How To Deal With Exam Stress? Free yourself from Anxiety!

Exam stress and anxiety were active members of my life for as long as I can remember. Questions of all kinds clouded my mind and I overwhelmingly appeared in my exams. It is a very common problem and the good thing is, it's not that difficult to overcome it. The internet is already filled with many articles on things you should do to deal with it, so I wouldn't list down things that will miraculously reduce stress, but write what and how some things worked for me, with my insights.

The first thing that helped me was preparing beforehand. It sounds pretty obvious but I say this because the more confident you are, the better you feel. When I say prepare, It doesn't mean strictly following the timetable and schedule properly but I am talking more about the revision period. Try completing the revision at least two days before the exam. And if your boards also have just two days gaps like mine did, leaving your evening free, helps leaps and bounds. What do you do in the time left? Do your quickest final revision, relax and sleep on time.

The next thing on the list is to meditate. It might work if you meditate regularly but if you are like me and have never meditated, you could write. By writing I don't mean aimlessly writing your thoughts and feeling but writing answers. I wrote answers when I felt anxious. You could also solve a numerical or make short notes. Just start writing, it would not only make you less nervous but also clear your doubts and make you feel productive and confident. How? Answering questions takes your concentration and mind towards finding solutions and you stop thinking about anything else.

This brings us to the next piece of advice, which is eating healthy and exercising. This works. So don't skip food and eat healthy because you need the energy to think and perform well in your exam. And if your nervousness brings an upset stomach then avoid dairy products in the exam week and anything that leads to acidity. Eat on time and eat light so you at least wouldn't have to worry about an upset stomach on the D-day.

The next part is staying positive. A positive mindset will not only reduce stress and make you less fearful but will also improve your exam performance tremendously. When you have been positive, your subconscious would be less involved in negative thoughts and you would have exhausted less energy, so your mind will function better, and you'll be able to think much better. And there wouldn't be an inner voice telling you " you can't do it" but a positive voice, so you would be able to solve difficult questions quickly and with much clarity. For me, this was the hardest of all, and you have to analyse for yourself what helps you in being positive but what worked for me here was taking an exam, like an exam. I stopped worrying about my exam too much if I was prepared because then I knew I had done my best and if I wasn't well prepared, then I knew I could just do my best. I listened to other's advice, analysed if it worked for me, and tried different techniques. Some gave confidence, some didn't but I tried all of them in tests and used what worked for me the best in the main exam. I was an average student before the result came, what helped me was coordinating with my teachers and solving a lot of tests so that I could be more confident. It also involves changing the mindset, only the right motivation along with determination brings the right amount of positivity to not just give but ace your exams. 

"aal is well ! "