Do you have exams coming up? Are you currently writing exams? In Edmonton, post secondary students are currently writing exams. If that is you, we wish you all the very best and this article was written with you in mind. Remember, every one feels anxious when they are writing exams, so you are not alone.
7 Strategies to Cope with Exam Stress and Anxiety
- Eat Properly: Your body needs the nutrients it gets from food in order to keep functioning properly. The food you eat affects how you feel physically and emotionally. Exam time is not particularly a good time for diets and trying out new fads. So plan in advance your meals if you can. Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated and in the cold weather, make sure you treat yourself to at least one hot meal a day.
- Sleep Well: If your sleep is interrupted or you are not getting enough sleep, you might wake up grumpy. This state of mind might make you lose concentration and focus.A good sleep also aids recollection of all that you have learnt. Pulling all nighters and surviving on caffeine may get you by but fatigue could creep up at a time when you need to be performing optimally. Plan your sleep time as diligently as you plan your meals, your body the rest time deep sleep allows.
- Exercise: Physical activities like swimming, running will leave you vibrant and refreshed for hours. So it is well worth it to plan activities like skipping, brisk walking or any physical activity that will leave you energetic and calm during your exam season. Many people feel less stressed after a run. Your mind also clears up and you are able to think clearly after a sweaty exercise session.
- Remember to Breathe: Breathing exercises can help you feeling calm and confident. Setting aside a couple of minutes every day to practice mindful techniques will help you calm down your body’s stress response and shift your attention back to the present moment.
- Visualisation: My dad taught me this technique and it has worked for me. It still does. He would say during a breathing exercise, visualise sitting in the exam hall writing your exams, visualise yourself excelling and you will soon discover that is what eventually happens. This technique is a life technique not just for exams. The pictures you create in your mind’s eyes will eventually become your reality. Think positive thoughts and visualise great things about your life.
- Positive Thoughts: You can do this. You will do this. You must do this. Have a set of positive quotes or scriptures that spur you to do well. One scripture that works all the time for me is ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Remember, you will do well. Having your end goal in mind helps you to understand that writing exams is a passage to your end goal. Believe in yourself as well. If you don’t, who will? This is not going to be your last exam, you have aced exams before now. You gat this!
- Talk to someone: Don’t try to keep it all in. Find someone to talk to. Life is meant to be shared not endured alone. Talking through your anxieties with a counsellor, a parent, sibling or friend goes a long way to make your thought processes lighter. Great people ask for help. There is no shame in reaching out and being vulnerable. There is no vulnerability. There is power in seeking help either in a friend or a counsellor.
Tee Adeyemo is the Publisher of Ladies Corner Magazine.
