improve their concentration. Physically they become weak by playing games. Ask a student to sit in front of the laptop and continuously play games for 10 hours and ask another student to walk, run, cycle, work out, at the end, analyze who is more charged!? Technology is your good friend and sometimes can be a bad enemy as well, so beware!
Idea of a GURUJEE faculty to reduce stress
Cover a chapter within 20 minutes. That means a quick glance. This helps the student to spot out 90% of the keywords in the chapter and will also serve as a revision of the class the teacher would have already taken in the class. Now close the book and try to list out the keywords. Also remember the concepts taken. Cross-verify the keywords and read the chapter from first to last. Practice the solved problems while studying itself. Do not postpone problem solving. Do not think it is a wise idea to first read the entire chapter and at last solve all the problems. By doing the above, the students’ confidence will increase thereby decreasing or nullifying the stress.
Keep on talking positive things to your brain
One of your best friends is your brain. Talk to your brain. Keep on pouring positive affirmations to your brain. I can, I will, I should – these should be your constant thoughts when you are depressed. When you panic, know that you can calm down by training your brain to think the correct thoughts. Stress relaxation techniques to a great extent depend on how well you train your brain. So, think positive and talk positive.
The above ways to handle stress are only a few. What is stress for someone might be an easy task for someone else, mainly because each one of our DNA is different. The way we have been brought up, the number of accidents (experiences where a major event such as board examinations, college education, employment, marriage, death of a near one, etc.) that have happened in our lives – these to a great extent affect our brain and the way it is taught to handle stress. We, at GURUJEE constantly work with each one of the students and identify early the potential in them to handle stress. Some students excel in handling stress and prove to the world that they are the future leaders while some students struggle to cope with academic stress. To those who struggle, We, GURUJEE faculties constantly guide them in the right areas at the right pace. We see to it that all the students rise up to their highest potential.
Good Luck and God bless!
C K Chandrasekar, NIT Allahabad
TEAM GURUJEE.