Frustration: (Part 1 of 4) Cannot Solve Problems?

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I have seen many aspirants, not only for JEE but also for many different examinations, get frustrated mid-way through their preparations. Frustration during IIT JEE prep can be a huge barrier but also very much possible given the long journey of 2–3 Years for the preparations for most students.


Even, I used to get discouraged many times during my intermediate. See yourself:

  • Why am I doing this? All my relatives from non-IIT institutes are doing well in life! 
  • No one from the whole district has been able to crack this exam for years, they were also toppers right??
  • Oh, God!! This rotational motion chapter s**ks!!
  • How can I memorize so many inorganic reactions?
  • Why the hell can't I solve the problems during the mocks if I can solve them at my room easily/


Getting such frustration is casual and you can face them multiple times throughout the journey. For the ease of tackling these obstacles, I have divided the JEE Frustrations into four broad categories. This post deals with the first and the most common one:


1. Cannot understand Theory or Solve the Problems even after Reading books many times:


I used to get this in topics like Rotational Motion, Trigonometry, etc. The main reasons I find behind this can be either of the following two - 


  1. The disparity in the level of problems and theory learnt: If your read NCERT Physics/Mathematics and then directly move on to solve problems from books like DC Pandey, Tata McGraw-Hill Mathematics, you'll most probably get deeply demotivated. As the famous saying goes: Practice Makes a Man Perfect! You need to gradually increase the level of the problems you're tackling. First solve NCERT level books then move on to some higher-level books like those of HC Verma for Physics or RD Sharma for Mathematics (understand the given theory and then solve the problems) and then move further to advanced books like DC Pandey for Physics and Tata McGraw-Hill for Mathematics. This way you'll enjoy the journey as well improve drastically over time. You know GOKU? The one from Dragon Ball series, think about it how does he transform from a rookie to super Saiyan god over time? Gradually increasing his difficulty right! The approach is simple, go through theory, update your notes, solve some solved example by yourself, match with the solution (even if you got your answer right please look at the solutions by the author too, it may have some new trick/concept that might be useful in future), followed by unsolved practice problems, finally again update your notes based on important tricks used in problems.
  2. Not giving problems proper time to problems: Many of you might think you need to solve problems quickly in the exam (it could be unintentional too, like with me) so you try to get through the problem quickly and think of a strategy as soon as you read the problem. Well, that's good, but only when you've already solved multiple problems for the topic. Initially, if you're facing difficulty in solving the problems, there is only one best way you can improve. The process is slow but gradually you'll get an edge over the topic and can finally do all the strategy stuff in your mental consciousness. Just follow the Board Exam strategy - 
    1. Write what's given
    2. What you need to find out
    3. Step-By-Step, proceed with the techniques and formulas that you know.

NOTE:
One thing I request you all to keep in mind is to make sure you are true to yourself. Whenever you feel that you cannot solve the problem even after trying many attempt. Leave it. Keep a notepad for noting all such problems. Then try them again after 2-3 days. While you may be able to solve some, some might still remain unsolvable to you. For self-studying students, now is the time to go to the solutions section. Understand the approach, do not directly go to the how it is solved part - first, look what was missing in  your approach and if some critical thinking comes up, note it in your personal notes so that every time you check your notes, you can recall this important technique that does not easily strikes to the mind.

I guess this will help you tackle the mentioned frustration of yours. If you feel there is something I should add to this post or some other technique/problem of yours please mention it in the comments. Follow up for the next post.


Also, It is my humble request to please share this blog with your fellow batch-mates so I can be even more motivated towards continuing on this blog. Comment all your queries.

Cheers!!

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