–Souradeep Saha
Do you want to have an average of at least 90%? Do you want to be twice as more productive with little to almost no effort? Have you ever found yourself at a situation when you told yourself that you would work on the assignment from “tomorrow” only to end up getting a 70% because the deadline slinked out of your head? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then keep on reading as I am going to share some techniques to score higher on exams and stop procrastination once and for all. In case you are wondering what makes me qualified to answer these questions, here’s my background: I’m currently a senior year student of Danforth CTI with the final score of 100% in MCV4U (Calculus and Vectors) and 99% in MHF4U (Advanced Functions), as well as outstanding scores in Waterloo contests – this year I placed 28th in Toronto for the University of Waterloo Avogadro Contest (I was able to take some 4U courses by transferring credit from the CAIE IGCSE and A Level courses, which I used to study in Bangladesh). Enough about me, now let’s dive into the process.
One of the things I recently read is that while it takes only around three weeks on average to form a pattern, it takes well over three months to convert the pattern into a habit; so don’t expect that you’ll magically transform your life overnight; you have to be patient. The strategy I’m about to share consists of 5 simple steps:
Step 1: Take a pen and a piece of paper, and write down your goals starting with the easiest
Step 2: Look at the top of your list, an do it right now; don’t schedule it for later
Step 3: Once you start, break down your task into smaller portions; for instance, if your task is to solve 20 math problems, divide them into four or five groups and do the first group of questions right now. Alternatively, you could also allocate a specific amount of time, say 20 minutes for the work. Within this time, focus only on the problem. However, if you get distracted by your phone or have the urge to check the notifications, which you probably will especially if it’s the first time, turn your phone off and submit it to someone else, asking that person to return it to you only when you are done with your homework. This step is absolutely crucial. If you want to improve the quality of your life, you have to make up your mind to sacrifice something. Ask yourself this question, “What is the worst that could happen if I don’t check my phone right now?” Most of the time, the answer is nothing. So your phone can wait.
Step 4: Reward yourself for your diligence. If you have been purely working for the last 15 minutes, reward yourself by taking a five minute break. Then go back to your checklist, check off the item you’ve just completed, and move on with the remaining ones.
Step 5: Repeat this process but increase your working time gradually. Start with 15 minutes, increment to 30, then 1 hour, you get the idea. Keep in mind to take a short break every 1 hour. If you keep replaying this game for long enough, you’ll hopefully see your grades improving and have no problem retaining your concentration for long periods of time.
Some of the ideas I’ve shared here are inspired from The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. You might want to check that book out.
One point worth mentioning is that you actually have to have an active interest in studying (or whatever you’re passionate about) for this method to work. Just like a fish cannot climb a tree, you have to be absolutely self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses. For example, I like mathematics and my younger brother Sagar likes art; no matter how much I draw I’m never going to enjoy it (even if I might progressively get better at it) and vice versa. If you have not found out your passion yet, that presumably means you haven’t tasted enough things: you can’t know you love Italian cuisine if you’ve never tried it in your life. So I would suggest you to try out a new activity like drawing, singing or coding, give a shot at a new sport, or simply join a club you find exciting. Once you have enough experience, just choose one you enjoy the most. Remember: you generally can’t be good at something overnight. It takes enormous amounts of time, dedication, along with devotion to become phenomenal. When I achieved the top 1% scores in the Cambridge International Exams, I had to study no less than 12 – 13 hours a day. Sacrifice is the price you pay for success. Last but not the least, don’t compare yourself with anyone else. One of my favorite quotes of all time is “Life is the most difficult test. Many people fail trying to copy other, not realizing that everyone has a different question paper.” You are unique, not a copy of someone else in the world; so don’t pick up a hobby only because your friends are enjoying it. According to a study conducted by Microsoft, the average attention span of a human being is only eight seconds. Thus, if you have read this far, thank you so much for your attention. I genuinely anticipate that my story will help you in the tiniest bit and if it did, please share it with a friend who you think could benefit from this as well. 3
