How Can One Manage Time When They Appear For Olympiads?

 

Every student in the exam hall thinks of this sentence at least once “I wish I had more time, the questions were doable, I just needed a little more time”, that’s something quite usual and it happens to everyone. But why does it happen? We happen to know the solution to all the questions yet we end up not answering all the questions. It requires the skill of time management. To be able to solve all the questions within the time given is a skill not everyone has.

Managing time effectively is extremely important for students appearing for competitive exams like Olympiads. It is not a difficult skill to learn but it does make a vast difference in the results. Let us now discuss of some effective ways of time management.

Before you actually start preparing for your exams, make sure you understand the exam format perfectly. This will help you with making the right preparation and time allocation plan, eventually helping you reduce stress.

Once you are thorough with the exam pattern, understand the syllabus completely. This will help you with creating a routine accordingly. A fixed daily routine is a must to cover all the topics without taking much stress on oneself. Do include breaks at regular time intervals to relax and freshen up. Make sure your routine is flexible enough to let you do other things for the day.

Self-assessment is very much important during this process. Discipline is the key to making this happen. Self-assessment helps you identify your weak parts and helps you with working on them. All of this being said, the real test starts in the examination hall. Make sure you take full advantage of the initial reading time that is given to you. Read the entire question paper thoroughly. Decide on what questions to attempt first and leave the confusing ones for the later. You need to have an answering approach of your own.

Plenty of mock papers are available on the Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) website. You can take up multiple mock tests to prepare an answering approach of your own. Students can visit Indian Talent Olympiad to get mock papers and study materials.

You always need a plan to complete something smoothly. You will have to divide you time reasonably, a plan where you can make the maximum out of minimum. There is no rule where you are asked to answer all the questions. Don’t be afraid to skip the question that you find hard to answer because if you complete all the questions you know in lesser amount of time, the time saved can be utilized to answer all the unanswered ones. There is also no rule that constraints you to do questions in order. So simply take up easier questions first up.