Effortless Exams
Managing Exam Stress
Test-taking anxiety or stress is
very common among university
students. It can be very distressing
and sometimes debilitating. Often
students find they get good course
grades but come exam time their
grades drop. This could be because
of either poor exam preparation
techniques and/or stress levels
becoming too high.
What is Stress?
Stress is neither negative nor
positive. It is our body's normal
response to challenge, threat or
excitement. The stress response is
only a problem if it occurs too
often, exists for too long a time
before dissipating, or occurs with a
force that is too strong.
The consequences of stress depend
on your interpretation of the
physical symptoms. Whether you
experience these feelings as a help
or a barrier determines whether you
label your stress as positive or
negative, motivating or paralysing.
Consider how differently these two
people label their feelings: One is
a student just prior to a major
exam, the other is a sportsperson
before a critical event. Both are
aware that the palms of their hands
are sweating, they can feel their
hearts racing and have strange
feelings in the pit of their
stomachs. The student might
typically feel distressed about his
aroused state and view his feelings
negatively as almost a sign of
impending doom and failure. He may
lie awake worrying about his
physical condition as well as about
the exam. The sportsman on the other
hand takes exactly the same bodily
sensations and interprets them
positively as signs of being able to
motivate himself to run faster, jump
higher, throw better. He may be glad
of the extra wakeful time to think
and plan. We often hear of athletes
"psyching themselves up" or "getting
their adrenalins flowing" before an
important event in order to improve
their performance. These situations
tell us something important about
stress: It can either be a barrier
or an aid to success depending on
how you interpret, label and control
it.
It would be a mistake to get rid
of all stress during exam time,
because it is useful and necessary
for you to perform at your optimum
level. But in order to use it to
your advantage you need to:
(a) Learn to accept the physical
sensations of stress and label them
positively
(b) Know at what level you are
motivated or paralysed by your
stress
(c) Bring your stress down to
manageable levels
If you find that your
stress-level is paralysing then read
on.
How Can I Manage My Stress
Productively?
Because stress has both
physiological and psychological
components it is most useful and
effective if you tackle paralysing
stress from many directions.
Ensure Realistic Performance
Expectations
Research shows that many students
demand too much from themselves in
exam situations. For example, a
student who usually gets about 60%
for maths suddenly demands 75% of
himself. There is nothing wrong with
wanting to improve marks, but we
believe that to expect a jump of
this magnitude is unrealistic.
The way to go about achieving
this goal would be in a term-by-term
plan. First make sure of scoring 65%
consistently, than work towards 70%.
Finally over a number of
tests/assignments aim for 75%. If we
set realistic standards of
performance for ourselves, we will
become accustomed to success rather
than failure. And nothing motivates
like success. Try and identify
unrealistic expectations you might
have, especially in the subjects you
find most stressful. Then draw up a
plan of action setting goals in a
step-by-step way so that your
achievements reflect these goals.
Resist Comparisons
Paralysing stress is often caused by
comparing our own exam performance
or exam preparation with that of our
classmates. What we should be doing
is using our own performance as a
standard against which to set goals.
When we rely on other people's
achievements as a standard we almost
always set our expectations
incorrectly; either too high or too
low. Make a list of people with whom
you sometimes compare your own
performance. Consciously resist any
thought to do so in the future.
Manage Outside Pressures
Often unrealistic performance
expectations and demands placed on
us by other people make us feel
pressured and stressed. Monitor your
performance regularly so that you
can become the best judge of your
own achievements and set your own
realistic standards.
Managing Competition For
Scarce Resources
This is a common cause of paralysing
stress, in particular, for final
year students. We are increasingly
witnessing more and more people
chasing fewer and fewer
opportunities. Remind yourself of
your step by step approach to
achieving your goals and contemplate
other ways of achieving the same
goal or alternatives to your primary
goal.
Positive Self -Statements
The way we see ourselves and the way
we think/talk to ourselves controls
the way we will respond in stressful
situations. Each time you start
thinking or saying something
negative such as "I failed last
time, I'll probably fail again this
time," challenge this attitude with
a strong logical, forceful
self-statement: "OK, so I failed
last time but that doesn't mean I'm
going to fail again this time. I'm
better prepared and I've got a new
approach to my work". Change your
paralysing stress to motivating
stress.
Reward yourself whenever you
succeed; if you manage to halt a
negative thought and turn it into a
positive one, tell yourself so, if
you managed to concentrate in class
or get through a difficult piece of
work, congratulate yourself. You'll
get to feeling good about yourself
and your self-confidence will
improve.
Practice Negative Thought
Stopping
Banish negative thoughts by
visualising a STOP sign and saying
forcefully: "Stop!" follow this
exclamation with a positive saying
such as: "I am capable, competent
and in control!"
Rehearse Your Exam Two Days
Before the Time
During WWII, researchers found that
soldiers who mentally and physically
prepared themselves for battle by
vividly rehearsing in their minds
what was about to occur in combat,
experienced relatively little battle
stress compared with those soldiers
who went into battle without prior
mental rehearsal. If possible,
locate and visit the room where your
exam will be held and pretend it is
the day of your exam. Rehearse the
whole process, from you waiting
outside with other students to you
completing the paper and handing it
in feeling satisfied.
Visualise Success
Sport psychologists have known for a
long time that visualising success
can make an enormous difference to
sporting performance in
competitions. Ironically though,
most of us do the opposite for
exams. People spend much more time
visualising failure than they do
success. You can build your
confidence and minimise stress by
being positive about what you do
know, not negative about what you
don't. After each revision session,
cultivate a sense of achievement by
congratulating yourself on knowing
more now than when you started your
revision session.
Prior to the exam visualise
yourself going into the exam room,
feeling confident and successfully
completing the exam paper. Include
as much detail in this visualisation
as you wish. The more real it seems
the better.
Practise Muscle Relaxation
Much of the discomfort you feel
during a panic attack is due to your
voluntary muscles tensing.
Progressive muscle relaxation trains
you to be able to relax your muscles
and hence decrease the unpleasant
physical sensations at will.
It takes about three months of
twice-daily practice of a relaxation
exercise to develop a solid
relaxation response. You can
fast-track the learning of
relaxation response. To do this you
will need to practice a short
relaxation exercise for about two
minutes every hour you are awake for
the final two weeks before your
exams.
The Counselling Centre offers
workshops and individual
consultation in relaxation training.
As a start, try this exercise.
Sit or lie somewhere comfortable.
Work through your whole body, muscle
by muscle, tensing the muscle for 10
seconds and then relaxing it for 10
to 15 seconds. Work from your feet
through your body to your scalp.
Take your time and relax.
Don't stress if you find it
difficult at first. It gets easier
with practice. Some soothing
background music can also help.
If Panicky Try Distraction
Mental distraction techniques help,
not only in slowing down your heart
beat and rush of adrenalins, but
also refocuses your attention away
from the stress evoking situation or
thoughts.
- Count backwards from 100 or
1000 in 7s.
- Breathe in for the count of
3, hold for the count of 3,
exhale for the count of 3 and
hold for the count of 3. Repeat
as many times as you want.
Eat the Right Kinds of Food
Some foods are more calming than
others. Milk and bananas for example
contain naturally occurring morphine
like substances which help to calm
you down. Other healthy "comfort
foods" include mashed potato, bread
and baked beans (although I would
not recommend baked beans the night
before or morning of the exam!).
Lettuce and other raw vegetables are
also helpful. Some foods on the
other hand, just help to wind you
up. Sugar is the main culprit here.
It may give an instant "energy hit",
but that's at the cost of making you
even more nervy than you were
before. Chocolate, interestingly
enough, seems to be the exception.
It is possible that the theobromine
in the chocolate has a calming
effect and cancels out the effect of
the sugar. If you absolutely must
eat sweet things during your exam
time, then try to keep to chocolate
rather than directly sugary ones.
Get Rid of Nervous Energy
Through Exercise
In addition to, or in place of
relaxation exercises, you may choose
to work off your stress through
physical exercise. Apart from
calming you down, exercising also
increases the rate of blood flow
around your body, and to the brain
as well. It appears that this can
really help you to think more
clearly, and to learn better.
It doesn't really matter whether
you cycle, swim, play tennis, kick
boxing, or do anything else as long
as it's your whole body you're
exercising. Sorry, chess just isn't
good enough! Try going for a brisk
thirty minute walk. And focus on
letting go of body tension. Most
students return from such walks
feeling decidedly more relieved and
relaxed.
Avoid Stress Enhancing Drugs
Caffeine is a very powerful drug -
its acts directly on the central
nervous system and heightens
emotional arousal. You will have
enough emotional arousal just from
worrying about exams, it seems an
extremely bad idea to fill your
system up with a drug that will
activate that.
Nicotine can act as a stimulant.
So watch out for those "smokos" that
are meant to relax but in fact
increase your blood pressure. Find
something else to distract.
Beware of Alcohol
Alcohol may help you to feel relaxed
but at a serious cost. The reason
why alcohol is so popular as a
social drug is because it has an
amnesiac effect - it helps you to
forget things. So people use it to
relax because it helps them to
forget what's bothering them - at
least for the time being. The
problem is that alcohol is not
selective in what it helps you to
forget. During exam times forgetting
is exactly what you don't need to
do!
Try Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy involves using
essential oils from plants, which
can help you to relax more easily.
Try a couple of drops of lavender
oil on your pillow at night. Or put
a few drops of lavender, rosemary or
geranium oil into your bath.
Other Stress Reduction Tips:
- Take time off from jobs and
other activities, if necessary.
- Avoid making yourself worse
e.g. by not eating regular meals
or fasting.
- Expect to have disturbed,
restless sleep immediately prior
and during the exam period.
Prepare yourself for this by
getting good sleep prior to this
period.
- Do not terminate a
relationship, no matter how
marginal, immediately prior to
or during the exam period. Your
emotional response may be
surprising. Jumbled emotions can
jumble your mind. Hang on and
deal with the relationship issue
after your last exam.
Note:
If your stress has increased
significantly because of
circumstances outside your control
(e.g. family problems, accommodation
problems, death in the family), see
a counsellor. You are able to apply
for Supplementary exams on grounds
of special consideration. Enquire
about the procedure at your faculty
office. |
