It’s normal to feel stressed and anxious whenever you are about to sit for exams. You can’t wish the exam away, and it’s unwise for you to skip the tests. Furthermore, in most cases, the test will not be as tough as you imagine. Therefore, all you need is to know a few effective ways to deal with exam stress and anxiety and bingo; you’ll be ready when the assessment comes.
A. Study in groups
Have you thought of forming a group with like-minded students to prepare for the exams? Sometimes studying alone will cause you unnecessary tension, especially if you feel like you have not covered much.
Other times you feel as if you cannot grasp the concepts in the textbook, hence, creating more tension. Get in touch with five of your classmates and study together. What are the benefits of group work in the classroom?
- It’s easier to understand stuff when your classmate explains it than when you lock yourself in a room and read the textbook several times.
- You might realize that you are more prepared than your group mates. What a relief!
- You cover more ground in a group than when you are alone.
- Group work enhances critical thinking.
B. Get some help
Did you know that you can delegate some of your classwork to professionals so that you have ample time to study for your assessment? A student’s life is hectic. It’s impossible to do everything you are supposed to do without risking your mental health.
So, you need to get help as many times as possible. For instance, imagine you have a project, an assignment, and a test due in a week. You can decide, ‘I’ll pay someone to do my homework while I focus on the test.’ That’s one of the most effective ways to deal with exam stress and anxiety in this generation.
C. Eat, dance and sleep
Eating, dancing, and sleeping may not be on your mind now that you have an examination on the way, but fatigue is one of the causes of exam stress. At one point, your mind will be tired from all that revision.
Thus, take a thirty minutes break. Go to your restaurant of choice and eat your favorite meal. Alternatively, you can invite some friends to your kitchen and cook. However, you must avoid exam binge eating for it has detrimental effects on your health.
After the meal, go and study for a few more hours then put on your dancing shoes. Do you know that you can dance away stress? Psychologists argue that dancing prompts your body to release ‘feel-good’ hormones which calm both the mind and the body
After the dance, go to your study room and read for a few more hours then sleep. In conclusion, as you revise for that intimidating text, study-eat-study-dance-study-eat again-study-sleep-repeat routine.
D. What’s the purpose of that exam anyway?
This might sound controversial, but the truth is, exams are overrated. Changing your mindset about the purpose of that test is one of the most effective ways to deal with exam stress and anxiety.
The objective of examinations in schools is not to make students fail and hate themselves. Simply put, your teacher would like to know whether the teaching-learning process was effective, and the easiest way to do that is through a test.
Thus you don’t have to treat the assessment as a matter of life and death. You already know too much anyway, so, there is no way you will leave all questions unanswered. If you approach the test the way you would approach a monster, you will be tensed and anxious.
Take-home
Your future employer is more interested in the value you will add to the company than your scores. That doesn’t mean that you don’t take the evaluation process seriously! It means that you don’t have to die for a test. Plus in case you feel tensed, this article has equipped you with effective ways to deal with exam stress and anxiety.