It is a common scenario in classrooms. You hang your head in disbelief when the answer scripts fall far short of your expectations. Others rejoice in meeting their desired marks while some cry in a corner as if they deserved 101%.

You troubleshoot that below-average mark, often slipping into what is frankly called the blame game. Mr Miyagi’s quote from ‘The Karate Kid’ movie, “No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher”, whispers in your mind.

To protect your self-esteem, you might even overlook your own faults. Back in the 1940s, the Japanese top-selling automaker Toyota outlined the 3Ms framework in their lean system to eliminate the three forms of deviations to improve their performance.

Certainly, this framework can be applied to diagnose underperformance in studying. The three deviations are identified as ‘Muda’, ‘Mura’ and ‘Muri’. Admittedly, these terms may sound inherently unserious in Bangla, but in Japanese, everything carries specific meanings for a purpose.

Muda (無駄)

Muda translates to wastefulness, futility and uselessness. When fixed hours are scheduled for studying, a five-minute break to watch reels or just check notifications can turn into two-hour doom-scrolling. The algorithm monster consumes the concentration for studying. Mindless scrolling confiscates the time that could have been spent memorising notes or practising questions. Maximising focus during fixed study hours is essential because it can help to develop better study habit.

Another form of Muda is passively reading the chapters. Repetitively scanning the texts does little to store them in memory compared with actively recalling or conceptual understanding of the contents.

Highlighting nearly the whole page does not do the trick in effective studying but wastes time and ink. Switching between YouTube videos, browser tabs, chat boxes or writing down notes for aesthetic concern are all just time-killers and should be sentenced to prison. Instead, equip yourself with studying the important relevant definitions and explanations of theory and honing your answering style with practice questions to get better at exam time management.

Mura (斑)

Do you have an irregular studying routine? If so, you might have Mura in studying, which means irregularity or unevenness. Sitting in front of the study table for several hours in one day and then disappearing from your books for the next few days can create an erratic studying habit.

Some people do not form this habit intentionally. For a student, studying is the core activity, while others such as extracurricular activities, volunteering, and part-time jobs hold secondary importance, although they are valuable as well. But these extra commitments can become red flags when they consume the time and energy that should have been allocated to either drilling mathematical problems or comprehending challenging concepts.

This disrupts the momentum. Your brain does not get familiar with the complex theories and mathematical equations that need to be grasped, so it becomes easy to forget, thus making it easy to fail in exams. “Practice makes a man perfect.”

This famous proverb highlights the need for a consistent study schedule spread evenly over time. Studying for a few hours every day can promote long-term retention of complex theories, better understanding of mathematical concepts and strengthen exam-time management skills.

Muri (無理)

Mura often causes Muri, which means overburdening or doing something beyond capacity. Studying for a short period of time regularly is a walk in the park, but when you choose to walk up the hill, in other words, cram everything till the night before the exam, it can be a torture to yourself.

Surviving on caffeine to keep the nervous system working overtime until sunrise just to shove the endless syllabus into the head can cause burnout or feel guilty to finally hit you with the realisation “Agey pora uchit chilo”.

Sleeping for 7 to 8 hours to let the brain rest is non-negotiable, but when it is sacrificed, sleep deprivation hits the eyes with red and black marks and brain fog troubles during the exams.

“Rome was not built in a day.” This timeless proverb screams the notion that great things take days of steady effort. Similarly, running a marathon through books or slides for long stretches on the day before the exam in an attempt at an overnight academic comeback is a mission that is literally impossible. It eventually feels overwhelming. And then you carry more weight of exam stress than knowledge to the exam hall.

In short

It is also possible that falling short in exams could be due to being unable to catch the teacher’s words, a set of complicated questions or a high grading threshold. But when another answer script disappoints you, ask yourself: did you have any shortcomings? Self-evaluation should precede external assessment. Toyota positioned itself as a leading performer in the global car market by eliminating these three types of deviations; you can do the same to change your results and rank among the highest performers.