How To Train Your Mind For Mental Stress During Exam

The expected time table for Rajyaseva Prelims 2013 could be:

GS Paper I  – Morning Session either 10AM to 12PM or 10:30AM to 12:30PM

GS Paper II  – Afternoon Session either 1:30 PM to 3:30PM or 2PM to 4PM

Your mental state during the exam:

You will be in fresh mood in the morning session so no problem with this BUT……

RED WARNING: You will be feeling very stressed during afternoon session and it will be very difficult to handle the CSAT paper because of the complexity of the questions. The Comprehension passages will be lengthy enough to understand and then attempt questions based on them. The Decision Making, Analytical Ability, Data Interpretation, Basic Numeracy, Mental Ability questions will take a toll on your mind and energy. They will make you discouraged during the exam. You will feel very stressed and may get tensed.

Solution: To overcome the above problem, do the following, starting TODAY, i.e. 29^th March 2013.

• Your mind and body needs training to fight the stress.
• To do this try attempting Mock Tests (from books) and on our website http://www.anilmd.com as per the following timings.
• Solve as many questions as possible (but maximum 100 in one sitting) for GS Paper I between 09:30AM and 12PM. Do the reading and other things at other time in the day and night.
• Solve as many questions as possible (but maximum 80 in one sitting) for GS Paper II i.e CSAT between 1:30PM and 4PM.

 When you are ready for Mock Test, do the following:

• Remove your wrist watch and keep it on the table so that you can have a look at it while answering the questions.  During the exam, DO NOT look at the Wall Clock in your room.
• Quickly read the entire question paper as soon as you get it. Check for printing mistakes, if any. This MUST be done in 5 minutes. Keep this practicing at every Mock Test. You will be doing this in actual exam so better you practice it. No need to do this during our Online Tests.
• Start answering the question paper.
• Do not get panicky if you find some questions difficult. As you already know that you are not gifted to understand each and everything. This is same with every one so do not get angry, either. Leave the most difficult questions and move on.

How much time for each question?

GS Paper I:

Try not to spend more than 45 seconds on a small question at a time and 60 seconds on lengthy question.

The break-up of the time for entire exam duration is as follows:

1. 100 questions – 120 minutes
2. 5 min – initial reading  (for example 09:30 AM to 09:35 AM)
3. 100 min for 100 questions = 6000 seconds for 100 questions i.e. 60 seconds for answering each question in the first round. (09:35 AM to 11:15 AM)
   1. 15 min – revision of difficult  questions (11:15 AM to 11:30AM)

Remember:

• Answer easy question first so that you gain confidence.
• Keep your eye on the wrist watch so that you monitor the seconds.
• If you cannot answer a question in 45 or 60 seconds, leave it for next round. You can answer it in the last 15 minutes
• After you have completed entire question paper within the 100 minutes, make another round of the remaining questions and try to answer them. Remember that you must answer all questions within this time i.e. (11:15 AM to 11:30AM).
• If you find that you cannot answer them, just leave them unanswered. Remember that wrong answers can draw penalty. For every wrong answer, 0.33% marks of that question will be deducted; so be careful.
• When you have used up the 100 minutes, i. e. at 11:15 am, start revising your entire question paper from question number 1 till the last question. Check for the unanswered questions and try to answer them if you know the most correct answer. Do not answer it if you are unable to arrive at the right answer. This is to avoid the negative marking.
• Soon after the mock test, check your answers and focus on the wrong answer topics by reading more on those topics.

GS Paper II – CSAT:

Try not to spend more than 45 seconds on a small question at a time and 60 seconds on lengthy question. The break-up of the time for entire exam duration is as follows:

1. 80 questions – 120 minutes
2. 5 min – initial reading  (for example 2PM to 2:05PM)
3. 100 min for 80 questions = 6000 seconds for 80 questions i.e. 75 seconds for answering each question in the first round. (2:05PM to 3:45PM)
4. 15 min – revision of difficult  questions (3:45PM to 4PM)

 Remember:

• Answer easy question first so that you gain confidence.
• Keep your eye on the wrist watch so that you monitor the seconds.
• If you cannot answer a question in 60 or 75 seconds, leave it for next round. You can answer it in the last 15 minutes
• After you have completed entire question paper within the 100 minutes, make another round of the remaining questions and try to answer them. Remember that you must answer all questions within this time i.e. (3:45PM to 4PM).
• If you find that you cannot answer them, just leave them unanswered. Remember that wrong answers can draw penalty. For every wrong answer, 0.33% marks of that question will be deducted; so be careful.
• When you have used up the 100 minutes, i. e. at 3:45PM, start revising your entire question paper from question number 1 till the last question. Check for the unanswered questions and try to answer them if you know the most correct answer. Do not answer it if you are unable to arrive at the right answer. This is to avoid the negative marking.
• Soon after the mock test, check your answers and focus on the wrong answer topics by reading more on those topics.

Please do this every day from 29^th March to 5^th April 2013 so that your mind and body gets used to the stress during the afternoon session (CSAT paper) in tackling the lengthy and stressful questions.

NOTE: If you DO NOT do the above then you will not be able to handle the CSAT paper as well as the lengthy questions in GS Paper I.