How To Overcome Exam Fear, Stress? | Tips to Avoid Exam Stress

    How can we overcome this fear and specific action plans to handle exam fear - One month before an exam, one week before an exam, on the morning of the exam, and in the exam hall. 

The exams are scary. The thought of exams creates a pit in your stomach. You can't think of anything else. You stop going out, you can't sleep and you're stressing all day long.

I'm here to tell you, how to overcome this fear. Stop! Take a deep breath.

There are two questions:

1. Why exactly are we afraid of exams?

2. How can we overcome this fear? 

I will try to give you specific action plans to handle exam fear 

a. One month before an exam 

b. One week before an exam 

c. On the morning of the exam 

d. Inside an exam hall

    Let's first talk about the reasons for exam fear. Now, what do you mean when you say I'm scared for my history exam tomorrow or I'm freaking out about my math paper. Are you scared of writing words on paper? Are you scared of sitting in a classroom? The simple answer is no. When we say we're scared of an exam what we really mean is we are scared of the results of that exam. 

We take Harry Potter as an example. How do Harry Potter and his friends overcome their Bogart? They unleash their wands and say the magic spell: Ridiculous.

The first step in conquering fear is recognizing that it is very small, almost ridiculous. To overcome the fear here's all you have to do: Realize the fear is there and do the action that you fear anyway.

Now let's talk about the specific action plans we can take at different stages.

Are you ready?

a. One month before an exam:

This is usually the time when dates for your examination are announced and you realize that things are getting serious. You remember

all the books that are gathering dust on your table and you don't know 

where to start? 

What can we do? 

Here you have to focus on the time you have.

Let's imagine that you have 86,400 rupees in your bank account, now suppose someone steals two rupees. 

Will you waste the remaining 86,398 Rupees by going after those lost two rupees or will you focus on safeguarding what you have?

Similarly, each day also has 86,400 seconds. 

The moment your exam dates are declared, 

1. Pick up a calendar and start marking the number of days you have left. 

2. Keep crossing each day that you use for revision which will keep you motivated, to make the best use of your time. 

3. Set up base camp, get all your textbooks and notebooks in one place, do a basic read-through. 

This will help you overcome the fear that you don't know anything at all having a basic idea will build your confidence and motivate you to read further in-depth.

Supplementary information at this stage, make sure you're well prepared with what you have and only if time permits:

 

1. Go that extra mile 

2. Make a schedule 

3. Make a list of all the subjects that you have to cover and arrange them into a timetable to learn. 

4. Don't think about everything you still have to do, look how far you've come. 

5. The moment you feel scared about the future, think about the next 60 minutes, take your studies one hour at a time. 

6. Push yourself to keep doing and the fear will automatically vanish away.

b. One week before an exam:

This is the period when you feel that the whole world is falling down on you. There's chaos all around you and you're paralyzed with fear. You just don't know what to do now when we are faced with such a situation two instincts kick in flight or fight, the flight instinct might tell you to give up because all is lost but believe me when I say one week can also be the difference between poor marks and good marks, so keep fighting. 

This is the time to study smart, not hard. So what's the road ahead, pick wisely, pick the chapters that have the highest weightage and study them thoroughly. This way you will also be assured of some success. You can also look at previous year's question papers to get a lay of the land for an idea of how the exam will be? 

Study what's important and what has a high chance of being asked. Focus on the three hours, revise, revise and revive a lot. Perfect whatever you know, till you're confident that you won't make a mistake in it.

Keep pushing yourself till the last day after all it's better to face the pain

of discipline rather than to face the pain of failure.

It's natural to be nervous but here's how you can channel your nervous energy in the right direction:

1. Sleep well before the exam it's essential to be well-rested before an Exam only then will your brain be able to function and remember everything that you've learned

2. Don't try studying any new concepts, you will only end up confusing yourself instead have short tables or mnemonics ready at hand and go over them once you've done this, close your books and give your brain time to reboot for exam mode. 

3. Positive thinking before you go into the exam hall is very important. Think positively, do not assume the worst, don't think about the outcome, look at the three hours of the exam as an adventure; where you're going to learn a lot. 

d. Inside an exam hall:

The last stage of fear is when you see that question paper and all the words look like Greek and Latin to you. You feel like you've forgotten everything and the silence in the exam hall is deafening but you can overcome this fear by breathing and staying calm.

Look at the paper, not as something that you have to win at, but something you have to learn from. Think of it this way, the question paper will help you, only if you allow it to after all. How do we understand the paper? 

1. During the first 10 minutes, you have to read the question paper 

2. Mark the questions you know always remember the same questions can be asked in multiple ways perhaps these questions are the ones you've already studied but they're just framed in a different way out here 

3. Don't let the fear of the unknown to control you blindly 

4. Make the unknown, the known underlying keywords in the question think about topics related to those keywords that I'm sure you've studied and you'll gradually start remembering

5. Now pen down all the information related to those keywords that you know

6. Don't be afraid of wrong answers, what will my teacher think if I write this stupid answer but the answer may only seem stupid to you actually you never know it may be somewhat the correct answer. 

7. It is always better to write something rather than leave the page blank. 

8. Don't let the fear of missing keep you from taking the shot, fear has two meanings: Forget everything and run or face everything and rise. The choice is yours. 

9. May you shine in your exams and happy learning.