Last Updated on August 5, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar
At some point in our lives, we all have experienced exam fear. Thanks to factors like peer and parental pressure, parents’ expectations and ever increasing competition, students from around the world are prone to exam fear. The fear of exam results in unwanted stress and anxiety! In this article, you will find useful tips, which will help you beat exam fear and stress! Make sure that you read the whole article and implement the tips provided here.
Students hailing from various stages of life suffer from exam fear. Usually students who are about to face board examination are prone to suffer from it. But even students pursuing professional courses and lower division school are not immune to it!
It is not uncommon to see students tensed about approaching exams! Usually they are concerned about their level of preparation. Little bit of tension and stress is good. Because this tension and fear drives students forward. It forces them to open their books and prepare for the exam.
Things turn sour when the tension and stress goes beyond the ‘healthy limit’. When the pressure becomes too much, the whistle blows. Fear generates stress. Students develop anxiety and depression! In short, too much of stress, tension and fear is what plays spoil sport!
Exam fear can totally derail your exam preparation schedule. Too much exam fear generates stress and anxiety in students. These two things just won’t let you progress! They are capable of hampering your preparation process. This lack of (or poor quality) preparation will result in bad performance in the examination. It is a vicious cycle!
Tips to get rid of exam fear (and stress & anxiety resulting out of it!)
Let us move to the meat of the matter- tips to beat exam fear and the stress and anxiety resulting out of it! To beat exam fear at its own game, you must take care of two important things –
- Things to do before the exam
- Things to do during the exam
Let us focus on each stage. We will take a closer look at each stage in the following paragraphs. It will help us uncover vital details and tips, which will help us get rid of exam fear.
Things to do before the exam
1 Your preparation holds the key
The most important thing is to be well prepared! Start preparation early on. Don’t wait for time to fly by you! Many students make this mistake! They just wait and wait until around a couple of months are left before the exam begins! By that time, syllabus/portion will have piled upon them. This makes exam preparation a stressful activity. Ultimately it results in exam fear.
To steer clear of this disaster, it is key to begin preparation from an early stage. Starting early will help you negotiate with portion much more easily!
2 Study smartly, be consistent
It is important to work hard. It is even more important to work smart! While preparing for the exam/while studying, use methods and techniques that are proven to be productive.
Some such methods include- making and following a time table, creating notes, highlighting important parts of syllabus, understanding the syllabus etc.
The first step is to create and good time table. You may seek your teachers’ guidance while making time table. You may even consult your family members for this task. Ultimately, the time table should be realistic and useful!
Once the time table part has been taken care of, it is time to follow it religiously! Be consistent with your efforts. Be disciplined. You may even indulge in group study session (make sure that it is productive).
Study in a room that is free of distractions. Make sure that the room is clean, neatly arranged, well lit and ventilated.
3 Revise, revise and revise!
Make it a habit to revise portion regularly. Revision will help you master the topics! It will improve your confidence. The more you grow in confidence, the less you are likely to face exam fear!
Take notes and highlight important parts of syllabus while studying. Jot down important formulas. Later, revise such notes, highlighted parts and formulas.
4 Eat well. Rest well. Be physically active
Balanced diet is very important in a students life! Especially during exam time, balanced diet plays are crucial role in a student’s level of preparation. For human body to function efficiently, it is necessary to consume a balanced diet.
Apart from that, it is also important to take adequate rest! Taking rest will help us get recharged and refreshed. Lack of rest will lead to fatigue and burnout. Ultimately it will adversely influence your preparation schedule. To avoid this, ensure that your body and mind is getting adequate rest.
Exercise is also necessary. It will improve blood circulation in your body. There’s no need to carry out high intensity exercises! Just 10-20 minutes of light exercise will be enough!
5 Meditate
Meditation is a great way to bust stress! Doing it daily can do wonders! It will bring calmness and composure to your mind! If you don’t like to meditate, you may do other stress busting activities. Pursuing your hobby is a good option. Devote some time daily towards stress busting activities.
6 Don’t compare yourself (your preparation) with others
Students tend to phone up their buddies and chat about each others’ preparation (progress, level of preparation etc). While this is harmless to a large extent, this could also lead to stress and anxiety.
Many students tend to get stressed out when they see their friends’ progress and level of preparation. To avoid this, focus on your preparation. Why bother about others when you have things to learn?
7 Stay positive
Throughout the exam preparation phase, it is important to stay positive. Believe that you’ll do well in the exam. Positive thoughts are known to keep negativity and stress at bay. Don’t let others demotivate you. Believe in yourself, follow the tips mentioned above and stay positive.
The above tips have to be followed before the exam starts. These tips focus more towards preparing for the exam. The point is to elevate one’s level of preparedness. The better you prepare for your exam, the more your confidence will grow. The more confident you become, the lesser exam fear you’ll encounter. In short, confidence slays exam fear. Prepare and revise well, it is the best way to boost your confidence level!
Things to do during the exam
Many of us get nervous and stressed out on the day of exam and while writing exam. The following tips can be used to get the better of this stress and fear –
1 Start early
Wake up and start your day early on the D-Day! This will help avoid the ‘rush’. If you start early, you will have enough time to eat, get ready and leave for the exam hall in calm and relaxed manner! Don’t skip breakfast!
Reach the exam venue sufficiently early. Find your exam hall/room. Arriving early will help avoid last minute rush to find exam hall.
2 Avoid last minute preparation
This stuff is personal. According to me, last minute preparation is not too productive and useful. I don’t know about others, but this is what I feel.
I think one should be well prepared way before the exam. A well prepared student won’t find the need to prepare at the last minute! Again, it’s my personal opinion. You may still do that if it helps you!
3 Tackle question paper wisely
After getting the question paper, take a few deep breaths. Be focused. Analyze the question paper and find out the section that you think you’ll do well in. Start off with that section.
Don’t waste time on questions which you are not comfortable with. Note the question number, leave appropriate space and move on with next question. You may attend the left over questions at the end.
Also read:
NEP education system (grades, syllabus and more)
Time management is of utmost importance. You may work on time management by solving mock papers (during the preparation phase). After finishing the paper, revise and make sure that all the questions have been attended or not.
After the exam, don’t worry too much about the results. Be positive and hope for the best. Remember that it is just an exam, not the end of the world. Learn from your mistakes and make sure that you don’t repeat them ahead.
I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.
I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.