14 Tips to handle exam stress

Deal with exam stress
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14 Tips to handle exam stress

Do you want to handle exam stress???

If yes then read the following article…

Every student works very hard for his studies. He aspires to get good marks in examination. Exams also bring stress for students. This stress reaches its peak specifically during board exams or semester exams. There are few tips and techniques which can be implemented by students to handle exam stress  These tips are:

1. Be Confident

“Believe in Yourself”.

As the exams reach near, some students start losing their confidence as they feel themselves unprepared or less prepared.  You must remain confident as you have studied whole syllabus once in your classroom or on private tutors. You just need to revise the syllabus.

Once you start revising, you will come to know that things are still lying in your memory and they will start coming to the surface.

2. Follow the Marking Scheme

“Marking scheme is the back bone of every exam”.

Many students try to revise and learn each and every chapter of their syllabus which they sometimes find very difficult to grasp and keep in their memories. Students should know that whole syllabus is bifurcated into different sections/units. Which are further divided into chapters.

Each unit and chapter has a specific percentage of marks in the exam. Students should put more stress on revising those chapters having more weightage of marks followed by units having lesser marks weightage.

Moreover certain chapters are easier than other chapters. One can start revision starting with easy chapters followed by difficult ones. This helps in building up self confidence.

Difficult chapters having very less weightage of marks can be left if you  are feeling problem with them. This way you can handle exam stress to some extent.

This marking scheme is generally given at the beginning of the reference books or it can be downloaded from the the board or university website in which you are studying.

For CBSE students the web site is  www.cbse.nic.in. Similarly each state board has its own website which you can search from search engines like www.google.com or www.bing.com by just typing the name of your state board or you can search for college or university website by typing the name of college or university.

For example, you can search web site of Punjab State Education Board by typing “Punjab State Education Board” in the search box of search engine.

Similarly different universities have different web sites. For example, for Guru Nanak Dev University, the web site is www.gndu.ac.in.

3. Share your problem

“Sharing your problem  is the best way to solve it”

If you are facing some problem or stress. You must talk to your teachers or parents. They can surely solve your problem.

Subject related problems can be discussed with subject teachers who have expertise in their  subject. Your teacher can also guide you about different shortcuts and tips to solve certain problems and questions. Subjects like mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer programming are full of such shortcuts. Teachers of other subjects can also provide you tips and tricks to learn contents of your syllabus fast and in easy manner.

Teachers can also guide you about specific topics and questions answers which are frequently asked by examiners in question papers. This can definitely help you to be more focused and stress free.

Stress related problems can be discussed with parents, teachers or the person you trust. Keeping your problems inside your mind and thinking continuously about them can only help in increasing stress. Sharing them to someone can find a way to release them hence making you more relaxed and calm.

4. Previous Papers

“Previous papers are the best source for exam preparation”.

Exams are conducted every year by schools, CBSE, state boards, colleges as well as universities.  You can get and solve previous question papers to know about the pattern of exam. These question papers give you an idea about the type of questions, their marks and length of answers to be written .

It is generally seen that there are few important topics which are repeatedly asked in consecutive exams. You can put labor on those topics to become more confident and stress free.

Generally previous papers are available in the school/college library or they can be downloaded from internet. There are multiple websites which can provide you previous papers free of cost. Certain websites also provide you their solutions either free of cost or for very small payment.

Questions banks of most of the subjects are available in the  market.  which contain previous year question papers along with their solutions. You can purchase them and solve them.

5. Relax

“Relax before exam to energize yourself”.

It is good to relax one hour before taking the exam. Small nap of half an hour before leaving for examination helps to refresh your mind.  All last minute revisions should be done before this nap. It definitely helps to keep stress away.

6. Last minute revision

“Last minute revisions are very crucial”.

Last minute revisions should be completed at home or your hostel room only. Once you reach examination center, it is better to stay calm and relaxed. Revising the content at last minutes  before exam will only increase stress level.

7. Time Management

“Time management is the key to success”.

Time management is very important while taking an exam. Many students are unable to finish their paper even if they know all the answers. It happens only because of poor time management.

For example, Your question paper carries total 100 marks with time limit of 3 hours. Whole question paper is divided into five questions each carrying  20 marks.

We have 3 hours = 180 minutes for solving the entire paper i.e. each question gets approximately 35 minutes to get solved.

We should keep our watch before us. Once 35 minutes are consumed by one question, we should immediately skip the question and start with the next question. Giving more than 35 minutes to one question will result in leaving other questions.

In this way you will be able to solve entire question paper on time. You may get some spare time at the end of your exam to complete unfinished questions as well as revising the entire paper.

8. Meditation

“Meditation is the solution of all problems”

Meditation during exams surely helps to relax body as well as mind and keeping stress away. Moreover it also helps in activation of certain areas of brain which are responsible for remembering things for a longer time. This increased power of remembrance helps you to keep answers into your mind during exam and stay stress free during exam. Small sessions of 5 to 10 minutes are sufficient for making you relaxed and stress free.

 9. Eat healthy food

“Healthy body contain healthy mind. Healthy food creates healthy body”.

You should prefer healthy food during exam time. Healthy food makes your feel better  and energized as it nourishes your body and mind. it further gives your more energy which is needed by you to study. You should preferably eat fresh fruits and raw vegetables. Junk food must be avoided as it may make you lazy and sick.

10. Drink Water

“8 to 10 glass of water a day are must for human body”.

You must drink fresh and cold water. It surely helps to calm down and relax your body. Drinking good amount of  water keeps our brain free from the bad effects of dehydration which further helps us to think more clearly.

Water also makes us refreshed hence  it improves state of our mind.

11. Sleep

“8 Hours sleep is the mantra of healthy life”

Proper sleep of at least 8 hours per day is required to keep yourself alert and refreshed. It is always a good practice to sleep properly during exams to stay fresh, calm and stress free. It  also helps your body to repair itself and brain to consolidate memories and process information. Poor sleep results in unnecessary anxiety and stress.

12. Reach on Time

“A Stitch in time saves a nine”.

This popular proverb demonstrates the importance of time.

It is always better to leave for exam before time. Late departure from your place will unnecessarily increase stress. Moreover you may sometimes get struck into traffic jam or may face some other problem on road which may result in further delay increasing unnecessary stress for you.
It is always good to reach the examination center at least half an hour before the start of exam. There are sitting plans which are changed during  each exam. Reaching on time will give you enough time for finding your exam room or other on the spot activities which would otherwise create stress if you are late.

13. Deep Breathing

“Breathing patterns control the emotions”.

You must have noticed that your breathing gets fast when you are angry or under stress. Similarly our breathing gets slow when we are stress free and calm. That means if we make our breathing slow we can become calm and stress free. For this purpose we have a breathing exercise called deep breathing.

Deep breathing is a very good exercise to release nervousness and stress before or during exam. you need to inhale fresh air through nose until our lungs get full of air and release it through your mouth until your lungs get empty. This process can be repeated five to ten times in one go. It surely helps to release stress and be calm.

14. Self motivation

“Self Motivation boosts your confidence”.

This is the best way to remain stress free during exams. You should keep motivating yourself that you can surely do well in exam and handle exam stress. You can watch inspirational videos from Youtube or read motivational books or read motivational literature written by popular authors.

Most popular motivational speakers whose video are available on YouTube are :

You can click at their names to watch their motivational videos on YouTube. These videos will surely help you to boost your confidence and handle exam stress.

Conclusion

In this article, tips have been advised to handle exam stress. These tips have been practically implemented and they surely help to handle exam stress. These tips include remaining confident during exam, following the marking scheme,  sharing your problem with your parents and teachers, solving previous year papers, time management during exam, drinking good amount of water and eating healthy food, reaching examination center on time and motivating yourself by reading self development books and watching YouTube videos of motivational speakers. Deep breathing can also be done before or during exam to release stress.

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