Many of us experience the so-called “exam anxiety or stress”. This is one of the problems, especially among students. I think it is just a natural occurrence because it’s man’s nature to fear failures. Sometimes, anxiety can also be our drive for excellence. We get anxious, and anxiety pressures us to do better. But as the saying goes, “too much is bad.” If you worry too much, you get mentally blocked. Mental block is not just an effect of caffeine overdose, or a sleepless night, but also anxiety over the exam per se can cause it.
What makes us worry about an exam? It might be that we are less prepared, we have experienced past failures, we negatively think that we might fail, or we are just plain worrywart. I have to admit that I felt all of these before, during, and after the exam.
Exams are physically and mentally demanding, so when we get anxious we are stressing out ourselves more. So how can we avoid exam stress? Here are some practical ways to help us minimize exam anxiety.
1. Have your own study habits and make sure that they will work for you. No two people have the same study habit, one’s ways may not work on the other. The importance of having your own study habits is it makes everything organized, and when organization can make you relax and concentrate more. You will less likely miss out the important things you should learn.
2. Avoid cramming. Cramming means pressure, and pressure means anxiety. When you cram, you tend to forget other important things to learn. Again, thinking that you can’t do everything with just couple of hours or days, you will be anxious. The ideal way not to cram is allotting at least 2 hours per day for studying, depending on the demands of your course.
3. Set your learning objectives or list the topics you have to read. This way, you will have better focus and know which are the must-knows. It will also help you not to stray away from the necessary things to learn.
4. Take some time to relax, have a good sleep, eat well, etc. especially the day before the exam. You can relax well if you have finished reading all the necessary readings. Relaxation is also a preparation. Remember that you are fighting with exam stress and you need to relax.
5. Prepare your the needed things for the exam the day before so by tomorrow you won’t need to look for it. I think you will agree with me that time ironically plays with us most of the time. The more you look for something, the more you have difficulty finding it.
6. During the exam, take some time to read the instructions and be sure you have understood them thoroughly before you start answering.
7. Repeat the questions to fully understand it but be sure not to stay too long on one question because you might run out of time. Skip the questions you hardly understand well and move on to the other items you know. You can go back to the unanswered questions later.
8. If you have enough time, review your answers. Some questions tend to be “tricky” and usually it takes a review to realize that they are actually designed that way. Through reviewing, you can also see if you have missed some items.
9. If you feel panicky during the exam, take some deep breaths and do a little stretching to relax your muscles. It might also help to have something in your mouth, like a chewing gum or a candy.
10. After the exam, take some time to relax - hang out with friends or classmates, treat yourself, watch a movie, go online and visit some interesting blogs or anything you can do to divert your attention away from the exam. Avoid opening your books to clarify your answers, especially if you are not so sure about it. If you are with your classmates, you can make a “no-talking-about-the-exam policies”.
Summing it up, better preparation and confidence are the key to avoid exam stress.
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