Test anxiety, does it sound familiar? The word has spread worldwide, beyond boundaries and across the sea. Almost everyone would have experienced it anywhere in the stages of our life. Guess it left none.
What is anxiety?
The dictionary defines 'anxiety' as the individual response to an uncertain or unpredictable outcome. The response is also defined as human feelings. The mixed feelings of nervousness, stress, worry and concern about an undefined outcome. Such a confused state of mixed emotions is defined as anxiety.
Have you ever experienced test anxiety? The sleepless night before the exam despite the heavy preparations. The sudden shock of forgetfulness after entering the examination hall. Or the nervousness, sweaty hands, and sudden rise of anxiousness all over the body. These are the signs that you have experienced anxiety.
What causes test anxiety?
The question “What causes test anxiety?” is tricky. The causes ARE more in number. The root for all the causes is “fear,” the fear of certain uncertain situations.
Fear is interlinked with human mental health conditions. The doubtfulness about an individual's ability is the root cause of fear, which leads to anxiety. This doesn't mean over-confidence will help. That’s why learning the art of self-confidence becomes important.
5 ways to overcome anxiety
Planning and preparing
As said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Everything starts and ends within planning. Preparing according to the plan is the next step. Just learning and learning hard and even more, will not be fruitful. If the planning and preparation go hand in hand, it will boost self-confidence. This also gives mental peace to the brain.
Lack of preparation will create stress, which eventually ends up in forgetting what is learned. Planning and preparing is an action word that demands action that has to be performed to overcome anxiety. Once the preparation is strong, then nothing can shatter the self-confidence gained by the hard work of preparation.
Good sleep
Many have the habit of studying the whole syllabus overnight before the exam. Overnight study is common among college students. Believe it or not, this practice will stress out your brain. It is a known fact that 7-8 hours of sleep is a must for active brain action. Getting required sleep is taking care of yourself.
While sleeping, the brain focuses on the learned topics and syllabus. So, sleeping will help to boost memory power. Sleeplessness will make the body tired. Even though it doesn’t have a great impact, it will certainly affect the performance rate. Sound sleep gives a good score.
Calm yourself
The other major reason for test anxiety is getting nervous. Forgetfulness drives nervousness. What to do if the studied question did not appear? What if the well-known answer goes blank at the time of the exam? The answer is simple. Calm down. Panic and stress will not help in remembering an answer.
Misunderstanding the question, writing the wrong question number, committing careless mistakes are common mistakes committed out of panic. Be calm, and take a deep breath. Analyse the question and carefully draft the answer. Start the answer with a well-known question, then move towards the less-known question.
Time management
Time is the most circuital art that should to mastered. While preparing for study time, allocate some time to think about managing the time during the examination. It will be intimate to watch the clock striking through in a fast way.
The best way to overcome this anxiety is to mentally allocate time for each question. So that there will be equally distributed time for all the questions, make sure to finish the question within the given time. Completing the question within the given time will boost your confidence. It is well and good if there is time to recheck the written answers.
Positive thoughts
A wise man once said, “A man becomes the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.” It takes one small step to be positive. Positive thoughts emerge by believing in yourself. Both qualities will help to overcome test anxiety. Positive thoughts never demand to think and celebrate unearned success.
Positive thoughts are to have a positive attitude that your hard work will pay off. A positive wave that you can do your best and have the memory power to remember all you have learned. This will give you fresh confidence to face your anxiety with slimming colours.
As mentioned, anxiety is a fear of uncertain outcomes. Remember the quotes of Mahatma Gandhi “What he thinks, he becomes,” so have a positive outcome. Everything is possible through constant practice. Do not waste time thinking about past negative thoughts.
Ensure to work hard at present, be calm to overcome the anxiety that adds even more stress, and don’t worry about the uncertain future. If hard work is committed and smart work is practiced, success is assured.
