Exams can give you stress and anxiety sometimes. In fact a certain amount of exam stress can motivate you to study hard and focus on academics more, while excessive stress can negatively impact academic performance and mental health as well. As a student, you must have a skill of handling exam stress and anxiety in order to prepare well for exams and maintain a healthy balance.
Students have many questions related to Exams Stress & Anxiety such as how should I manage my stress during exams? Is exam stress normal? what should I do to calm down my exam anxiety? This guide is specifically addressing these questions and giving you a practical approach to master exam stress and anxiety.
Different tips, tricks, and techniques are shared on this page to help you manage exam stress and anxiety. Read them out and find out which one works best for you and let us know in the comment section.
Start Study Early
The most basic and effective approach is to start preparing for exams early, make a study plan in advance for the exams. Last minute of planning often leads to more chaos and confusion which in turns increases the stress and anxiety levels. So why not start study early? Make a detailed study plan for yourself, breakdown what topics you need to study each day, stick to it, and that’s it.
We often complicate a lot of things unnecessarily. Be an organized and disciplined student. You can use various tools for study planning such as printable calendars, planners, study apps, etc.
Practice Relaxation Techniques
There are many relaxation techniques which can help reduce stress and anxiety such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, visualisation, etc. You need to figure out which technique is best suited as per your body, mind, and lifestyle.
Meditation is a great stress reliever. Doing proper meditation is not a one day or two day thing, you need to give it time and be patient. As a student, you must practice one or more relaxation techniques regularly to calm your mind and increase your focus levels.
Eat Healthy & Exercise
Your mind will feel more fit and confident if you are eating healthy and exercising daily. Exercise does not necessarly means go to the gym and lift those heavy weights. Do exercises that your body and lifestyle allows you. A simple exercise could be a 20 minute walk or jog in a park or maybe few minutes planks or pushups at home.
Make a routine for yourself to do some sort of exercise at least 4 to 5 days a week. Mere exercise is not enough, you should be eating healthy and get good 7 to 8 hours of sleep. You mind will function much better if you are eating good and getting good sleep.
Solve Mock Exams & Previous Year Papers
A lot of exam stress comes when you are not sure how well prepare you actually are. To understand how prepared you are, start solving previous year paper and solve mock exams. This practice will let you know how well prepared you are and you will get more comfortable with the format, time constraints, and question styles.
You will feel less intimidating from exam once you are familiar with the exam set up and environment. This practice will boost your confidence. Don’t get disheartened if you are not able to solve mock exams, just study more and solve them again.
Take Breaks in Between Study Time
Too much of anything is not good and academics is no exception. In order to maintain focus, you must take regular breaks in between study time. For example, you can take a 5 minute break after every 25 minutes of study. Take a longer breaks of 15 to 30 minutes after 2 or 3 hours of studying. Don’t let your mind get fatigue, make sure to take regular breaks to re-energize yourself.
During breaks, you can take a walk, listen music, eat a snack, stretching, etc.
Talk to Friends & Family
Family and friends are your biggest emotional supporters. If you are feeling any sort of stress or anxiety then reach out to them, talk to them and let them know what you are feeling. They will surely listen to you and give you a new perspective and boost your morale. For exam stress, you can even talk to your teachers, school counselor or mental health professional who can provide strategies tailored to your needs.
Conclusion
It common to get a certain amount of stress and anxiety due to exams, but if the levels are higher then make sure to understand from where stress is coming and deal with it accordingly. We have already shared few of the tips and techniques to deal with exam stress. Do check them out and find out which one is best for you depending on the lifestyle you are living. With correct strategies and mindset, you can approach exams with confident and achieve your academic goals.