My Mindset Rules After Studying 15 Hours Every Day For 100+ Days
The mental framework necessary to approach any exam which requires months of preparation.
It was my first attempt.
I was preparing for entrance exams for my advanced degree last year. The feeling was frightening. I already knew that the journey would be one with sleepless nights, anxiety, isolation, hard work, and self-doubt.
I was sceptical about appearing but later decided to give it a shot.
After going through it all, on 13 November last year, I got rewarded for my efforts.
I got a seat in the college I wanted.
Much to my surprise, the journey of studying for 15 hours every day for 100+ days, transformed my thinking about achieving our goals.
I won't go so far as to say that it transformed me. If we strive for something, adopting a few mindset rules can change how we deal with obstacles.
Don't Count Yourself Out Too Soon
Aspirants start preparations for the exams almost a year in advance. My preparations could begin only in February, owing to some official commitments at work.
It is strongly recommended that every aspirant go through the extremely vast syllabus in detail, at least 5–6 times, to clear the exams.
I beg to differ.
The truth is, no two individuals have the same calibre.
After a certain minimum number of revisions, quality takes over quantity. The fact is that a quantity-focused aspirant might require 7–8 revisions for a subject which a quality-focussed aspirant might grasp in just 4–5 revisions.
Therefore, judging yourself by other’s preparation might not be a good place to begin with.
Embracing The Uncertainty
The syllabus for advanced examinations is extremely vast.
I didn’t have any experience of starting preparations so early. During school, it would be just the last two weeks when we would burn the midnight oil.
So at first, it took me 2 months only to go through the entire syllabus. The even more serious issue was that I couldn’t retain even an iota of what I read since everything was so vast and new, and so much was being fed into my brain, all at once.
I was terrified. How will I produce any of what I am reading on paper?
Then, I was reassured by my mentor that what I was going through was quite normal.
He was convinced about the process of revision cycles, which meant revisiting the syllabus in fixed intervals so that it becomes a part of one’s muscle memory.
Putting my trust in that process until the end gave me the result I desired.
An Emotional Aim
My wife and I were blessed with our daughter in May before the exams were scheduled in September. We had a long discussion about whether I should appear for the exams. It was a mutual decision that I would give a fair attempt.
Isolating myself in a different city from my wife and newborn to prepare for the exams was a tough decision.
However, the inspiration was that if I cleared the exams, I would have an extra year to spend with them before my next field posting. I used this as a motivation to raise my spirits whenever I doubted myself, and it helped me to work even harder.
Studying Is Half The Battle
This is perhaps the most important takeaway.
Let me quickly take you through the routine during the exams.
- 5 am — Wake up
- 5:15–08:30- Revise for the day’s exam
- 09:30 am –12:30 pm- Give exam
- 12:30–03:00 pm- Come back, lunch, short nap
- 03:00 pm-08:00 pm- Study for the exam next day
- 08:00–08:30 pm- Dinner
- 08:30- 01:00 am — Study
- 01:00–05:00 am- Sleep
The exams take place consecutively, over six days.
On the final day, one only has a maximum of 12 hours to revise everything. So, the grand plan is to have adequate revision cycles during the months preceding the exam, touch maximum topics on the final day in those 12 hours, and then retain enough to produce it on paper.
seeing the tight routine, it can be dangerous to play around with it. That’s the mistake I made. I slept for only two hours before the second paper.
What happened next was a lesson. The third paper was tough as hell, and I thought I had screwed up badly in that. I was so demotivated and tired from the lack of sleep that I didn’t have any physical or mental courage to come out of bed till like 5 pm that day.
That lack of sleep had a cascading effect on my routine till the final exam. I was fortunate that the lesson was not learnt the hard way and I managed to pass all exams.
Enjoy The Road
The month before the exams, I was studying around 16.5 hours, getting just 5.5 hours of sleep every day and no exercise. I did add a few extra inches to my waistline. It was tough for me at all levels, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Around this time, slowly things started to change. I was able to retain what I studied since I had been studying for so long. Seeing the progress got my motivation higher and strengthened my trust in the whole process. I was enjoying the journey I embarked on, no matter how challenging it was.
Conclusion
Any challenge worthy of taking requires you to elevate your current state of mind and become more focused, disciplined, and sincere toward your goal.
Having the right mindset for success is half the battle won. Perseverance and hard work take care of the rest.
