Cracking the JEE Main is the dream of any aspiring engineer. Scoring excellent marks are the key to some of the most esteemed engineering and technology colleges of India and take a lot of hard work and time management. The JEE Mains is the screening test that determines who is eligible to study in the IITs, who should go to the NITs, and who goes to the other outstanding colleges in all the states.

It is not surprising that the competition is fierce. Although the question papers of the JEE mains follow the Class 11 and 12 syllabi only, the questions are rarely direct. The questions are set in a way to test the problem-solving aptitude, and in-depth understanding of the physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

How to manage time efficiently before the exam?

Here are a few tips and suggestions you should keep in mind during your preparatory phase for efficient time management–

The 2019 JEE Main is over, and that gives you plenty of time to prepare for the next JEE exams due in 2020. Within this time, you should strive to complete the entire +2 level syllabus and revise the +1 coursework as well. During the revision work, remember to stick to a strict timeline. If something takes only an hour, do not allocate 3 hours of revision time for the same. You will be wasting 2 hours, during which you could solve a new test paper or tackle two new topics. Be honest to yourself to be effective at time management. Make sure you are utilizing the time at hand and not whiling away time by holding a book and not studying.

Make a sensible timetable. That is the primary requirement of excellent JEE main preparation. Wake up at a specific time every morning and begin revising what you learned last night. Studies report that sleep converts short-term memory to long-term memory. Therefore, starting your day with an hour of revision should help you remember the equations, formulae, and charts for a long time.

Mornings are best for sharpening your problem-solving skills. Students, who have cracked the JEE Main last year have reported feeling more confident once they began the day's studies with mathematics. Never start studying with a subject that scares you or bores you. Mathematics hones problem-solving and logic and reasoning skills. Two hours of math every morning should prepare your mind for the rest of the day's lessons.

Next, you should move on to revising topics from chemistry and physics. You can tackle one subject a day if that feels more comfortable than dabbling in both. However, remember to go through your old notes, especially ones from Class 11. The JEE main paper consists of quite a few questions from the Class 11 syllabus, and that's true for both Physics and Chemistry. Without revising old material, there is no way one can crack the JEE main.

Apart from leaving time for your coaching classes and tuitions, you need to include time for self-study and self-evaluation. While drafting your time management table, don’t forget to include mock tests and test paper solution times. Try to solve the test papers within 2-2.5 hours. Compare your answers to the authentic JEE answer key and strive to improve your performance over the next few weeks. However, it should be after you complete revising physics and chemistry notes during the day.

Now we come to the most crucial part of time management – rest and physical exercise.

We have all heard stories about students studying and practicing 16 to 18 hours straight without any sleep or rest. However, you need to remember that our brains require rest, some entertainment, and our bodies demand some physical exercise. Now, you might believe that sleep is not as important as squeezing in an hour of chatting with friends on Facebook or WhatsApp, but your brain disagrees.

The brain needs sleep to store whatever you have learned or absorbed throughout the day to permanent memories. Without 6 to 8 hours of sleep, that is close to impossible and you can't be effective at time management for JEE main exam. If you find time during the day, you can go for 20-minutes of naps in the afternoon, but that is a rarity for anyone attending school, college or tuition daily. Therefore, getting sound and uninterrupted sleep at night is crucial for everyone.

You should set aside time for physical exercise at least 3-4 days per week. If you are not an athletic person, go out for walks in the park or roam the marketplace. Relaxing will help your brain internalize the concepts you have learned throughout the day. Setting aside 30-40 minutes for walks, jogs, yoga, or Pilates is critical for one’s physical and mental health that will ultimately help in better time management.

Time management – On the day of the exam

Managing time is not only necessary during the preparatory phase, but also during the online JEE Main. Here are the simple tips you need to keep in mind to make the best use of the time during your JEE main –

Go through the entire paper and categorize the questions into three difficulty levels – easy, moderately difficult, and difficult.

The easy questions should not take up more than 1.5 minutes to solve. With proper preparation, you should be able to attempt a large number of questions quite easily. This section should not take up more than 1.5-hours of the entire time.

Next, move on to the moderately difficult questions that should not take 3-minutes each. Do not spend more than 45-minutes in this section.

Upon completing these two types of questions, you should be able to score decent enough marks that will let you crack the JEE. For better time management, answering the difficult questions should help you score extra marks that will improve your performance in the entrance test.

Finally, move to the difficult questions in the last 30 minutes. Although time is short, you should attempt to solve only the familiar ones. Since every wrong answer will take away one mark, don't guess or speculate the answers from half-solved problems. Only answer questions you are confident about.

Most importantly, you should know which questions you can skip when they are taking up too much of your time.