Exam Preparation Stress: Characteristics, And How To Deal With It
We have all experienced it, some more than others, but no one is immune from this overwhelming feeling that appears before having to take an exam, both the weeks before it and the day on which we have to take it.
Uncertainty and fear emerge in our minds. No matter how much we have studied, we always have that feeling that we do not fully know what we have looked at or, we even fear that when we take the exam we will go blank.
Stress due to exam preparation is common in every student and has nothing pathological in itself.; However, if we are too stressed it can become a real problem that will keep us from passing. Next we are going to understand how it appears and we will learn to manage it.
As exam time approaches, the logical and normal thing for students to do is to study, trying to prepare as best as possible so as not to find themselves with the unpleasant surprise of not knowing how to do anything on the day of the test. Studying requires effort, concentration, spending hours and hours learning and reviewing the content. However, No matter how much we study and know the content, it is practically inevitable to feel a little nervous and even stressed..
When we study we cannot help but feel a wide repertoire of emotions, doubts and fears, all of them mixed with the uncertainty of whether or not we are going to pass the exams. Although we may not have any cognitive difficulty in assimilating the contents, our mood can play tricks on us and excessive stress can make it impossible for us to read in depth and understand the lessons, which is why it is so necessary to know how to manage our own emotions during periods. study.
But we should not think that stress is bad, in fact, we need a little to be able to perform well academically. Stress is still a normal response of the body to a problem or demand., an emotion that mobilizes us to find a solution to the situation in which we find ourselves. The relationship between stress and exam performance comes in the form of a curve. At first, the more stress we have, the more activated and motivated we will be, having enough arousal to be able to study and sacrifice our free time efficiently.
However, there comes a point where the more stress you have, the worse your performance is. Too much stress can cause us to lose focus, making us unable to understand what we are reading or even making it impossible for us to write notes and outlines of the lessons we are reviewing. That is to say, our arousal goes down, we stay blocked and nothing enters our brain. In this situation, the only thing we do is waste time and, on top of that, the feeling of lack of control and self-doubt translates into loss of mental health.
Not having any stress can be a problem, because it does not activate us to start studying, but having too much directly makes it impossible for us to do so. Having just the right amount of stress, the normal amount, is necessary to be able to pass the exams, being stressed enough not to leave studying for later but not so stressed that we don’t get into anything. Managing our emotions both during exam preparation and during the exam itself will be key to our performance.
How to manage the stress of preparing for a test?
As we have mentioned, it is normal to have a little stress during the exam period, especially if there are many and some are taken on the same day. Exam preparation is not emotionally neutral and everyone feels stress during this time, although some more than others.
Be that as it may, it is clear that good preparation for exams, with time and the acquisition of good emotional management tools They will help us have the best performance on test day. Let’s look at a few strategies directly related to taking tests.
1. Write down doubts and fears
Before even starting to study, a very good way to deal with the stress of exams is to take a sheet of paper and write down the fears, thoughts, emotions, expectations and doubts we have about how the exam will go. All of these cognitions cause us stress, an emotion that we feel but may not even realize what is causing it. In order to face them, we first have to name them, identify what they are and ask ourselves if they are a big deal..
The fear of failing the exam is a real and meaningful fear, but it is not a fact that it has already passed. The concern about suspending it may be exaggerated and we really have evidence that we will do well. For example, if we have gone to class every day, our homework is up to date, we have made notes and we have started reviewing the syllabus two weeks in advance, we may have a good chance of passing. Taking this into account will give us confidence and reduce our stress a little.
It may happen that it is just the opposite, that is, that we have skipped some classes or that we do not always keep our homework up to date. In this case we have reasons to worry, but We must convert the stress associated with the exam into energy that gets us to work and do what we have to do: study.. If we start early it is quite likely that we will be able to learn everything that is on the exam.
Whatever our case, we must accept and understand that it is normal to feel nervous, what we must not allow is that our thoughts and fears of something that has not yet happened do not allow us to study because, if so, it will happen. The worst case scenario is to fail the exam.
2. Planning
Once the thoughts and fears associated with the tests have been detected, it is time to prepare for the exams. Many students begin studying without organizing or planning a guide on how to study, which is very counterproductive. Disorder and disorganization invite frustration and increase stress which, as we have mentioned before, makes it difficult for us to study if it reaches excessive levels.
Planning is the best ally for students. Schedule what syllabus to read each day, when to make summaries, in addition to writing down doubts and investing more time in those topics that are not so clear to us. It is the best way to increase the chances of passing the exam, plus it will give us confidence when we see that we have made an effort to organize ourselves.
If we do this, on the day the exam arrives we will be much less stressed and there will be little chance that we will draw a blank. Greater organization translates into a greater feeling of control which, in turn, means less stress which will not make it difficult for us to understand what is being asked nor will we have momentary forgetfulness of the content.
3. Watch who we ask
Asking other classmates can be therapeutic and de-stressing, since we will see that other people also suffer stress before taking exams and that they may have the same doubts as us. It is possible that some of them have developed techniques to manage stress and that they want to share them with us, in addition to explaining in detail any doubts we may have or showing us mnemonic techniques and ways to better assimilate the content.
However, asking other colleagues can be a double-edged sword. It is beneficial as long as we ask the right people, to those who know how to manage their emotions well and try to see the approaching exam optimistically. On the other hand, those who have a more negative, victim-oriented perspective and who, at the slightest question, what they do is vent and rant about the teacher, are people we should keep away.
We must be careful with whom we ask questions, since far from reducing our stress they may increase it by making us believe that there is no solution, that the exam will go badly and that we must put ourselves in the worst case scenario. That is not true. The solution is to study, excessive stress is a factor that can influence our performance, but not a definitive condition. We must stay away from people who blame external factors for their academic performance and who do not study as they should.
Why wait until the day of the exam to check if we know the content? One of the things that almost no one does and that, ironically, is the one that can bring the best results is the evocation of learning, which consists of try to see if we are able to recover the content we have been studying. Many students limit themselves to reading and outlining the book, but not remembering the content they are supposed to have learned, which is exactly what they will have to do on exam day.
The best way to check if we are able to remember what we have studied is by doing mock exams and essays. These tests help us to see if we are able to remember, with or without clues, what we have been reviewing and to be sure that we know the syllabus. If we have difficulties doing it, it will mean that we have to review the syllabus a little more.in addition to rehearsing the exam even more.
By doing this we will not only reduce our stress since we will gain confidence by seeing that we really know the syllabus, but we will also have more possibilities to have a better grade. Only with practice will we ensure that the exam goes as well as possible, preventing us from going blank at the time of the test.
5. They are exams, not the end
There is no doubt that exams are stressful tests, but they are neither death sentences nor diagnoses of terminal illnesses. Obviously there are exams and exams, some being more important than others, but the vast majority have in common that they can be retaken or that there are ways to amend a failure. Yes, there are exams in which we risk the entire grade of a subject and that, failing, may mean repeating a course or having to pay again, but to err is human.
Many times an exam is failed not because it has not been studied but because There was so much fear of stopping it that, in the end, this fear came true. There is life beyond the exam, and we should not think that failing it is synonymous with being a failure. It is true that we should have studied more and learned to manage emotions better, but now that we have failed we can see it as a learning experience and know what not to do next time. They are exams, not the end of our lives.
