Friday 18 February 2011

Handling exam stress


Do exams stress you out? Do you find it hard to control your nerves during exams? Well we're here to help you!

Exams are definitely a time when everyone's stress level is up. However, while some people might find this positive and motivating, others might feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Which ever way you feel, here are some useful tips to help you study for your exams.

- Be organized. Learn to combine your normal routine with studying. Even though you might feel like you ought to concentrate on your exams, it is always a efficient to spare some time for relaxation as it clears your mind and helps you study better.

- Limit the amount of coffee and energetic drinks that you take while studying. Although these drugs will boast you up for a while, they will eventually make you feel sick and unable to concentrate. You should only consider taking them every once in a while and when they're necessary.

- Take regular breaks. It's important to take breaks while studying as it helps you remember things better. Also, if you study for too long you will eventually lack concentration for which you will be wasting your time.

- Stay away from stressful people. Even though it might seem as if they were present everywhere you go, try to avoid them as they will only make you feel negative about your exams.

- Don't procrastinate. If you're informed about your exam in advance take time to study for it little by little. This will help you reduce stress and absorb more of what you're studying.

- Think positively. It will help you reduce your stress and stay motivated.


Do you get stressed during exams?

Do you have any tricks that help you study better?

Have you tried or do you consider these techniques work?

18 comments:

  1. I usually get very stressed when I have to do exams, specially when I have no idea about it. Lots of times I stay during a long time studying without sleeping what I should and obviously this has its consequences.

    Being stressed is negative and unhealthy, it makes you be more nervous therefore the results of the exams could not be the expected, nevertheless sometimes is very difficult to overcome stress. Want it or not you will have to accept it and manage to handle it with rigor.

    In conclusion, this advices are useful to be able to concentrate while studying and make a good exam, I like the one of being positive because above all it's mental and if you can control your emotions you won't have any problem.




    LLUIS CAÑADELL

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  2. I normally get very stressed during exams. What is more, i consider this as a negative aspect for my results as i tend to have negative thoughts towards the exams and i normally think that i won't get the marks that i am willing to get. As a result to this i tend to panic before my exams making it impossible for me to concentrate or do the best i can.

    As for the tricks that i use, i don't have a lot to say. Since our class tutor always gives us photocopies and advice regarding better and different ways to study, i always attempt to try these techniques out. However, i always tend to give up on them quiet easily. I feel like these techniques don't work but rather make you waste a lot of time. In my opinion, they lie to you by making you believe that even if you don't study as hard as you usually think you should you will still pass with flying colors. Even if i do believe it's important to have an organized schedule i do think that during exams you should actually halt part of your routine in order to have more time to study.

    In conclusion, i consider that some of these tips are essential in order to be able to bring the best out of you, although i still believe that while studying you should follow your instincts and not just trust and relax yourself because you're positive that you're going to get average results.

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  3. In my opinion, staying positive is not the key to studying. I believe that if you spend too much time figuring out how you're going to study and planning out detailed timetables, you'll have less time left to study and it might stress you more.

    As a procastinator, I can tell deciding on timetables doesn't work for me. I always stay a bit longer doing things that I plan to; so, eventually, my whole plan has to changed and that makes me become more nervous. I think it's better to be spontaneous; to keep in mind that studying, especially during globals, is your duty, and you have to do it whether you like it or not.

    Don't let studying take over your life; keep doing some of the activities you used to do when you weren't doing your final exams. Take breaks and go for a walk, or watch your favorite tv program, but keep these activities as a prize for yourself if you have worked hard and fulfilled the amount of study that you had planned out for that day.

    It's important to find the balance when it comes to your expectations. I always set my grade standarts high in order to have a clear direction, an objective to achieve. But you needn't be too demanding of yourself; you have to be well aware of your capacities and your limits.

    It always helps if you're studying a subject you find interesting, but we'll all have to study some things we really don't like or don't care about. There's nothing you can do about that, but you ought to put as much effort in them keeping in mind that they can pull your other grades down, especially the ones that are most important for you.

    As for me, reading is the best way to study. I try to read everything a three days before each exam and then, the day before, I realise that I already know it quite well and that I just have to revise it a little bit. This is very motivating, and it encourages me to study instead for exams I have later so that I can feel the same security afterwards.


    I'm always aware that the reward of having good grades always makes up for all the time spent studying!

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  4. It says 'stay away from stressful people'. Does that include teachers?

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  5. Hah, I think it is mainly teachers!

    I agree in everything Andrea has said. But I fall, now and again, in the same mistakes.
    I am constantly planning my duties and scheduling my time, and this couldn’t be a bigger error. I never succeed to follow my studying plan, and this stresses me out even more. I too, think it is always better to stay spontaneous (but not wasting time) in order to avoid extra and unnecessary stress.

    Studying is a hard and unpleasant task, which I simply can’t stand. But it is our obligation. So in order to do so and not end up freaking out or committing suicide, we must keep ourselves motivated. It is good to encourage yourself and set yourself high targets, in order to work harder and stay focused. If this is well done (and it does work for me), the results are worth the hard work, and really self-satisfying.


    Carlota Guilera Serra

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  6. It happens to me commonly (as Carlota says), that I prepare and do my study planning and then I simply don't follow it, either because I forget, or because I phisically can't follow it.

    I can cope with pressure quite well, therefore I don't normally get stressed when important glabal come. I know perfectly how much time I have to dedicate to each subject in order to succeed in that certain subject.

    That's my main strategy, being calm and positive, knowing that if I get high marks, the consequences will be positive and will increase my self-reliance.

    MARIO ROMEO

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  7. I never get stressed in exams period, and I can only get to two conclusions; the first one is that maybe it is because I'm a type of person who thinks quite positive and that in case of failing the exam can try to solve the problem quickly and efficiently.
    However I can also think that maybe it is not my priority and THAT is the main error, I can't see studying as the most important thing in my life and I should do. So in one of those aspects I have the same luck as Mario and I can stay quite calm in exam periods.
    What is more, I'm very well used to pressure, because I compete and I've learnt throughout these years that pressure only makes you make things worst than what you are able to do.
    One technique for me is listening to music. It may sound very distracting but firstly you get used to it and secondly, I have to very loudy things which my parents call sisters that distract me, and I get more distracted with my two little sisters than with music.

    Mauro Borràs

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  8. In my case, during exams I get a little bit stressed because, sometimes for some exams I don't study a lot. I start to get nervous trying to study the exam the last night. Sometimes I get through but other times is really stressfull because the exam is very long and I can't study it all.

    Also sometimes I get distracted while I'm studying in an exam, somebody calls, my parents speaking on the phone, I see the computer and I enter in Facebook. There are a lot of distractions but very often I get over them.

    I really don't have any tricks to study, firstly I read it to my self, and then I repeat it out loud several times, until I memorize it. That's all I don't have an estrict plan that I always apply when I'm studying, I have different forms to study, also I have to say that it depends on the exam, and the subject.

    To be honest I've sometimes used some of this techniques but they don't always work. For example the one of taking short breaks, I aim to take a break of 10 minutes, and at the end I spend like 45 minutes of break because I often get distracted.
    In addition I've also tried the one of thinking
    positively, it helps me to concentrate, and to relax. And I've never tried the technique of drinking coffe, I sometimes drink some Coca-cola but that's all.

    To conclude I would like to say that my stress in exams depends on the subject.

    Didac Mullor Sirvent

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  9. I often get very stressed during exams,specially when I have no idea about a question.That drags me mad so I often write something invented that has relation to
    the question.

    Yes I have tricks to help me to study an exam.To start I always look after a confortable and airy place to study.I've never will recommend noone to study in a crumpy and cluttered place because you will you get even more stressed.
    Another trick that I have is aswell to try to study and memorise during the breaktimes because at that moment you can solve doubts with your classmates and then your marks will eventually rise up.

    I tried to use these tecniques sometimes but these are sometimes useless.As well I don't like to study.
    Jordi Soldevila

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  10. Surendra Sharma Pérez21 February 2011 at 21:02

    Honestly, that's a theme, that has haunted me since i was a child. Exams where one of my worst fears, but as the time passed, i started to see that i had to learn how to deal with them, so i started studying for them, and i started confronting them, so as a result, i can say that i managed to decrease their effect on me, however, i have to say, that i still shiver when they give out our maths tests.

    Nowadays, i try to relax by carrying out relaxation technique such as meditation, you might think that they seem fancy stupid and useless rites, but they really work, mainly because they make you clear your mind, and focus on what you should be focusing. In my opinion, a good meditation tape, and some scent bars, does much more, than a mug of coffee and a clock ready to wake you up at 3 am.

    As a conclusion, i would like to say that my best advice, towards studying exams, is to be sure that you are going to pass, if you are great at maths, why freaking out with a subject, that's obvious that you are going to pass, it is useless, use your time in productive ways.

    Anyway, GOOD LUCK!!!

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  11. Hahaha! Staying away form stressful people does not necessarily mean to avoid teachers (sometimes yes). It could also mean to concentrate on yourself and your own special way of studying, not on how others and handling their studies because not everyone is the same and has the same needs. By saying this I intend to say that if you see someone who is really studying like maniacally(like 5 consecutive hours a day) don't freak out, because if they're studying a lot it may be because it's their way of studying, and if you study less time don't worry as the results may be the same or even better than the other person. In conclusion, what I'm trying to say is that it's not a competition to see who studies more hours.

    I also have to add to the comment that not always you're in the mood of studying and therefore everything seems more difficult and as if the information that you were trying to learn and memorize didn't want to enter your head. So it's also very important, I think, that you make breaks whenever it's necessary and what's more important above all, don't panic. I think that in stressful situations people tend to forget everything.

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  12. To be honest, I don’t really get stressed in globals because I think that getting stressed is dreadful and it’s not worth it. I agree that during exams it’s a period that the student may suffer, but always you have to be positive and try the best on exam periods because as a student, I want to say a essential thing, that we are preparing ourselves for the future, this is the main reason why we have to study and can achieve our objectives.

    However, everyone has tricks that help to study better. This is very personal but I would like to tell some of my. The main one is to start studying 2 weeks before, so then it wouldn’t be so awful at the time the globals arrive. Personally, I can’t study without a glass of water and some food to eat while studying. Another important fact is that you also have to rest little periods of time because then, information that you have learned would go out of you’re head. To conclude, try to do any trick that can make you study.

    Many teachers and members of my family, show me some techniques to study better than I do. I really tried to do what they told me but I could not.

    Anyway, good luck for the people that believe in the luck and to the rest, study.

    SANTI NG

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  13. I get VERY stressed during exams! I tend to be a very self-demanding person, and sometimes I get over-stressed for no reason. I also tend to get distracted easily (I should be studying right now and I'm here hanging by on the internet!). That's why I try not to do breaks, although I know they would be good for studying, but I can't help but extend them until the limits!

    The only thing that I think I do right is to start studying a few days before the exams come. It really helps me avoiding the stressing out I commented on before.

    Finally, I think this post is actually very interesting in this time of the year, as tomorrow we're starting the global exams, and it can help us with last-minute studying.

    Andrea Roca

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  14. when i start studting what is the part that i find more annoying is that i cannot focus on studying what helps me a lot is music because i do not wander of to eat something or play around i stay calm and focused on the subject because nothing can distract me from the paper.
    As tomorrow we are starting globals i would recomend students to stay away from tv and facebook as these are time consuming and you won´t have time to study also try and get a good nights sleep as being concentrated and no tired from studying helps students.

    maxi pfeiffer

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  15. I am not normally the one who gets stressed during exams. My idea is that if you get stressed things will go even worse so in my case I try to search for a quick and good solution in my exams and always try to stay calm.

    I don’t know why but my only way to concentrate during my studies is to listen to music. I can’t concentrate without music. Without the music I hear things that are happening: phone calling, face book alerts, the TV that’s on... With the music flowing through the air I can be immersed in the duty of studying.

    Personally I hate techniques to study and I normally not use them. The only thing that I do is trying to be organized and to be concentrated.

    Daniel Cosano.

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  16. Like to almost every person in the world who studies, exams do make me feel stressed.

    It is hard to find ways which can help you prepare, and normally nothing of what people can tell you will actually help. In my opinion, to find those things you can do before and during exams which can actually make a differnece, it has to be you who finds out. They vary for every person and they are not always the same, it depends on the time, the exam.. everything makes a difference, and at the same time, nothing does.

    the good thing about this (not good in every way), is that we have plenty of exams to practise for the ones for which we really need to be prepared. There are many years in our childhood through which we have people who care about how we move on academically and how everything works out for us. These people and the situations we go through during these years is what can actually help us in our search of these techniques for a better study.

    However, there are the ones which are most common, such as having had a good sleep, studying somewhere silent, trying not to get distracted easily.. and so on.

    It is up to us as individuals to look strongly enough for those techniques until we get used to studying. The good news is that it is said that once you get used to studying (and memorizing), it is easier everytime.. It better be for us, students of Oak House.

    Carla Galcerán.

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  17. Fortunately for me I never get stressed looking forward to exams. It is actually second before the exam when i start panicking, but obviously, then it is too late. I really don’t know how to handle stress very good so I start the exam struggling. curiously enough, the second I write my name on the paper, automatically, I feel how the stress flows away through my body. I must be weird.

    Never the less I have my own techniques to pass through exam without stressing myself. They are basic respiration exercises which make me disconnect from the stress generated in this days. I know it sounds strange, even there was a time in witch i did not believe in those things, but one (lucky) day a friend of mine convinced my to do so, and I guess I gave it a chance, and now I am very glad of my decision.

    Moreover i have also developed some tricks to help me studying. As distract myself easily I use to go to my local library in order to concentrate better. Whats more I am actually writing this post in there, and it is because it really helps me. If anyone finds out in the same situation I strongly recommend they try this, as they will see quick results. I’m also concerned that there are many other trick to study better, as pills or special types of summaries, but I won’t enter in that now...

    Alfredo Saenger

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  18. It's strange how we never get taught about breathing properly in normal life. Top athletes and sportsmen and women are taught this. Martial arts have taught this for millenium. Yet today, most of us only learn these techniques if we are sent to a professional to help us deal with stress or similar. And yet it would help everyone.

    ReplyDelete

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