When Allergies Ruined My Sunday Study Plan

Not every day of GATE preparation is going to be productive. Sometimes, you have a perfectly reasonable plan, a list of lectures to complete, and a deadline approaching. Then something completely outside your control decides to ruin the schedule.

For me, that something was allergic rhinitis.

Sunday was supposed to be a productive day for my GATE CSE 2027 preparation. Instead, I ended up spending the entire day dealing with sneezing, watery eyes, and a runny nose. By the end of the day, I hadn't completed a single lecture.

So, this is the story of Day 28, a day when my study plan failed, but I tried not to let one bad day disturb the entire schedule.

What I Planned to Study

After completing six lectures of DBMS Chapter 2, Transaction and Concurrency Control, on Saturday, I wanted to continue making progress with DBMS over the weekend.

My Sunday targets were straightforward:

• Complete 2 remaining lectures from Transaction and Concurrency Control.
• Complete 4 lectures from Chapter 3, ER Model.

That was a total of six lectures.

I wanted to make enough progress over the weekend to move closer to completing these chapters and keep my overall syllabus deadline of 30 October on track.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't survive contact with reality.

Allergic Rhinitis Ruined the Day

I was dealing with allergic rhinitis throughout Sunday. The symptoms included frequent sneezing, watery eyes, and a constantly running nose.

It wasn't just a little discomfort that I could ignore and continue studying. The symptoms kept bothering me throughout the day, making it difficult to concentrate on anything.

As a result, I didn't study at all.

Planned lectures: 6. Completed lectures: 0.

There wasn't much to analyse in terms of academic performance because I hadn't attempted any questions or completed any lectures. The main obstacle was my health.

Still, it was frustrating to lose an entire study day, especially when I had been trying to maintain a tight schedule.

With a full-time job and the GATE syllabus deadline approaching, weekends are particularly valuable to me. They provide an opportunity to make progress that is harder to achieve on regular working days.

Losing one of those days naturally made me think about how I would manage the rest of the week.

Spending the Evening With Her

Since I hadn't been able to study during the day, I decided to spend the evening with my girlfriend.

I wanted to distract myself from the constant sneezing and discomfort for a while. Thankfully, spending time with her actually helped. For some time, I could take my mind off the symptoms and enjoy the evening instead of thinking about the study targets I had missed.

However, when I returned home at night, the symptoms started again.

It was a strange contrast. I had managed to distract myself and feel better while I was out, only to start dealing with the same problem again after returning home.

I can't say for certain what caused the symptoms to return, but the difference was noticeable.

Although Sunday wasn't productive academically, the evening gave me a much-needed mental break. Not every part of a preparation journey has to involve lectures, notes, or question-solving.

The Schedule Problem: Should I Shift Everything by One Day?

This was the bigger question I had to consider.

I had missed six DBMS lectures. My first instinct could have been to shift the entire schedule forward by one day and move every subsequent target accordingly.

But I decided against that.

My plan is to continue following the existing schedule and recover the missed work gradually during the upcoming week. Instead of rearranging everything, I'll add an extra lecture where possible and try to complete Sunday's pending DBMS work alongside my regular targets.

This approach should help me maintain the flow of my preparation without immediately changing the deadlines for everything else.

There is one practical challenge, though: I missed six lectures, so a single extra lecture won't recover the entire backlog. I'll need to distribute the remaining lectures across the week and see how much I can realistically manage.

I don't want to solve one scheduling problem by creating another.

Monday's Plan: COA and DBMS

Monday already has a substantial workload.

My regular target is to complete six lectures from the first chapter of Computer Organization and Architecture (COA). Along with that, I plan to complete one missed DBMS lecture as a catch-up session.

That makes seven planned lectures for Monday.

The remaining DBMS lectures will need to be fitted into the rest of the week. I'll try to recover the missed work without sacrificing the regular schedule, while keeping my health and available time in mind.

The important thing is that these are targets, not completed work. I'll have to see how the day actually goes.

What I Realized Today

Sunday reminded me that a preparation schedule has to account for real life.

I can plan my lectures, revision sessions, and practice questions in advance, but I cannot guarantee that every day will go according to plan. Illness, work, and other unexpected events can interfere.

My response to those disruptions matters.

Instead of shifting the entire schedule after missing one day, I'm going to try to absorb the missed work gradually. If the plan proves too demanding, I'll reassess it based on what I can realistically complete.

I still have a syllabus deadline of 30 October, so I need to be careful with my time. At the same time, pushing myself unnecessarily when I'm unwell won't automatically make the preparation more effective.

Sunday was not a productive study day. I won't pretend otherwise.

But it was also not the end of my preparation. I spent some time with someone I care about, got a temporary break from the symptoms, and made a plan to continue moving forward.

Tomorrow, I'll return to COA and try to fit in some DBMS catch-up work.

For now, Day 28 ends with zero lectures completed, six lectures missed, and a revised approach to managing the week ahead.

The plan remains the same. I'll just have to work a little more carefully to get back on track.