Managing Test Anxiety

What does test anxiety feel like?

• Some students feel mainly physical distress symptoms, such as headaches, nausea, faintness, feeling too hot or too cold, etc.
• Others express more emotion, wanting to cry or laugh too much, or feeling angry or helpless.
• The major problem of test anxiety is usually its effect on thinking ability; it can cause you to blank out or have racing thoughts that are difficult to control.
• Although many students feel some level of anxiety when writing exams, most can cope with that anxiety and bring it down to a manageable level.

What can you do to control test anxiety?

• Be well prepared for the test.
• Include as much self-testing in your review as possible.
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle: get enough sleep, good nutrition, exercise, some personal "down" time, and a reasonable amount of social interaction.
• As you anticipate the exam, think positively, e.g., "I can do OK on this exam. I've studied and I know my stuff."
• Do some serious "thought stopping" if you find that you are worrying a lot, mentally comparing yourself to your peers or thinking about what others may say about your performance on this exam.
• Before you go to bed on the night before the exam, make sure to collect together anything that you will need for the exam -- pen, pencil, ruler, eraser, calculator, etc. Double check the time of the exam and the location.
• Set the alarm clock and then get a good night's sleep before the exam.
• Get to the exam on time - not too late but not too early.
• Don't talk to friends about the exam material just before going into the exam.
• Sit in a location in the exam room where you will be distracted as little as possible.
• As the papers are distributed, calm yourself down by taking some slow deep breaths.
• Make sure to read carefully any instructions on the exam.
• As you work on the exam, focus only on the exam, not on what other students are doing or thinking about past exams or future goals.
• If you feel very anxious in the exam, take a few minutes time out and calm yourself down. Stretch your arms and legs and then relax them again. Do this a couple of times. Take a few slow deep breaths. Do some positive internal self-talk; say to yourself, "I will be OK, I can do this." Then take your time and get back into the questions.
• If the exam is more difficult than you anticipated, try to focus and just do your best at that point. It might be enough to get you through, even with a reasonable grade!
• When the exam is over, treat yourself. If you do not have any other commitments, maybe you can go to chat with a friend. If you have other exams to study for, you may have to postpone a larger treat, but maybe a half hour for a coffee with a friend will be the pick up that you need.

You can take control of test anxiety so that your performance on a test reflects your real standing in that course. If interfering levels of test anxiety persist, however, talk to a counsellor for some specialized help.

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