How To Handle Exam Stress And Test Anxiety During Exams
In the recent time the amount of stress that students have to pass through is enormous. Given that each student from every branch of education are always occupied with assignments or projects that they ultimately push themselves on the night before exams to score better marks. Earlier this was known as ‘Last Minute Study’ and today it has take a new form in which students check the syllabus, find the notes and prepare themselves for the best. Well in this way students can only touch the eligibility criteria for passing a subject but for getting good marks they really need to work hard. However with so many activities that they take part in; like participating in programs at college clubs, performing extracurricular activities, performing social and cultural activities – they get little or no time to study during the pre-examination months. But to sustain in the long run they need to have a balance of all activities in their daily schedule. A little bit of guidance is all they require from their senior generation for excelling in their career without exam stress and test anxiety during examinations.
How Can Stress Be Reduced During Exam Time?
The only reason for feeling stressed on the night or week before any examination is the lack of proper preparation. For example, if any student has finished the entire syllabus beforehand (like a month before) then she/he has the entire time to revise all the chapters thoroughly for scoring brilliant marks. Any college or university that has a semester based teaching curriculum give students 6 months to complete the entire syllabus. However, it is really tough to study everything and anything within 6 months as courses have more than 4 subjects each semester. So it is better to go with the syllabus and the notes provided by the college/University to score good marks. This way if a student finishes learning notes and completes the syllabus one month before the examination, then the student will never in stress during the exam time.
How to Complete Syllabus One Month Before the Examination?
Well to complete the syllabus one month before the examination, a student will need to start studying even before the college/university opens. For this they need to gather notes and books from their seniors or from renowned good book stall. And they do not need to study 10-15 hrs each day to complete the syllabus. But they need to study 5-6 hours every day. They have to continue this till the examination ends. And doing this every day will keep stress out and in fact they will feel much more confident and energetic. So much energetic that they won’t feel tired too!
Steps For Studying to Avoid Stress
1. Try to identify the subjects that are tough and complete learning those subjects thoroughly so that at the time of revising you remember each and every point in order. But don’t leave out the easy ones. As soon you finish the tough ones start preparing the easy subjects. You will find no difficulty in preparing if you read the books and notes thoroughly.
2. Understand what you learn. This is important as you will never remember anything without understanding. If you don’t take tuitions try to find relevant learning videos in YouTube and watch them. You will learn a lot.
3. Practice writing. Write what you learn in your own language and in your own understanding. After that match your writings with the subject notes/books. This way you will have a better knowledge and you will get to know where you are lacking behind or what your faults are. Do not get afraid if you find mistakes as these mistakes will make you better in every possible way.
4. Solve questions. Yes this is really needed if you want to score best. Buy model questions and solve as many you can. Evaluate yourself by yourself. Join a good academy if you are giving any competitive examination. This way you will also get a feel of the competition you are in.
6. Participate in everything and keep a balance. If you are studying for 5 hours a day, you have 19 hours to do other activities. Let’s say if you sleep for 5 hours. You will still have 14 hours to enjoy and learn anything you want to. Don’t be afraid. By managing time you will definitely manage everything!
5. Stay calm and positive and drink a lot of water. Keep your mind calm and always think that you are going to crack the examination brilliantly. This will keep you motivated and positive.
Students who will be giving competitive examinations need to follow the same rules but they really need to study more than 12 hours a day as the competition for jobs or higher studies is really fierce. They need to utilize the best of time they have. Remember for competitive examinations it is not about scoring good marks, it is about getting the best marks possible so that you don’t face any trouble in joining your desired institution or job.
If you are fan of classical music try listening to Mozart or Beethoven and keep thinking of what you studied and the points that you studied. Try to understand your gaps. You will find yourself in a lot better position if you do so!
All the best!