Stress less: Strategies to optimise your brain power for exams Have you ever had the experience where your mind went completely blank in an exam or test situation? If the answer is yes, chances are you probably panicked. Let’s face it, stress can make us stupid. I’m living proof of this. For my first test for law school I got 1 out of 20 (and believe me, the teacher was being generous when she gave me 1 out of 20!). So what on earth happened? In a nutshell, I read the test question and freaked out. “How do I answer this? I have no idea!” and “I’m going to fail! NOOO!” is what I thought during the one-hour test. According to Yerkes Dodson law an individual’s performance can be enhanced by some stress and anxiety, but only up to a point. If you experience too much stress in a test/exam, then you run the risk of getting 1 out of 20 like I did. Whilst it is understandable that some of us can get a bit stressed when taking tests and exams, it certainly doesn’t have to be this way. There are a number of things you can do to decrease your stress levels and feel more in control when taking tests/exams. Here are 5 things you can do to calm and focus your mind during the exam period – 1. Get familiar with all aspects of the exam Before taking an exam, get your hands on as many past exam papers as possible. Do them. Visit the room you’ll be taking the exam in and if you can, simulate a mock exam in that room. By doing this, you will decrease your chances of any nasty surprises occurring on the day of the exam. Less nasty surprises = less stress. 2. Visualise the Exam Process A week or so before your exam, spend 30 seconds to one minute each day visualising yourself going through the exam process. Imagine yourself waiting outside the exam room and focusing on your breathing, walking into the exam room with good posture feeling confident and calm, flipping through the paper during reading time and taking note of the questions you will start with. Why do this? Sports psychology tells us that the act of mentally rehearsing the process of doing anything will mean you will feel calmer and more confident when it comes time to actually do the task or execute the move. 3. Keep away from the ‘Meh’-heads You know the people I’m talking about. The students who brag about the fact they have hardly studied and will probably fail. “I don’t care if I fail” they say with a smile, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they do care. There is no point having their words occupy your precious mental space and drain your energy. You need to remain calm and focused for the exam, so do yourself a favour – avoid the ‘meh’ heads. 4. Breathe deeply – 3 Sighs Often when we get stressed or nervous our breathing becomes shallower and faster. You can decrease your stress levels by consciously slowing down your breathing and using the “3 sigh” breathing technique. This strategy requires you to take a deep breath in (filling up your chest), then hold and let out a big sigh. Repeat this twice. Letting out a big sigh is the fastest way to relax your body. This strategy takes only 10 seconds to do and can be repeated as many times as you like throughout the day. 5. Focus on what you know My first lecturer at university told me that on the morning of an exam I had to forget about the things I hadn’t had a chance to study and simply focus on the things I knew. He told us to tell ourselves statements such as “I know a lot more than I did before” and “I’ll be able to answer a lot of questions in the exam”. He strongly urged us not to bother studying new content on the morning of our exams. Why? The reality is that on the morning of an exam, you know what you know. Trying to learn new content is a recipe for disaster as it may just scramble your thinking. Focusing on what you know means that you are more likely to walk into the exam in a positive and confident frame of mind. In other words, your thinking will be sharper. If you combine these stress management strategies with solid exam preparation, there is nothing that can stop you from doing well. Managing your stress levels is critical as you can do hours of study (like I did for my first test) but it can be a total waste of time if your mind goes blank in the exam because you panic. Source
