Most of us during engineering days are used to the habit of studying a night before the exams! Our PL’s (preparation leaves) are like a vacation before exam, since every paper is preceded by a 3 to 4 day holiday.

But have you ever thought about how you manage yourself and your time during this crucial period? How you affect your health, without you even realizing it? And even if you do realize, have you ever tried to change things since god knows, how many semesters!?

If you answer a yes to the above questions, well then, you need not read this article, I assume you are sorted! But if your answer is a no to most of the above questions, then darling, you gotta learn to better balance your time!

"The balance in your life is more important than the balance in your checking account" - Chris Gardner

Balancing time means prioritizing and allotting adequate time to various tasks throughout the day. And what apart from studies, exercise, rest and nutritious food can be the most important tasks! So, you plan your day around these crucial things. You give little importance to secondary things. These include social media, over thinking or whatever you found yourself doing in the last semester which was not worth doing during exams!

The best way to balance your day is to plan it a night before, when you go to bed. And that’s the exact kind of planning you would find your topper friends doing during exams. They have a balance created around the most important things.

Why am I stressing on balancing things during exams? That’s because of the universal 80:20 rule. It’s called the Pareto principle. It means: 20% of the things you do gives you 80% of the results. And that’s where the role of the nutritious food and little exercise comes.

A typical day can start with little jogging or stretching or yoga or any kind of physical exercise (say dancing or zumba!) that can help you shrug off your sweet sleep. You can then create your entire day around studies, with the 45:15 rule (45 mins of focused studying followed by 15 mins of break) or according to your concentration power.

Don’t forget to have healthy meals and fruits during breaks to keep up the momentum. Taking some time off studies at the end of the day by watching your favorite sitcom can be a source of refreshment. If a walk with friends helps you, do that! Do anything that helps you to maintain a constant pace throughout the day.

Maintaining every day balance is the crucial step towards achieving success in any endeavor. So get started during your exams and build a good habit that can last a lifetime.