Managing exam stress
Stress levels can be higher than usual around exam time. While a bit of stress can help you to stay motivated and focused, too much can be pretty unhelpful.
Exam stress can be overwhelming, while confusing and exhausting you. If it all seems to be getting on top of you, there are loads of things you can do to keep calm and get perspective.
Suggestions
Having to revise a lot of information in a short space of time and not understanding course material can be a big stress. See hints for effective studying for practical advice on effective study techniques that can also help keep you calm.
Keep a routine and take regular breaks
It’s important to have regular study breaks and make time for relaxation and exercise. Going for a walk, run, or to the gym is not a waste of time, it’s a great way to clear your head and can help focus. Watching your favourite TV show or going to the movies are also good ways to take a break from studying. Have a look at relaxation for more ideas to help you relax.
Limit drugs
Caffeine (eg – coffee, caffeine tablets, Red Bull) and other drugs (eg – speed or coke) give you a short lift before making you crash and burn. They can make you feel sick and can interfere with your sleep and therefore your ability to concentrate. You actually study better with regular breaks, getting lots of sleep, and from exercising (seriously!).
Options for the future
If you are doing the leaving cert, getting the marks for your first preference is great, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t – there are other options to get into your course. These include deferring and getting some practical experience in your field, doing further study, retaking some subjects in some cases, or transferring in after a year or two. If you do accept another offer, you may find that you like it or it suits you better.
Manage expectations
External pressures around exams can be huge. These can be hard to deal with, especially with family and people you respect, but you need to remember that it’s your life and your exam, with you in control. There are some things that might help you manage expectations:
Base expectations on your past performance and doing the best you can do.
Put the exam in context. In overall scheme of things, how important is it? If you don’t do as well as you’d hoped there are always alternatives. It’s not going to dictate whether you are a good or a bad person, or whether you are a success or failure. Exams can’t measure these sorts of things – all they measure is how well you can present the material asked for by the examiner; nothing more, nothing less.
Take it as a compliment (admittedly this can be easier said than done). These people want you to do well and think highly of what you are capable of. Their definition of achieving is sometimes a little (or a lot) misguided, so you need to tell people about what you think is realistic. Talk to them, find out what they hope for you and tell them what you are thinking and feeling.
Use the expectations of yourself and others to assist your studying. Talk to people about how you are feeling, see if they have any advice or help they can offer. It’s important to ask for and accept support from those around you, especially family members.
Look after yourself
It’s easy to let exams get on top of you and to forget to look after yourself. If possible try to get a good night’s sleep every night. It’s a good time to make an effort to eat healthily, making sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Ask for and accept support
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you might find it helpful to talk to a teacher or counsellor. It’s also important to ask for, and accept, support from your family if you can. This support might be practical, like picking you up from the library, or emotional, including advice or help.
If you need to talk to someone outside the situation, call Childline on 1800 66 66 66 or Samaritans on 1850 60 90 90 (both are anonymous, 24hr help lines).
Remember
There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. Exams have a beginning and an end, and the stress that goes along with them should end with the exam. Once the paper’s in, there’s nothing more you can do about it, which means it’s now time to relax and enjoy the summer. See hints for effective studying for more practical study hints that can help you reduce exam stress.
Hello Fenella, I've read your article about relaxation. It also contains a lot of useful tips. Thanks ;)
Hi Jimmy,
Thanks for this. Getting enough sleep is really important when studying for exams as it can help to increase energy levels and help you to concentrate better. Generally, 8 hours sleep is seen as the ideal, but everyone is different.
You’re right Jimmy – breathing correctly is very important and can help to relieve stress and tension. Sometimes when we’re feeling stressed our breathing can become quite quick and shallow. Breathing exercises can help us to breathe properly. We have a breathing exercise on our relaxation page, which can help you to breathe properly and can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. Anyone feeling stressed right now could try it and see if it helps.
Thanks again Jimmy,
Fenella
When I go through examination stress, I try to sleep a lot. The organism is exhausted by stress hormones so it’s okey to sleep up to 10 hours a day. I also suggest you to make breathing exercises. Concentrate on your breath. Think about success while you are inhaling and forget all the negative emotions when exhaling. Thank you for publishing this post, as stress becomes a big health problem these days. Here is another post which contains tips to manage exam stress that I liked.
Good Advice! Good luck to all