Oct 27

Oct 27 Stay calm, Study on

Exams are a super stressful time, and if you have other things going on that a stressing you out, it can feel even worse.

A healthy level of pressure is actually good! It means that we’re actually motivated to actually study- if we didn’t have stress we wouldn’t bother, so it helps us try our best. But when pressure feels too much to handle, our body gets full of stress hormones – making us feel overwhelmed, and making it hard to study.

Experiencing this occasionally is OK, but when it’s happening all the time it can leave us feeling on edge.

There is good news, though! There are things we can do to take care of ourselves during exam time to keep our stress at a level that keeps us motivated, but not out of our control.

1. The first step is noticing you’re tipping into stressville:

Everyone reacts to stress in their own unique way, but some common ways that we experience stress are by:

You feel more tired than usual
It’s hard to focus, and you feel overwhelmed
You feel anxious, and your self-esteem is non-existent
You’re teary and really emotional
It’s really hard to get to sleep, or you wake up during the night and can’t get back to sleep

So now you know you’re stressed (or not, yipee!), lets help you get on top of it!

2. Take the time out your body & mind need

You can only focus for 40 minutes at a time – so make sure you give yourself little breaks to chill.
Chunk your day
- Break your day into manageable chunks which include 'me-time'
Get away from it all
- When you are not revising, make sure you aren't hanging around in your designated study area.
Do something active
- After sitting and studying it is important to move around. Going to the gym or a walk with friends, helps our brains process and helps to keep the body fit and healthy.
Nourish the body
- Studying seems as though it doesn't take up much energy, but it does! Your brain is working hard to learn and it takes energy to concentrate.
- Eating healthy snacks and meals provides the essential fuels our body needs to cope with the rigours of studying.
Let yourself relax
- Sometimes it can be hard to 'switch off' our brain after it's been used so intently. Learning to do relaxation exercises can help us to remind the brain that the study period has finished and that it can relax.
- Breathing exercises like taking deep breaths into your tummy can be really helpful.

3. The night before

It’s normal to feel nervous, not knowing what's coming can be stressful.

It can be really tempting to try to deal with those feelings of panic and stress by trying to cram, but chances are that whatever it is you tried to learn in that stressed state is not going to be remembered the next day, so give yourself a break!.

Believe in yourself and be kind to yourself. Make sure your self talk is helpful and not mean!
- You can do this!

4. During the exam

You got this! Even if the questions aren’t what you expected, don’t panic. Remember to breathe

Use the breathing techniques you've been practicing to breathe away the anxiety and help you refocus.
If it gets really bad, put your pen down and do a grounding exercise, like focusing on how the ground feels under your feet. Spending a few minutes refocusing so you can go on is better than spending a long time sitting with the anxious feeling and feeling stuck.

5. After the exam

Knowing that the exam is over and the marking is out of our hands can be a real relief. But many of us start to second guess ourselves as soon as we've handed in our paper. Don’t do it! You did what you could!