The ultimate "NOT TO-DO LIST" 🔥 || NV Sir STRATEGY || MUST WATCH #nvsir #iit #neet

Summary

Nitin Vijay (“NV Sir”) presents a student “not-to-do list” for competitive-exam preparation. His central message is that effective studying depends not just on what students do, but also on eliminating habits that waste attention, undermine learning, or create the appearance of progress without real work.

The 20 ideas and lessons

1. Don’t let rapid scrolling reset your attention. The speaker compares the unpredictable rewards of short-form videos to slot machines: because each scroll may bring something entertaining or dull, the brain can get used to rapid stimulation. Longer lessons and problem-solving may then feel unusually boring. Avoid aimless scrolling, and use your phone intentionally rather than letting it control your attention.

2. Don’t assume silent mode means the phone is no longer a distraction. Even a silent phone on the desk—or in a pocket—can occupy attention. The speaker recommends putting it in another room while studying or storing it out of sight, such as in a locked cupboard.

3. Don’t mistake the appearance of studying for actual learning. Study vlogs, videos of toppers, and sitting in a library can create the feeling that you are making progress. Check what you actually accomplished, such as how many questions you solved or how much material you learned.

4. Don’t look up a solution before making a serious attempt. Struggling with a problem can help learning and memory. Give a question a reasonable, planned amount of effort before consulting the solution; the appropriate time depends on your level and the exam.

5. Don’t repeatedly switch books, teachers, or explanations for the same material. Choose resources carefully, then revisit the same book, notes, or teaching source several times. The speaker argues that repeatedly switching formats and notation can add cognitive load. After understanding the material, spend more time revising and practicing rather than collecting explanations.

6. Don’t spend all your study time on your favorite subject. Competitive-exam results often depend on total marks across subjects. Improving a weaker subject may produce a larger increase in marks than pushing an already strong subject slightly higher. The speaker also recommends using your most focused study time for a weaker subject.

7. Don’t take a test and then ignore what it reveals. Treat a test as an “X-ray” of your preparation: the important step is analyzing mistakes, gaps, and weak areas afterward. Low-scoring tests can be especially instructive if you examine what went wrong and use that information to adjust your study.

8. Don’t confuse beautiful notes with understanding. Copying a teacher’s words neatly is not necessarily learning. The speaker favors processing the idea and expressing it in your own words, even if the notes are brief or untidy.

9. Don’t let backlogs accumulate—or repeatedly rebuild them. Identify why work is falling behind, such as low speed, poor accuracy, or insufficient effort, and address the cause as well as the unfinished material. The speaker says unfinished work can continue to weigh on attention and points viewers to a separate video for a fuller backlog method.

10. Don’t sacrifice needed sleep to feel productive. Staying up late may feel admirable, but studying late and then attending an early class without enough rest can hurt performance. The speaker describes sleep as a “save button” for learning, arguing that it helps consolidate what was studied. He says students should identify how much sleep leaves them rested rather than routinely cutting sleep or oversleeping.

11. Don’t treat guilt as proof that you are working hard. Feeling bad about procrastinating or missed work is not the same as making progress. Repeated guilt can become exhausting and give a false sense of responsibility. Use it as a cue to begin the work or revise the plan.

12. Don’t mistake planning for progress. Repeatedly making plans is not the same as carrying them out. Set targets based on your current ability, speed, and accuracy, then execute them. If a plan fails again and again, make it more realistic; the speaker suggests a plan should be completed most of the time.

13. Don’t wait for the right mood to study. Even high-achieving students may not always feel motivated. Start with a small commitment—such as studying for ten minutes—and let action lead. The speaker’s principle is to rely on study habits and behavior rather than mood.

14. Don’t let embarrassment stop you from asking for help. Avoiding questions or assistance out of fear of looking incompetent can prolong confusion. Ask a teacher or another appropriate person when you are stuck. The speaker says it is better to feel awkward briefly than to carry the misunderstanding into a test.

15. Don’t make studying a performance for other people. Attending class, sitting in a library, watching lectures, or making attractive notes can be done to convince parents or friends that you are studying. Focus instead on whether you actually understand and practice the material; visible effort is not a substitute for results.

16. Don’t let someone else’s score define your progress. Comparing your current mark with a friend’s higher mark can erase your sense of improvement. Compare yourself primarily with your own earlier performance, habits, and understanding, and aim to improve over time.

17. Don’t turn your parents’ concern into a source of defeat. Questions about marks may create pressure, but the speaker suggests interpreting them as concern and support rather than as a judgment. Try to use that concern as encouragement instead of letting it undermine performance.

18. Don’t skip meals or neglect basic nutrition to save study time. The speaker compares food to fuel: missing meals or eating poorly can leave you without energy and focus. Eat appropriate food at regular times rather than treating meals as wasted study time.

19. Don’t use caffeine as a replacement for sleep. Tea, coffee, or other caffeine sources may temporarily mask tiredness, but they do not remove the underlying need for rest. The speaker warns against making caffeine a routine strategy for sleeping less; he distinguishes occasional use before an exam from relying on it regularly.

20. Don’t try to change everything at once. The speaker closes by advising students to work through the habits gradually: stop a few over the next ten days, then address more over the following weeks. His overall recommendation is steady implementation rather than attempting to overhaul all habits in a single day.

Speakers and sources mentioned

• Nitin Vijay (“NV Sir”) — The video’s presenter and the only featured speaker in the subtitles.
• Research and examples cited by the presenter: A University of Texas study about phone proximity and student performance; a Harvard study about asking for advice or help; unspecified scientific claims and experiments about attention, learning, memory, sleep, and test analysis; and the casino slot-machine analogy for unpredictable rewards. The subtitles do not provide study titles, researchers, or detailed citations.
• Parents, teachers, friends, and students are discussed as examples, but no separate statements from them appear in the subtitles.