8 Tips To Help You Avoid Fatigue In Chasing Marks And Ranks

The life of a teenager is filled with challenges. Only one of them is their decision about choosing a course or a career. Their hormones are raging, their bodies are changing, their relationships and sexual identities forming, and they are learning to adult in many ways. So, if you look at it, work and careers is only one facet of life. However, tuition centres and competitive exams turn the schedule into 80% or more studies. Very often, students are tired both mentally and physically, but they don’t seem to have a choice but to go on as that’s how the system works! Can a tired body and brain perform well in a competitive exam? This article helps understand the reasons behind fatigue and how you can rejuvenate.

Story Of A Medical Aspirant

Suman is preparing to be a doctor. She has always wanted to be a doctor. She is a topper in her school and spends much of her time studying. She got through a private medical college in her first attempt at the medical entrance exam, but in India, the exposure and experience in a government college is much better. So, she decided to invest one more year studying for the entrance and take a second attempt. Unfortunately, in her second attempt, she was unwell and was recovering from chicken pox. So, that didn’t go too well either and she did not get the rank she expected! Now, real fatigue had set in. She was not keen on trying for another year and she had given everything to the preparation that she could for the last two years. Suman’s dilemma was real and widespread! Coaching institutions and educational institutions make that admission look even more enticing, and life becomes an eternal chase.

Also Read | 5 Challenges I Fought To Reach My Dream Medical School

Once you secure admission into the college of your choice, you may feel you have landed. Then comes the first set of graded assignments and maybe you get a few Cs. You realise that if you need to get A’s all through, you need to spend the next few years just like you spent the last few. Does it ever stop? It doesn’t, because there is always someone ahead of you. Your brain, heart, and mind go numb. Around this stage of fatigue and relentless chasing, students often take to undesirable means to be able to study or sleep, and escape the pain.

Common Reasons For Fatigue

Let us first try and understand the physical and psychological reasons for fatigue, one by one.

Overexerting The Mind

Take the analogy of a workout at a gym. If you go and choose to work out only your right arm everyday, would you grow into a fit and strong individual? Wouldn’t your right arm be over extended and very tired? That’s precisely what you are doing to your brain, and thus, the fatigue. It is quite simple.

So, physically you are most likely short on natural sunlight, play, exercise, fresh air, and maybe even nourishing food. Many students take to emotional eating and so they binge on high-sugar foods that leave them feeling more tired than energised, and don’t provide the nutrients for their growth spurt.

Being Devoid Of Social Interaction

The Stages Of Psychosocial Development Highlight The Natural Progression Of An Individual's Life

Psychologically, this is a stage of transition. You are in the process of identity formation, and it is a stage wherein peers often become closer than family. However, due to competition, you may not form those close bonds. Most teens who spend most of their time studying only at home see their peers as only competitors! This may serve as a serious drawback for your social skills and development. This imbalance or lack of alignment between our natural stages of growth and what the competition demands cause even more fatigue. Parents are unaware of this and may encourage the teen to stay home always. Often, there is fear of teens getting involved with bad company, and so the restrictions from parents can become quite severe. This lack of friends and social interaction can cause emotional fatigue.

Also Read | How To Help Your Child Nurture Their Mental Health

Is There A Way To Cope?

The fatigue that you experience is not yours alone. It is an effect of the way society thinks and functions. Most likely, your parents and extended family are also going through the same journey. So, unless the thinking of the larger group changes, perhaps you have no real escape. However, you can cope better. Listed below are a few suggestions.

Cut The Overwhelm

For most of us, just looking at the quantum of work can get overwhelming. You may spend hours in a week just stressing over how much there is to do. This reduces your efficiency, and you feel more stressed and fatigued. Make it a weekly task to plan exactly what you need to work on during the week. Dice it down to micro tasks if it helps and focus only on the micro task scheduled for the day. Keep a buffer and build in rest breaks. You are human, stop wanting to become a competitive robot always.

Make Friends

As teenagers, you need to meet people of your own age group. If you miss meeting and making new friends, in a way your emotional development can get impacted and you may not have the sense of identity you need for moving forward. Take the example of Nathan who joined IIT tutorials in class 9, secured a place in the institution, and went on to complete an MTech. He focussed only on exams and tuitions for over a decade and basically looked at all his fellow classmates mostly as competitors. At 27 years, Nathan is lonely and wonders why he only focussed on marks and ranks. So, try to collaborate and form a supportive study group or even a hobby group. You need to exert the social muscle. Friends and networks are more vital than marks in the long run, especially with families becoming smaller and more diverse.

Friends Are Way More Important Than Ranks In The Long Run

Not All Eggs In One Basket

It is very important to go after that career goal and strive for it. However, it also helps to have a Plan B. The girl Suman mentioned earlier in this feature was very clear about what she wanted. However, she did not have a plan B and she did not mentally prepare herself for the unfortunate consequence of not getting the rank she wanted. Apart from Plan B, set a feasible limit to the number of trials or attempts to crack the exam. This helps you focus and also make the right decision before it gets too late.

Also Read | Why And How To Not Make Exams Larger-Than-Life Events

Observe How You Learn

Try to optimise your study hours by aligning your learning styles. Do you learn better when you read/write, watch videos, read aloud/listen, or do you prefer to learn by doing? The more time you spend observing your style of learning and aligning with it, the easier it will be for you to get more marks with less effort. Knowing your learning style and aligning with it makes studying less cumbersome and effective.

Compete Only With Yourself

It is true that ranks compare you to others. However, you can only improve by comparing your performance today with how you did yesterday. Improvement is a gradual process, so focus on competing with yourself to keep ahead of the competition in the long run. Commit to gradually improving and filter out critical remarks and discouraging comments. Yes, learning to defend yourself from emotional hurt through poor marks or evaluation is a large part of fighting fatigue.

Observe Your Life

See if you are keeping the balance between health, nutrition, friends, family, and studies. It is perfectly alright to have a day or two focussed only on classes and tuitions, however, if weeks pass like that you know fatigue will set in. Remember the analogy of only working out your arm muscle? When you choose to only work, you choose burnout, remember that!

Check Alignment

Do reflect and ask yourself if the career or exams you are choosing are what you want to do. Also, reflect on your skills in the area. Investing effort in what you don’t like or are not naturally skilled at can build fatigue.

Also Read | How To Identify Depression: Know When To Seek Help

Switch Off

When you choose to take a break, avoid all conversations regarding studies. Switch off from exam talk and start a routine that you enjoy or talk about other things. Family and friends may not understand at first and come back to discussing marks. Say ‘no’ politely, or change the topic. It’s ok. You are taking a break and you deserve it.

Dr. Srividya, Ph.D. Organizational Psychology

The writer is a Career & Personal Growth coach who works with teens, parents, adults, and returning professionals to help them align their personal and professional needs, desires, and overcome personal and professional challenges. She can be reached at www.lifevidya.in