Exam Stress

How to manage exam stress

Are you putting your child under pressure at exam time? Is that pressure helpful, necessary or beneficial? Perhaps this article might benefit you as a parent or as a student – to help you manage exam stress.

I regularly receive enquiries wondering how to manage stress and anxiety particularly around exam time from students and from parents. As simple as it sounds, I suggest concentrating on the basics of diet, sleep, exercise and relaxation and I now also add nature and sunlight to that list.

To concentrate effectively, to understand, memorise or absorb information we need sufficient rest, food, fresh-air, fluids and we also need movement rather than sitting at a desk for hours which can easily happen when we are studying.

We need to remain relaxed so that we can think clearly while we study and also when we are in the exam hall. A little stress is okay. In fact, we need some anxiety to help us stay focused but we need to feel that we are in control and not as though the stress is controlling us. Learning a relaxation technique, well in advance of exams, is beneficial so we can call upon that skill while in the exam hall. Relaxation techniques include calm breathing, breathing meditation or progressive muscle relaxation.

You and no one else must revise and take in the information necessary for your exams. What I mean is that your parents, despite talking about your exams, cannot study on your behalf. You and only you must do it and you can. Last minute dot com studying was a favourite of mine when I was in school a lifetime ago but it is not a good way to revise. A far more sensible approach is to draw up a schedule for your study – your plan of action. Set attainable daily or weekly goals and achieve them. Periodically review, revise and edit your study schedule/plan as you deem necessary.

Start studying today – do not delay!

Accept your reality. Do not set yourself an unattainable goal for your results. For example, do not say you are going to do medicine if you have never completed any course-work or attended particular classes. The same is true in college – do not say that you must get a 1.1 hons degree if you do not hand up your assignments on time or at all. Please be realistic with your expectations – you must be fair to you.

Sleep is central to our wellbeing and is often an indicator we are bothered or that something is upsetting us when we have difficulty falling asleep or are unable to stay asleep for prolonged periods of time. Please tell someone if your sleep is being affected – a parent, friend, relative or a professional because help is at hand. Sleep can be improved upon through various techniques. There is no getting away from it, you need sufficient, good quality, uninterrupted sleep in order to study effectively.

Avoid alcohol to help you relax and avoid drugs that promise to help you stay alert. If you are tired, go to bed early. Avoid caffeine as it can interfere with the quality of your sleep – that includes cola, energy drinks and coffee. If you cannot live without a daily fix of caffeine, have it in the morning and certainly no later than lunch time.

While you are studying, go for a quick walk to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air. Studies show that a walk (or any movement) can increase brain activity – exactly what you need when you are trying to absorb information and when you return to your study desk you are doing so with a fresh perspective. Physical movement is beneficial to your health rather than sitting in the same spot for hours on end.

Exercise has so many benefits but I often hear from students that they do not have time to do sports while they are studying. This is counter-intuitive. Walk the dog, go for a swim, run around the block – exercise is beneficial because when your heart is pounding you release feel-good hormones. Exercise helps reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety, improves the quality of your sleep, helps you feel in control and, as well as being good for you, it is an investment in your future health. Exercise helps you think more clearly and to switch off from study stress.

Make time for hobbies, friends and family. It is important to offload and to talk to others who understand how tough it is to study. It is nice to have someone tell you that all your hard work and effort will be worthwhile, that the exams will soon be over and that none of this will matter in ten years’ time! Spend time doing things that you enjoy especially at the weekends when it is good to schedule hobby/downtime because there is more to life than exams.

When you are studying, leave your mobile in another room – I can hear the gasps at this suggestion! You would not believe how much time you waste and how distracting it is to have the odd peek at social media sites or to post a comment about how you are feeling or how boring studying is! Allow yourself a mobile phone break every hour or so or allow yourself to check SnapChat as a treat following studying say two topics or achieving two study goals for example. When you leave your mobile in another room you have to walk to get it so you are moving, taking a mini break from study and checking in with friends all in one go. If you wish or need to, you can download an app to help block social media sites for a specific length of time while you study. It may be worth checking out Self Control* or similar apps.

It is very tempting to have your meals at the table where you study but please join your family for meals or at least eat in a room other than where you study. Food is the fuel that keeps you going so it is necessary to eat something every 2.5 hours. I do not mean eating sweets – sugar is not beneficial and only provides a short-lived rush. Eat fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, yogurts, chew on carrots or raw celery sticks but eat and keep hydrated by regularly drinking water. Try to keep sipping water throughout the day – your brain requires sufficient hydration as does your body.

As mentioned above, physically move away from the area where you study every hour or so, for a few minutes. In fact, it can be helpful to study in slots of twenty or twenty-five minutes which is why a plan of action is essential so you are not wasting time trying to figure out what to study or what to read or which equation to figure out – know in advance what you are going to cover during each study time slot. Working with short slots of time makes it seem much more manageable because you are always achieving something – in this block of time I studied x and next study block I’ll do y and in one hour you have achieved goals. Acknowledge achievements – I’m big into self-praise!

Use past exam papers as a way to practice your answers but also to get your timing right. You cannot get marks for an answer that you did not submit. This might seem perfectly obvious but I know students who struggle to finish answers then run out of time having only completed 2 or 4 answers. Before each exam, know how many questions you must answer and how much time you have to answer each question and how the marks will be attributed. This will help you remain calm and in control. If you are unsure, ask your teacher or lecturer to work out the approximate answer times for you.

Perhaps you could avoid people around exam time! When I was doing my Inter Cert (I’m that old), just before our History exam someone started talking about a war or a battle I had never heard of and I certainly had never studied and I found that off-putting to say the least. There is always someone who is bursting to do a post-exam analysis. Imagine that you come out of an exam thinking you handed up quite a good paper, you are feeling pleased and you might even feel happy. Then someone starts to describe how they answered the same questions as you but their answers sound amazing and you start to question what you wrote and before you know it you convince yourself that what you handed up is rubbish! That’s only my own personal experience but it can help to avoid people directly before and after exams to help maintain calm and perspective.

Finally, do not become overwhelmed by your exams. They do not define you – there is always another time and another way of achieving your dream. If you are under pressure, please seek help and tell someone. No person should face a problem on their own.

*I have no affiliation with this app.

www.carolinecrotty.ie