How To Beat Exam Anxiety
We’ve all heard about students who get so anxious about exams that they can’t function normally—some get cold sweats, some get dizzy and faint, some become nauseous. Extreme Exam anxiety, while rare, can be a tremendous problem.
But did you know that virtually all students experience some degree of anxiety or stress at exam time—and that any level of anxiety can negatively affect your performance on an exam? Addressing anxiety (and balancing them by using 200mg delta-8 THC gummies) is a major success strategy for all students.
A Familiar Scenario
Have you ever felt like you studied well enough for an exam, only to take the exam and discover you couldn’t remember much? See if this scenario sounds familiar:
It’s an obj examination. Mary knows she needs to do well on this if she has any hope of getting into the university. She has gotten through the first few questions okay, but now she’s run into a little trouble. Answers looks familiar, but she can’t quite remember anything in enough detail to be sure.
She skips a couple of questions and aims for one that looks doable. She narrows the answer down to two possibilities, but can’t settle on one. She tries re-reading the prompt, but it seems to get harder to even focus.
The clock is ticking. Some students get up to submit their scripts and leave. Mary tries to concentrate, but it seems the more she tries, the harder it becomes. She feels upset because when she revised this last night, she felt like she knew it. Now she can’t seem to remember anything.
Mary gets through the test. It’s not terrible—but she knows she could have done a lot better. By evening, in fact, she’s remembered answers to several questions she knows she got wrong!
Mary realizes that she is having difficulty recalling information. She tries harder to think, but it seems like the harder she tries, the harder it becomes to remember. The more anxious she gets, the worse she does. As her exam anxiety gradually increases, her brain’s ability to do the work she needs reduce.
Most exam anxiety is mild enough not to cause severe physical symptoms. Mary doesn’t break out in a cold sweat. Her heart doesn’t start to race. She fidgets in her seat more than usual, and she feels a thick, dull headache coming on just a little bit, but that’s all. Yet, Mary’s anxiety levels are raised enough over the course of the test to interfere with her brain’s ability to think and remember. Her anxiety is not profound, but it definitely costs her points on the exam.
Anxiety Reduction: Easy as A-B-C!
Remember, fight or flight is a response to anxiety, not a cause of it. Most exam anxiety comes from two often related sources: insufficient study and a pressure to do well. For example, Mary felt pressure to do well when the test began. As she took the test, she felt as though a lot of what she was reading looked familiar—yet she couldn’t be sure. This frustrating feeling raised her anxiety level even further—making recall of what she studied much more difficult than before.
To reduce the chance that anxiety will throw you off course, stick to this simple three-part plan:
1. Before Test Day
- Study more—a lot more. It may seem obvious, but insufficient study time is the biggest underlying problem for students who suffer from test anxiety. The simple fact is that most students who struggle with exams have not studied enough. Remember that the exam conditions are going to put pressure on you, and this pressure is going to affect your ability to recall things you know. The solution is simply to learn your material so well that you can easily recall it even under difficult conditions.* Repetition widens the pathways to memory. The more times you do something, the easier it will be to do.* Read Past questions and your textbook very well.
- Breathe! Practicing some form of meditation or deliberate relaxation helps you to control your breathing, your heart rate and your thought processes. Focus your practice on calming yourself—by dismissing unwanted thoughts, refocusing your mind and controlling your breathing.
- Practice positive thinking. The desire to avoid failure is a very poor motivator. To prime yourself for success, you must learn to banish negative thoughts. Instead of thinking, “I have to do well on this exam to gain admission because I m tired of trying,” think, “I will do well on this exam because I have studied as much as I can and because I know what I need to do to be successful.”
- Sleep well and eat well. Few regular activities have as much of a bearing on stress and anxiety levels than resting your brain and eating well. Take care of yourself always, but pay extra close attention in the days leading up to the test. If you need help getting sleep, you should try checking out the cbg isolate insulate products.
2. On Exam Day
- Don’t study. If you’ve studied well beforehand, you shouldn’t need to study on exam day. A nice revision would be helpful to jog your memory, but you’re probably not going to learn a lot of new stuff on the day of an exam. You may make yourself anxious, however, by worrying that you’re not ready.
- Prime your brain. Be very thoughtful about what you eat and drink, what medicines you take, etc. For example, if you eat too close to a test, your body may focus more energy on digestion than on thinking. But being hungry won’t help either. Eat something healthy one to two hours before your test.
- Visualize success. Fill your mind with affirmation. Remind yourself that you have done everything within your power to be ready, and that you will be successful as a result. Picture yourself answering the test questions with ease. Accept that you will do well, and that you have nothing to worry about.
3. During the Exams
- Remind yourself that it’s only a game. Remember, exams don’t cause anxiety. The anxiety is your creation, and you can control it. Try regarding your test as a puzzle, there for your amusement only. Sure, you’re trying to score points—but it’s only because winning the game is more fun than losing.
- A final word from your sponsor. Begin with a short private affirmation—a kind word to yourself—and a few relaxing breaths. Remind yourself one last time that you have done everything you could to get ready, and now you’ll do all you can to succeed.
- Don’t stay stuck in the mud. Don’t let yourself struggle with a question. Give yourself enough time on it to try to jog your memory, but then move on to the next one. Remind yourself that even as you answer other questions, your brain is still searching for the answer to the one you skipped. Answering other questions while waiting may just help jog that memory.
When the will to succeed in an examination is stronger, The preparation would be stress free and fun and the only way to show this is through constant practice of the past question( Get it here)
You can also checkout : How to Score 300 and above in post utme exams
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