If you are an IAS aspirant, you would have marked in bold the D-day on your calendar – June 18th when you would sit for the UPSC civil services prelims exam 2017. It is but a month away and you must be riding that rollercoaster ride of emotions where you feel upbeat and confident one day and rather tired and worried the next. Take assurance in the fact that you are not alone. Lakhs of other aspirants (and their families) must be feeling the same. Do you feel tired and anxious all the time? Are you unable to focus on your precious last-minute preparation? Read on to know why this happens and also how to shake off that feeling.
Have you ever wondered why children have boundless energy? Even after playing for hours on an end, they are ever-ready to jump up and down, all the while laughing and screaming? Contrast this to an average adult who feels tired just by sitting and reading. Physiologically speaking an adult has more energy than a child of say, 5 or 6. Then, why does he/she feel tired so soon? The answer could be medical. Some people could suffer from sleep apnoea, thyroid conditions or any other medical problem which causes exhaustion. But for a majority of the people, the reason is purely psychological. And the reason for exhaustion is stress.
How many of us live in the present? Although we are physically present here and now, our mind is constantly either in the past or in the future. We reminisce about the past. We worry about the future. Our mind is rambling all the time about things that happened or things that we think would happen. This is the reason we feel so tired all the time. It’s mental exhaustion from not living in the present. We shy away from savouring every moment. While you are studying for the IAS exam in your room, how many times have you caught your mind wandering into the future? You either daydream about your IAS career or you sink into depression weaving an unsuccessful attempt right in your head. This prevents you from actually ‘studying’ anything. So, while you think you have studied for 5 hours, your effective preparation would have been for just 2 hours. And this is the reason you take 5 hours to study a topic that should ideally take only 2 hours.
As students and indeed, as people living just one life, we need to learn from children. In fact, we just need to fish the habit of living in the present from our own selves. We used to do it as children when we left all the worrying to adults. As kids, we didn’t bother about our career, our pending bills, our exams or even the next day. We just immersed ourselves in the present and enjoyed life. This gave us unlimited energy. Even if we were physically tired, our mind craved for more action.
We can all return to that state of bliss. All it takes is a little practice. Make a conscious effort to not think about things that are in the far future or past. Meditation is one tool that effectively helps us focus on the present reality. Practice it and you can see the magic that it brings to your life and consequently, your studies and career.
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Also Read | Top 12 Tips to Beat Exam Stress: UPSC Civil Services Preparation
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