Exam Stress - Strategies to Help Before, During, After The Exam
critical appraisal course
I'm sure we can all remember taking a stressful exam sometime in our lives. While the tastes exams we take are when we're school-age, they do not stop at this time around in our lives. There may be exams for work qualifications, night classes and naturally, not forgetting the driving test - with its written and practical exams.
It is common that most of us feel at the very least a little stress when sitting almost any examination. After all, it is primarily the adrenaline rush that keeps us alert when we're outside our rut, and can spur us into having the will-power to pass the exam. While good, too much stress can of course have the opposite effect, leading to extreme stress, unclear thoughts and can result in us failing test and making ourselves ill along the way.
With any exam, this stress is not merely confined to the time we spend within the exam room, waiting to turn over the exam paper and acquire started. Extreme stress might be with us before the exam, being present days or perhaps weeks before the actual exam. It goes without saying that another here we are at this stress is during the exam itself, and also after the exam has finished - in particular when we continuously evaluate and worry about how we have performed afterwards.
Considering this, I will on this page provide some strategies to help reduce this stress in the time before, during and after the exam.
FRCEM exam
BEFORE THE EXAM
Ensure that you REVISE PROPERLY AND Make this happen WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE EXAM - You'll find nothing more stressful than entering an exam room and if you know we have we have not revised properly. From consider your experience I know only too well the load this can cause, especially at the last minute. By revising properly, developing a plan/timetable for our revision and making certain to start this days, even weeks, in advance can mean that we walk into the exam room feeling that we have done everything we possibly can and having increased confidence.
Obtain a good NIGHT SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM - This links to the quantity of revision that we have put-in in the days. Cramming information during the night before -due to a lack of revision or last second panic- will most likely cause us to get tired during the actual exam, liming our potential, but in addition leading to increased stress. Saying 'enough is enough' and becoming a good night sleep is one of the best things we can easily do to reach our full potential during the exam.
START OUT OF THE HOUSE EARLY AND ARRIVE EARLY With the EXAM VENUE - Rushing with the last minute can (a) imply we arrive late and hang around that could be used for answering questions (b) arrive hot bothered and stressed thus limiting our performance or (c) stop permitted to take the exam in any way. All of these -especially the latter- can result in disaster. My best advice is to find up early, leave the required time to travel to the exam venue, leaving time to travel slowly and calmly, also to wait quietly to take the exam. A word of caution here though would be to not arrive to soon as waiting around at the exam venue can be just as stressful as arriving far too late and rushing.
In the EXAM
TAKE A DEEP BREATH And attempt to RELAX BEFORE STARTING The test - This can be useful no-matter what the type of exam. Even if this sounds simplistic advice, going for a few seconds or 30 seconds to relax ourselves will make all the difference, especially if we have entered the exam venue calmly but feel that our stress levels are suddenly increasing - normally happens.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK, OR TWO, AT THE QUESTIONS OR TASK NEEDED Prior to starting - As the phrase 'a stitch in time saves nine' goes, rushing ahead and doing the wrong thing, only realising we've got made a mistake at the later stage, could mean the difference between passing and failing the test - or not getting the result that we want and deserve. In addition, but making a mistake for example answering the wrong question, especially at the outset of an exam, or making an unacceptable move in a test of driving ability, can throw us off-course through out the exam. We will also likely waste time re-writing/doing the activity again when we can - that is a very annoying and stressful position to stay. In a driving test however, organic beef not have this second chance through the exam.
PUT 100% EFFORT In to the EXAM SO THAT There won't be any GUILTY 'I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER' FEELINGS AFTERWARDS - Stress, especially as discussed in the last paragraph when we have made a mistake, can lead us to get annoyed and give up. While at the time we may feel that do not care or there isn't any point carrying on with test, this can lead to stress and anger afterwards. Obviously, by giving up there could be the high probability that we'll not get the results that people hoped for. Also, organic beef leave the exam feeling guilty to the fact that we have not put full effort in and that we could have done better. A minimum of by trying our hardest, even if we feel that we have not performed as well as we wanted, we can hold our head up afterwards and claim that we have not missed the opportunity to do this. After all, there aren't many things worse when compared to a good opportunity missed.
AFTER THE EXAM
TRY NOT TO ANALYSE The test AFTER FINISHING - Surprisingly, consequently and talking to many people over the years, this can actually be the most stressful time of the exam - a similar situation to a meeting. While we may have some short-term relief the exam has ended, the tendency would be to start analysing just how we have done. That is even more tempting when talking to other people who have finished precisely the same exam. As I have said inside a previous article about selection interviews - at this time there is certainly not we can do to change the result of the exam, it is currently history and out of our hands. By analysing your situation, our natural tendency would be to understate ourselves and think that we have not done as well as we may already have and thus stress ourselves. One course of action here is no-matter what, simply attempt to forget about the exam prior to the results are published. Only at this time will we know for certain how well we have performed as well as what we can do next. Worrying will not likely solve anything and could impact upon our chances in other exams or tasks we have to complete. Also, until look for out the results, there is nothing we can do no-matter how worried were. Once we know the results, we could then take further steps, however only when we know these.
To summarize then, I hope that these basic techniques have been helpful. While for just about any exam there is no alternative to good preparation in the form of revision or practice - there are times when no-matter how good this preparation has become, a severe case of stress can ruin everything. I hope these techniques help and wish everyone very good luck.
