Stay Calm During Exams
Session is a difficult time for even the most diligent students.
It is best, of course, to start preparing for the exams in advance: even during the semester, carefully keep notes, clarify incomprehensible questions from teachers, and gradually begin to teach. Then the surrender itself will pass quite easily and calmly.
But even session chaos can be structured. When you think that there are too many tickets and too little time, try to write down everything you need to learn and the number of days left. As a rule, if you make a similar list, it turns out that the situation is not so critical.
Even if you usually do not use it, for the period of the session the daily log will be a real salvation. In the heat of preparation, you can forget about the important deadline, passing some material, or even about the exam itself. Write down everything: how many tickets you need to learn in each subject, what you need to take with you to the test or exam, when and where the consultations take place. In normal times, such information is easily remembered, but during the session it is worth freeing your head for more important knowledge, which is already too much at times.
If you start a diary in electronic form, you can further ease your task by setting sound reminders of the right things, right down to the need to eat or take a break in preparation.
A good way to calmly prepare for the exam is to break down the number of tickets you need to learn by the number of days before the exam, minus one day for unforeseen situations or repetition. Then you will disappear panic that you need to learn everything right now, and instead a specific task will appear: so many tickets a day.
Firstly, you need to correctly distribute the forces. For example, analyze your schedule: which exam is more difficult, which is easier. Take classmates from missed lectures. If any topics during the semester were taut, go through the textbooks again.
Secondly, avoid cramming. A mechanically memorized text tends to permanently disappear from memory in an exam. And to prevent this from happening, knowledge needs to be systematized. When studying material on a particular exam question, try to remember the most important thing. This information in the future will serve as a kind of beacon. If you remember a key fact, formula, date, then something else that you read on this topic will certainly come to mind. This approach has a much greater effect than simple memorization.
Just before the exam, try not to cheat yourself. Do not ask those who have already passed how everything went if you feel that you are starting to worry even more about it. Come confidently into the audience. Show with your whole appearance that you know everything.
Always tune in to the best. An optimistic approach to life did not bother anyone. And there is such a theory that words and thoughts are material. Always prepare for exams in advance. There is little chance of learning the material that you went through for a whole semester in one night.
Take breaks. No need to try to learn all the material in one gulp. You need to take short breaks of 10-15 minutes to relax, give yourself a break and tune in to the study of other material. Also, relaxation, for example, deep breathing, a warm bath, listening to calm music, will help to cope with stress. Exercise regularly, preferably in the fresh air. Drink vitamins and sedatives to support the body from the inside during stressful situations.
Sleepless nights seem to be a necessary part of the student's life during the session. However, there are two things to keep in mind. Firstly, the brain needs sleep in order to transfer the information received to long-term memory. Therefore, cramming a few hours before the exam will probably help you pass it, but in the future it will turn out to be a waste of time: you will not have time to give the teacher everything that you learned how the information will disappear from your head.
Secondly, the brain, exhausted by lack of sleep, works many times worse. Even if we do not talk about fatigue accumulating over time, this method is not very effective. Formally, the less you sleep, the longer you prepare, but in reality your labor productivity is so reduced that there is practically no difference between three hours of preparation, but with normal sleep, and ten, but without sleep.
Scientists believe that some foods help get rid of stress. It’s possible and even necessary to seize stress, scientists are sure. The main thing is to make the right menu. Nuts are considered very useful. Due to the high content of a set of anti-stress components, such as vitamin E, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B2, nuts are very useful in depression. And, for example, broccoli, in addition to the high content of B vitamins, contains a rare element - folic acid. Together, these elements effectively reduce the state of chronic stress and relieve panic attacks and anxiety. And, of course, chocolate, which contains many substances to cheer you up. In addition, sweetness increases the level of endorphins - hormones of happiness.
If your fear of the exam has not crossed reasonable boundaries, you can try to program yourself for success with the help of auto-training: pronounce words and phrases with code energy information in a positive mood. To do this, it’s enough to write several life-affirming formulas, such as “I am completely calm”, “confident in myself”, “I know everything”.
Do not be late for the exam! You should calm down just before entering the audience. You need to stop the exciting panic conversations with other students and remember something pleasant and calm, not related to the exam. Directly on the exam, sitting in place, calm down, focus and try to delve into the content of the questions. During the time allotted for preparation, do not try to write down the answer to the question word for word. Better make a detailed plan, write down important definitions, formulas, schemes.
Using all of these tips, you can reduce stress to light excitement on the day of the exam, and you will also feel much better. The main thing to remember is that if you are very nervous, you won’t help.
Text by
Yulia Inyakina