Are you a meticulous perfectionist? Do you walk into exams with sweaty hands, a pounding heart and a headache? If you answered yes to the first question, you’re more likely to have test anxiety. And if you answered yes to the second question, you probably do have test anxiety. But worry not! Read the following tips to help reduce test anxiety and perform better on your next exams!
1) Be prepared.
Obviously if you haven’t studied the test contents, you’re going to panic about walking into an exam you’re unprepared to take. Study at least a week in advance and review for at least half an hour a day. Make sure you know what you’re getting tested on. Find out what kind of a learner you are- visual, tactile, auditory, independent, etc. Use that to your advantage. Forming a study group could be very helpful. But just make sure you don’t get distracted too much.
2) Take care of yourself.
Try to get eight or nine hours of sleep the night before the exam. If you get less than six hours or sleep, you won’t be able to think as clearly and sharply. You may even fall asleep while you’re taking the exam. Exercise half an hour a day- it helps with blood circulation, and thinking clearly. Try to avoid drinking coffee.
3) Watch what you think.
Before you walk into the exam room, try to think positively. Thinking that you are going to fail is only going to stress you out. Be careful who you surround yourself with. Stop yourself from thinking things like “I don’t think I’m going to do well,” “I’m going to fail” or “Oh dear lord, I can’t remember a thing.” If you can’t stop yourself, try re-wording them. For example, “I think I’m going to do well,” “I’m going to succeed,” or “Oh dear lord, I thank you for this grand opportunity.”
4) Avoid panic inducing situations.
If you’re taking a diploma, make sure you DO NOT carry your cellphone in with you. You may have to take a year off after high school because you couldn’t take the diploma for a course you were required to submit if you’re caught with a phone. Arrive on time for the exam. Don’t arrive too early though. Pack all the things you’ll need the night before (i.e. pencils, pens, erasers, white-out, ruler, calculator, extra batteries, lead). And double check you have everything while the papers are being handed out.
5) Stay calm and relaxed.
Whether it’s right before the exam or during, keep calm. Take about five slow breaths. Don’t look around you. Focus on yourself and the desk in front of you. If it helps you, recite some of the things you had to memorize. Otherwise, try not to think about the test before you start it. And when you’re writing the test, don’t think about the near or distant future. Focus on the questions. If you run into a question you aren’t sure about, don’t panic. Move on and come back to it later on.
6) Use a bit of stress to your advantage.
Too much stress isn’t good for your academic performance, or your health. But a little stress can help to remind you that you need to study. (Click here to read my article on dealing with stress.)
7) Don’t skip a meal before an exam.
Don’t take a test on an empty stomach. But don’t eat too much either that you’re feeling really full. Try to avoid foods that are high in sugar and fat. Also avoid processed foods. Try going for fruits and vegetables instead, or other foods with protein.
8 ) Take your time.
Don’t feel rushed when you see that other students handed in their exams early. You aren’t rewarded for handing it in early. And even if you may finish early, double or triple check your exam. Make sure, if you’re using a scantron, that you marked down the answer you chose correctly. Make sure you have read the questions and answers carefully.
9) Read the directions.
Always, always read the questions. Don’t just skim over them and start writing on what you think the question is asking. Read the directions at the beginning of the exam as well. They may contain important information that you need to consider for writing the exam.
10) Reward yourself.
After you’re done writing your exam, reward yourself, whatever it may be. Go out with your friends, or watch a movie at home with your family. Know that, after the done, there is nothing you can do about it. So don’t stress over it or think about what you may have done wrong.
Good luck. 🙂
Buried in this blog is the tacit assumption that a number printed on a flimsy piece of paper actually merit the affliction of anxiety and other psychological traumas among the students. The Diploma exam, which is habitually inflicted upon high school students as some kind of academic puberty rite all across Alberta, is nothing but a sophisticated euphemism for a disturbing form of craven followership and mindless regurgitation in our sclerotic Alberta Education system. I cannot imagine how many students before me have had to delve into the Key and the textbooks, beginning their obligatory peregrination into “higher education,” which is equally condemnable because it’s glaringly vocationally attuned, requiring graduates to obtain skills valued only by the global economy. Of course, there would be no place for proper high-five etiquettes in our classes, because what’s the most universal form of salutation going to make you a good contributing member of the economy? It’s not, another reason why English essay questions relentlessly emphasize and revolve around the words such as “integrity,” “hope,” “courage,” etc. –words that can’t replace the high-five. Indeed, the skills of a proper high five are palpably being forgotten in our times, who knows all of the high fives such as the “jumper,” the “you-are-too-slow,” the “Fresh Prince,” or especially the “around-the-back-through-the-leg-palm-spit-piggie-backer” anymore? Most people can only do the High-Two! So what have we lost… in our insatiable desire and pursuit for those meaningless numbers on our report card? The answer is, of course, TEAMWORK. When we pull our hair and yell “I’m going to kill myself!” when cramming for the diplomas, we often over-look the most obvious thing—that our friends just happen to be writing the same test… at the same time… in the same room with us! What coincidence… On a minor note, the teachers actually want to die during exam times more than we do. Imagine yourself as an invigilator sitting in a dimly lit gym while it’s stark sunlight shining outside, you hear nothing but the scratching and scribbling sounds of a thousand pencils, when you could be doing ANYTHING other than this, from having an ice-cold beer on 17th to hunting kangaroos, for example. And the worst is with the ESL extra-time exams, after what seemed like an hour of frantic keyboard clicking, you look at the clock, it’s only been five minutes since the start… great, just 5 hours and 55 minutes more to go, no big! So, when you think to yourself “I’m going to die!!” Don’t, because the teacher is thinking “I’m NEVER going to die!!”
Good luck, and good riddance!
11. After a certain point you need to realize that staying up any later studying will do more harm than good