Most students at some stage will experience anxiety around exams. It is a completely normal part of student life but can be really distracting, especially for those who have external pressure to perform at a high level. Trying to figure out how to reduce tension during exam time is a great start to helping improve your performance and get the marks that you deserve, without any negative emotions pulling you down.
There are many reasons you could experience stress around exams. It may be because you aren’t prepared for the exam, you haven’t planned in advance, there is high peer pressure to do well – as exams may be seen as a competition, there may also be high expectations from your family members or your teacher. Additionally, you could also feel tension if you don’t fully understand the learning materials or if you’re struggling to keep up with classroom topics.
One of the most significant differences between a student who is overwhelmed with stress and a student who is using it to motivate themselves is merely studying in advance. The key signs of a student who is stressed with exam pressure are becoming anxious, antisocial or defensive just before exam time.
Below, we have outlined how to reduce tension during exam time, how to get help and support so that you can get your best personal mark and learn life skills that can carry you into your career.
HOW TO REDUCE TENSION DURING EXAMS TIME
1. CREATE YOUR STUDY ROUTINE
Having a solid structure of allocated time for learning classroom materials and skills will help you in the long-term to reduce stress and help you to get into a routine of focused study. By creating a study routine, you can see your progress, focus on learning materials that you’re struggling with and learn additional topics to get ahead of your class.
We recommend that you book a time in your calendar when you’re planning to study. The Google calendar app is great for this as you can set up reminders that alert you in advance before your planned study time.
2. REMOVE ALL DISTRACTIONS DURING STUDY
With social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Snapchat, it is becoming easier to get distracted from studying. Unfortunately, because these apps are built to keep the attention of the user, you can often lose track of time and spend longer than intended mindlessly scrolling through your feed. This can steal valuable time away from your studies and significantly affect your exam final outcome.
By removing all distractions, you will allow yourself to have focused study time with increased productivity so that you can make your study time worth it. This will also remove the guilt that you feel when you haven’t studied in the time that you allocated.
3. WALK BEFORE YOUR EXAM
If you are feeling anxious before an exam, there is nothing worse than sitting still. You may feel as if you need to be reading over your notes just before your exam, but panicking and skimming through notes last minute may do more harm than good. If you have prepared in advance, then you don’t need to read your notes just before the exam, you have the luxury to get into a focused and calm mindset.
An activity that could help you to understand how to reduce tension during exam time may simply be taking a 30-minute walk. Just by taking a short walk before your exam, you not only can calm yourself down and give yourself some space, but you can also improve your brain power and memory. Exercise has been scientifically proven to activate your brain along with many other health benefits. To test this on yourself, next time you’re about to study, go for a walk and see if it helps with improving your cognitive function.
4. GET ADEQUATE SLEEP
Growing young adults need at least 9 hours sleep to reach the recommended amount. Sleep is essential for optimal cognitive function. It helps your brain absorb new knowledge and activate your long-term memory which equates to helping you reduce stress during your exam. Sleep improves your focus along with mood, showing that it is worth getting a proper night’s sleep rather than spending an all-nighter studying last minute.
5. MEDITATE
If you are finding that you’re anxious about your exams, you may benefit from practising meditation. Meditation is a proven technique to help your physical and mental health which results in reduced stress commonly experienced around exams. If you need guidance on how to meditate, many mobile apps have been created to help you do so.
6. USE APPS FOR STUDYING
With thousands of apps available to download, there is something for everyone and every niche. Whether you want an app that can help you create flashcards to remember specific topics and classroom materials or you want to improve your math skills, there is nearly something for every problem. Even apps that help you become more organised may come in handy when creating your study plan.
7. ASK FOR HELP
There is no shame in asking for help when you need it from a friend or family member. By doing so, you may be able to get some additional support to help reduce your exam related stress. They may have experience in this particular problem and could give you advice on how to reduce tension during exam time from their own perspective.
8. FIND A TUTOR
If the main reason why you are stressed around exams is that you are not understanding the learning materials for your subject and are falling behind, then you may find working with a tutor is the best avenue to help you. You will not only learn the materials and understand the problems you are struggling with, but you will also be prepared for your exams and get the marks that you aimed for. A professional tutor will also have the knowledge on how to reduce tension during exam time, so you can get back to learning without the stress.
At C3 Education Group, we want to give all of our students highly valuable skills so that they are intellectually and emotionally prepared for their exams. We offer IB tutoring in all subjects for years 11 and 12, as well as comprehensive HSC tutoring.
We provide students with the best tutors that will meet their academic requirements and learning skills. Enroll for tutoring in Sydney today, or if you have any questions about our tutoring service, get in touch via our contact page.
