Feeling Bored? How to Stay Motivated for Mock Tests in Your Final NEET Month

Hello future doctor, first and foremost, it is important to understand that it is completely normal to feel this way. The NEET preparation journey is very tiring. It is normal to feel ‘Lazy’ or ‘Tired’ during the last few months. 

Even plain ‘boredom’ is okay.

We have been there too. We know how irritating it gets to just read the same book again and again, solve similar tests again and again. It becomes difficult to even revise. But, there are some things that we need to remember.

What is at stake?

Years of preparation are at stake. If you are a fresher, 2 years of preparation are asking for you to work. And if you are a dropper, more than 2 years of preparation are begging for you to work. Do you remember why you started studying? Do you still imagine yourself in a white coat? Do you see a stethoscope around your neck? Are you still waiting for the day that you get to put a ‘doctor’ in front of your name? Are you still waiting for the day that you are the only thing between life and death for a person. Can you imagine the feeling of somebody thanking you for saving their children? This feeling is at stake. The dream you had is at stake. 

So you WILL have to fix the problem. You can’t let 2 months of unwillingness sabotage all your efforts. 

Identifying the Root Causes

Let us try to understand the reasons due to which this might be happening to you. 

The most important one is

Burnout.

You will find that burnout is the reason for most of the problems faced in the last days. You can’t study, you can’t revise. If you try to study you are not performing well. You do not have the energy to try and understand why you are not performing well. You are NOT being ‘Lazy’ and ‘Unmotivated’, you are just very very tired. 

It is totally normal to feel this way. I have felt it too and feel it in my MBBS journey too. The task is to identify and be able to tell the difference between boredom and burnout.

Boredom due to lots of repetition

Okay, not a reason you should be proud of, but still a valid reason. It just shows that you have studied the same thing a lot of times and given tests a lot of time too. This can lead to the feeling of overfamiliarity with the syllabus. It does get boring when you feel this way. We will deal with this too.

Exam anxiety and performance pressure.

Sometimes, you feel bored giving mock tests, but you are not actually ‘bored’, you are procrastinating because you fear the results. You do not even realise this because it happens subconsciously. You do not like the feeling of analysing your mock test, you hate seeing your scores, all this makes you feel ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated’ to attempt mock tests. It’s okay, I have a solution for you too.

A simple lack of motivation

The last possible reason is well, no motivation. You don’t want to put in 3:20 hours. Not in the mood. Don’t feel like it. Don’t want to. This is another reason you shouldn’t be proud of. But again, it’s okay. We will find a way around it too. 

Do you HAVE to give mock tests?

Is it not okay to just give 2-3 mock tests before NEET? Do you have to give more mock tests, can’t you just… like… skip it?

NO. 

Mock tests are the closest you come to giving the NEET exam before the NEET exam, you do not skip the best way of getting such good feedback just because you are bored. Get your ass up and start working. Here are some ways you can tackle your problems.

Strategies to solve mock tests again

Take a break

This is the only way to deal with burnout. You are a human who has a threshold over which you get very saturated with everything. If you do not give your brain a break, just some air to breathe, it will not work with the same efficiency anymore. You are not a bad student for not working anymore. You are not worthless.

You are tired and just need to go for a walk or a movie. You need to socialise a little/ have a talk with your parents/ or even just paint. Anything for a few hours that is not related to study. Allow yourself this liberty or you will only make your preparation worse by trying to work when you are burned out.

How to tackle repetition?

Switch to more revision sessions and less mock tests for a while.

Usually we advise to revise 2-5 chapters a day. But, if you feel like mock tests are getting very repetitive, then switch to 3-8 revision sessions per mock tests. If you are giving 2 mocks per day, switch to one. If you are giving 1 per day, switch to alternate days. If you feel bored to revise the normal way, write and revise. It will be more engaging.

Give a difficult mock test:

This one is just to scare you into giving more mocks again. I know this is a very unconventional way to get out of boredom. But, when nothing else works, scaring yourself into working does.

Shift to chapter wise question banks for a while:

Pick up the chapters that you are not very good at and solve questions based on those chapters. You can also pick chapters that do not appear in the mock tests a lot. This will help break the monotony.

Ask your parents to police you.

Ask one of them to make sure that you are giving at least one mock test per day. Most of our parents already pressure us to study so much, let us use the pressure in a good way. Give them a task. 

Give mock tests in another location:

This will also help to break the monotony. Go to another room/ go to the terrace/ sit in a cafe or a local library. Just change the usual place of studying. 

Make a tally register for mock test analysis:

This will give you a small dopamine rush every time you improve in a mock test. One chapter that you made mistakes in earlier, but do not mess up now, is enough motivation to keep giving mock tests and scheduling revision sessions based on the mock test.

How to tackle exam anxiety? 

By giving mock tests. What a bad answer right? It feels like saying, if you are depressed, don’t be depressed. I know how it sounds, but it is the only way you can actually deal with anxiety. You can only make it go away by scoring better in mock tests. And you can only score better in mock tests by giving more mock tests and analysing them.

Another thing to do is moderate the mock test level. Solve easier mock tests for a while. This will help you boost your confidence and perform a little better in the next mock test.

Last possible way of resolving exam anxiety is by scheduling PYQ sessions between mock tests. Since PYQs are the questions that have actually appeared in exams, you will feel just ten times as confident if you are able to solve PYQs easily.

How to not be bored or demotivated? The best trick!

The last but not the least. What to do when you are bored? Give the mock test in parts. Break it up in three sessions for three subjects: one in the morning, second in the evening and the last one at night. This way, you won’t have to sit for a stretch of 3 hours 20 minutes. And thus, you will be able to attempt more mock tests.

You can just time your sessions to make sure that you are attempting the entire mock test in the given time duration. Also, even though this method is effective, do not use it for a long time. When you find your motivation again, switch to bigger mock test sessions. Remember, this is a band aid solution and not the answer to your problem.

The answer to the problem is finding your motivation.

You can do this only by sitting down and asking yourself questions similar to the ones that I asked in the start of the blog. Ask yourself questions like ‘How much do you want it?’, and ‘What does NEET mean for you?’ 

Then write down all the answers in one place and keep reading them everyday. No one else can motivate you to work. Any motivation derived from the internet is temporary motivation. The real motivation that will sustain you for a long time is the one that comes from within. The one that you will write down on a piece of paper. I still have my ‘dream paper’ with me and it reminds me of where I came from. Do you want to be a doctor too?
If yes, then remove those mock test papers and OMR sheets from where ever they are, and get to work!

Promise yourself that you will figure out the reason and start working again. Comment ‘I will crack NEET’ to remember your goal. I am rooting for you.

All the best.