UPSC Prelims 2024: Is anxiety affecting your preparations? Here are 4 quick ways to help you relax and keep calm!

Preparing for an exam as major as the UPSC is a journey filled with highs and lows. It is essential that aspirants have a relaxed mind and keep anxiety at bay.

“Will I be able to crack the exam? Will I remember all the notes I prepared for the examination? What If I cannot crack the exam?” – If you are appearing for the UPSC Prelims 2024 this year, chances are these questions may have popped in your mind too, making you feel even more anxious and stressed.

Managing anxiety becomes absolutely important when preparing for an exam as important as the UPSC Civil Service Examinations. Although being slightly nervous ahead of an exam can help focus your attention, being too anxious can in turn deter your preparation goal. Follow few expert-recommended tips to keep anxiety at bay during UPSC exam preparation. (Unsplash)

This is perhaps the most common feeling every UPSC aspirant goes through, given that they are about to appear for India’s most prestigious exam.

Well, research has shown that although being slightly nervous ahead of an exam can help focus your attention, being too anxious can in turn deter your preparation goal. Therefore, it is extremely important that candidates remain calm and composed as they prepare for the examinations.

The Civil Services Examination (Preliminary) 2024 is scheduled to be held from June 16, 2024, meaning candidates have slightly over 2 months left for the examination. While aspirants prepare for the examinations, it is essential that they keep anxiety at bay by following a few expert-recommended techniques. These are mentioned below:

1. 45 minutes of meditation every day:

Meditation has proven benefits to cure mental fatigue, especially during times when an individual is highly stressed. Meditating at least one time in a day can have a lasting impact on the brain, doctors believe. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dr Rituraj Borbora, a medical expert from Guwahati, highlighted how meditation can help students retain information in a better way. He said, “I remember the times when I used to be stressed ahead of my medical exams which had an adverse impact on my concentration. It was after I started meditating that I started feeling more peaceful about my study pattern.”

“Meditation eases the mind and makes it ready to soak as much information as possible without any hindrance. I recommend every aspirant who will be appearing for a major exam to include 45 minutes of meditation in the preparation regime,” he added.

2. Take short strolls during breaks:

Sitting in the same position for hours can be taxing both for the mind and body. To avoid too much pressure on oneself, aspirants can take short strolls in their home garden or at a nearby park. Experts recommend that breathing the fresh air and having conversations with people releases stress and radiates positive energy. Dr Leena Dutta, a retired academician, said, “It is always advisable during an exam as important as the UPSC, for candidates to indulge in activities like taking short strolls or fun-talking with family members or close friends for brief spells as such activities serve as stress busters. They also are a great help in maintaining a sound equilibrium of the mind.”

3. Light activities to keep the mind under control:

Preparations for such exams should ideally be interspersed with some light exercise and short recourse to fun breaks like watching a hilarious show on the TV or listening to soft music, but certainly not very loud. “Such short breaks in between the preparations go a long way in keeping the mind under a healthy emotional control,” says Barsha Das, who cracked the APSC examinations in 2022 and is now placed as DSP with the Government of Assam.

4. Light board games to keep the mind relaxed:

Although not considered a major field of entertainment, board games could be quite an effective instrument for keeping the mind calm and relaxed during the stressful moments of examination. “Humble as these games may appear on the surface, they have a great potential for keeping the mind balanced and composed without any aggressive postures,” says Dr Amal Kumar Sarma, a retired chief medical and health officer.

Dr Sarma also said that board games boost the creative urge, thus helping students prepare for their exams in a far more enriching way.