Effective Time Management Skills for IIT-JEE Preparation

Edited By: MADE EASY TEAM | Updated on Jul 8, 2024 05:22 PM IST | # JEE

In the present world, students start preparing for competitive exams at a very young age. Multiple coaching institutes launch multiple courses under different names. However, one question that frequently arises in the minds of aspirants is: What is that one thing apart from hard work, self-study, focus, and revision that can ensure their selection in top technical institutes like IITs?

The answer is time management, or effective time management. One of the key elements that plays a major role in the selection and failure of any aspirant. Here in this blog, we will keep our discussion around time management during IIT-JEE preparation.

In the present time, hardly anyone is there who doesn’t know the importance of time. But not everyone knows how to manage time effectively, and this is one of the key differences between the topper and a normal aspirant.

IIT-JEE preparation is not less than the preparation of a war. A war has the potential to change the lives of aspirants. For that 3-hour war, aspirants practice every day with different weapons, techniques, and tricks, and on the final day, they have to use all their learning in the best possible way for 3 hours.

Time Management Skills

Famous American polymath, inventor, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin once said, “You may delay, but time will not.” This line fits true in everyone’s life. All of us must have encountered such situation at least once in our life time. However, here we will talk about the IIT-JEE aspirants or the students who are going to prepare for IIT-JEE. In this blog, we will discuss about different tips of time management for the students preparing for IIT-JEE.

Let’s look from the point of IIT-JEE aspirant, why time management is important? Actually, time management helps the aspirant to strategize their preparation, it helps them to manage all the three subjects as well as revising them properly. For the aspirants which are preparing along with school, time management becomes more important as they have to manage their school exams along with competition. With effective time management, students can score good marks in school exams as well as in IIT-JEE.

Let’s look at some tips that can help with time management.

Early Start: It’s often said that an early bird catches the worm. This is true for the students preparing for IIT-JEE as well. The earlier someone starts, the more time they have. This helps them to plan and strategize their preparation in a better way.
Join a good coaching: Instead of preparing from the internet, serious aspirants should join a good coaching institute for the preparation of JEE-Mains and JEE-Advanced. Coaching institutes provide them with an organized and structured course and experienced faculties for lectures and problem solving.
Division of time: This is the most important area where many aspirants face problems. Aspirants should make a proper timetable, which should be flexible, and follow it consistently. A proper timetable means a schedule that gives enough time to each subject and some extra time to weak subjects or topics.
Prioritizing topics: Aspirants should be capable of setting priorities in order to obtain better results. They should solve PYP (previous year papers) multiple times and attempt mock tests on a regular basis in order to identify the weak areas and focus on them.
Avoid distractions: Distractions are great time killers. Aspirants and students should try to stay away from distractions as much as possible. The most common distraction nowadays is gadgets. Aspirants should try to keep their digital gadgets like mobile phones, tablets, and laptops as far away as possible from their study area or table and use them only if it’s very urgent.
Make small and achievable targets: Instead of making a big target, make small targets daily. Try to complete them within the time frame. In other words, break down your goal into small goals. This is known as the Pomodoro technique.
Stop Procrastination: Procrastination is a trap that can make anyone fall. Aspirants should avoid the urge to postpone their studies. Remember, the time won’t come back, so it’s better to study now than regret later.
Efficient study techniques: Choosing the right study techniques can increase efficiency by many folds. This includes choosing the right study environment, using a table and chair for studying instead of a sofa and bed, mind mapping, active reading, etc.
Past-year papers: Solving past-year papers gives an idea of important topics and levels of questioning. This helps aspirants filter out important topics.
Take constant breaks: It’s very important to take breaks in between studies. Constantly sitting for long hours can reduce efficiency, and it can also lead to body aches and multiple other problems.
Follow the guidelines of teachers: Always follow the guidelines and instructions of teachers and mentors. This will save your efforts, time, and energy.
Follow the class notes and standard books: It’s not advisable to follow multiple resources. This would cause confusion, so aspirants should avoid using multiple books. It’s better to read one book a hundred times rather than read a hundred books at once.
Avoid doing Phd: Many students have this habit that while studying their favorite topic, they delve too deeply into that one topic or subject, which is not required. A good aspirant should study according to the syllabus. Remember, you have to clear the exam, which has multiple topics, not just one. So avoid going too deep into any subject or topic.
Avoid Social Media: Social media can silently eat your precious time, and this time won’t come back. Also, the content and comments on social media can disturb your mind, which can subsequently hamper your studies. So avoid using social media.
Learn the art of saying NO: Most of the aspirants preparing for IIT-JEE are teenagers. At this age, it’s very common and easy to get under peer pressure and get influenced by various influencers. However, it is utmost important for a good aspirant to filter out and prioritize things. One should not engage themselves in those areas (like partying, chilling, or watching movies with friends), which can waste their precious time.
Use the internet smartly: The Internet is a very powerful tool in today’s era. Students should learn the art of using the internet effectively. They can read lectures, learn memorizing techniques, mnemonics, etc. while traveling.
Don’t run for preparation strategies: Most often, students spend a lot of their precious time looking for the best preparation strategy. There is no best preparation strategy; every strategy is good if it gets selected. Every candidate is different; everyone comes from a different background, and every candidate has a different level of understanding. So it’s not necessary that a certain strategy that any topper followed work the same for you. Hence, it’s better to look for a preparation strategy and start making your own.
Learn meditation and mind-relaxing techniques: For any aspirant, a stable and calm mind is very necessary. Aspirants should do meditation or learn some mind-relaxation techniques that can help them relax their minds. This would help the aspirants retain the studied content for a longer time.
Keep your health under check: Most often, when we talk about time management, we tend to ignore health. Bad health can push you backward for many days; therefore, it’s very important to prioritize your health along with your constant hard work. Do regular exercise, take a proper meal, and get complete sleep. Avoid taking unnecessary pressure, and don’t compare yourself to anyone.

These are some tips from MENIIT that can help aspirants manage their time effectively while preparing for JEE-Mains and JEE-Advanced. These are not some strict and unchangeable tips; students can modify these tips and use them as per their own requirements, demands, and conditions. Anyhow, the ultimate goal of any IIT-JEE aspirant is to get selected at the best technical institute in the country and become a good engineer.

FAQs:

How can JEE students improve time management?

JEE students should avoid unnecessary wastage of time, reducing the time spent on social media and unproductive works.

How many hours of study is enough for JEE preparation?

It varies for every aspirant, if one feel that they have better conceptual clarity they can study bit less, if one feel they lack conceptual clarity, then they should put more efforts.