How Do I Reduce Exam Anxiety

How do I reduce exam anxiety

Adapted from athabasca university counsellor Ken Dickson

We have identified eight steps to reducing exam anxiety

Effective studying
Healthy lifestyle
Accurate information
Exam-taking preparation
Attitude upgrading
Rational (instead of irrational) thinking
Test-taking strategies
Anxiety reduction techniques

1. Effective studying

Don't cram the night before the exam: (too much material) + (too little time) = ANXIETY
Plan your studying
with regularly scheduled study sessions about 50 minutes long separated by 5-10 minute breaks.

2. Healthy lifestyle

Anxiety increases when one feels run down and overwhelmed.
Overall resilience depends on one's physical and mental health, which can be strengthened by:
enough movement and exercise
balanced life (vs. over-stress)
positive thoughts/beliefs (vs. self-defeating thoughts/cynicism)
movement and exercise (vs. couch potato lifestyle)
health focus (vs. self-neglect)
replenishing nutrition (vs. junk food)
regular sleeps (vs. late night lifestyle)

3. Accurate information

Well before the exam, make sure you know:
where will the exam be held,
what time does it start,
how long will it last,
will extra time be allowed.
Ask the teacher
when will the marks be available?
what materials can/should be brought to the exam?
Calculators (graphing or not)
Geometry sets

4. Exam-taking preparation

Practice on sample tests in the textbook or study guide.
Ask for suggestions from your teacher:
What to expect on the exam?
What course materials should be emphasized?
How to prioritize study time for this course?
Do
Plan to rest well the night before the exam
Plan to arrive at the test location early to pick the seat of your choice; away from doors, windows and other distractions.
Plan to monitor the time during the exam so wear a watch or sit where you can see the clock.
Avoid
Drinking coffee the night before the exam
Drinking coffee during the day of the exam
Anxious or talkative students
Other people or things that may disturb your self-confidence, focus and relaxation
Plan
Check out the testing room before the day of the exam
Where is it located?
How much time does it take to get there?
Where do you want to sit?
Is there a clock?
What is the room temperature?
Control
Wear layers of clothing so you can adjust your need for more warmth or coolness

5. Attitude upgrading

Plan to reward yourself for your hard work
After the exam do something you enjoy that makes you feel special:
take a relaxing walk.
have coffee with a friend.
Buy yourself a present.
Exercise.
have dinner at a favourite restaurant.
take a luxury bath with music, candles and a favourite book.

6. Rational (instead of irrational) thinking

Exam anxiety has two key parts:
1. Thoughts : Negative
Irrational
Intrusive
Persistent
2. Feelings
Fearful (of evaluation situations)
Apprehensive (of negative outcomes)
Tense (muscles readying for self-protection)
Autonomic arousal (stress response)
Exam-anxious thoughts and feelings are:
A closed loop
Mutually influencing and strengthening
Reduce exam anxiety by INTERRUPTING
thought negativity
thought irrationality
thought intrusiveness
thought repetition
feeling tense
feeling fearful
feeling apprehensive
feeling distressed
Negative thoughts arise from negative beliefs in your ability to be successful
This is a habit of thinking; a self-defeating habit
Beliefs and their thoughts are not reality
You can actively change your negative thoughts to positive ones
Interrupt negative thoughts with THOUGHT REPLACEMENT
Plan to replace negative thoughts with positive ones
Practice THOUGHT REPLACEMENT frequently to build new thought habits and new beliefs about yourself
While studying
Before, during and after the exam
Anytime you notice negative, self-defeating thoughts.
Interrupt negative thinking with THOUGHT REPLACEMENT:
Examples
I can do this!
I will do my best!
I can pass this test!
I will focus only on the question in front of me.
Irrational thoughts arise from
Linking one's self-worth to the test outcome
Catastrophicising the consequences of anticipated failure
Repeating and strengthening the irrational belief before, during and after the exam.
Some Irrational themes
Rigid insistence "I must pass this exam or my life won't be worth living."
Faulty logic "If I fail this exam then I am a failure as a person."
Perfectionism "If I make a mistake on this exam then I am a worthless person."
Acceptance by others "My parents will approve of me only if I pass this exam."
Self-judgement "I can't think of this answer immediately and that just shows how worthless a student I am."
Comparisons "Others are probably finding this exam easy. Everyone is better than I am and that is awful."
Anticipation "If I get nervous at all I just know I will go blank and totally fail this exam."
Interrupt irrational thinking by actively challenging your irrational thoughts.
Life will always be worth living regardless of this exam.
The test score is about this exam, not about me as a person.
I would like to pass this exam but life will go on either way.
How others do on this exam is irrelevant to me as a student and as a person.
As long as I give my best effort it doesn't matter if my exam score is less than perfect.
Even if I am nervous I will do my very best.
What others think of me is none of my business.
Whatever my test score, I intend to learn from my mistakes and do better next time.
I respect myself for taking this course, regardless of the outcome.
I would like a perfect score but I'll be OK with a pass.
I would prefer a pass to a fail but I will continue on regardless of my score.
It would be nice to have no anxiety, but I will put forth my best effort even if I am nervous.
Intrusive thoughts often arise because of anxiety
Intrusive thoughts distract from task focus
Like an anxious child demanding attention, they need soothing.
Interrupt intrusive thoughts with these six techniques
Re-focus your attention: Deliberately and strongly re-focus your attention away from the inner thought back to the external exam task in front of you.
Reassuring the thought: Affirm strongly that you will be fine or assert that you will take care of things.
Attending to the thought: Focus your attention on the thought as though listening to a person speaking but allow no response and notice how the thought fades away in the light of your conscious focus.
Practicing "Thought-Stopping": Before the exam (if you are alone), say or shout "STOP!" at the thought and intend for it to go away. Otherwise, shout "STOP!" internally to yourself.
Visualization: Visualize a bubble around the thought and then shrink the bubble as small as you can. With your breath, imagine blowing the bubble into the furthest end of the universe. See and feel it disappearing and then re-focus externally on the exam task in front of you.
Deliberate distraction: Distract your attention from the thought by practicing the brief relaxation and breathing techniques in Section 8.

Persistent, repetitive thoughts often depend on anxious tensions. Interrupt persistent exam-anxious thoughts by:
Thought-Stopping
Be equally persistent in rejecting the worrisome thought.
Keep returning your attention to the task of the exam.
Visualization
Visualize the "bucket" of the thought emptying itself into the "bucket" of the exam.
Redirect your attention back to the task of the exam.
Breathing and relaxation
Practice the brief exercises from Section 8.
Re-focus attention back to the exam.
Focusing on writing the exam and ignoring the thoughts
Never giving up
Be as persistent as the distracting thoughts you are trying to eliminate

7. Test-taking strategies

Survey
Read the instructions
Quickly survey every page of the test
See what will be expected of you
Re-read the instructions a second time
Prioritize
When surveying the test, place a mark beside all questions you know you can answer
Answer the easiest questions first to guarantee marks in the least amount of time
Pace
Do not rush through the test
Regularly check time left for the rest of the questions
Pace yourself

8. Anxiety reduction techniques

Practice interrupting exam-anxious feelings
Reducing exam anxiety is a learned skill
Daily practice can lead to mastery
The more often you practice, the more responsive your body-mind will become
The more often you practice, the more likely you will remember to use them in the exam
Use it!
Use your study sessions to practice the techniques
Use the techniques just prior to the exam
Deliberately take short time-out breaks during the exam and use the techniques to reduce your stress
Apply the techniques just after the exam is over
Use the techniques before you go to sleep, especially the night before the exam
Techniques:
Take a deep breath
Take a deep breath and hold it for three seconds.
Exhale audibly all at once and let your head, jaw and shoulders drop
Breathe easy 'into' your neck, jaw and shoulders and breathe again into the relaxed state
Repeat cycle once or twice.
Total tension release - tense your whole body one part at a time
Lift your toes and tense both calves
Tense your thighs and buttocks
Tighten your abdomen
Tense your chest and back
Tighten your arms and clench your fists
Tense your neck and clench your jaw
Tightly close your eyes
Take a deep breath and hold it for five seconds
Let it go at once
Notice the tension leaving your body
Focus on your feet and legs
Imagine them becoming warmer and warmer
Imagine them becoming heavier and heavier
Imagine them becoming warmer
Imagine them becoming heavier
Continue focusing on your feet and legs
Imagine the tension in the rest of your body flowing downward into your feet and legs making them heavier and warmer.
Emphasize exhalation in your breathing
Breathe your tensions away
Focus on your feet and legs
Draw all tensions into your breath
Exhale through your mouth
Expel those tensions away from your body
Focus on your abdomen
Repeat the cycle
Focus on your chest and back
Repeat the cycle
Focus on your arms and hands
Repeat the cycle
Focus on your shoulders, neck, jaw and face
Repeat the cycle
Focus on your total body tension
Repeat the cycle
Relaxation sanctuary
Focus on the inner screen of your mind's eye
Imagine your ideal safe, relaxing place
In your mind, send yourself there for 15 to 30 seconds
Breath easily and enjoy the relaxation
Close your eyes
Go there anytime you need a quick relaxing break

Mindfulness of breathing
Focus on the tip of your nostrils
Notice the air only at that point. Cool going in and warm going out.
Notice the sensation of the contact of air against your skin
Notice if your breath is fast or slow; deep or shallow; rough or smooth and easy.
Smile!
Really feel that smile spread throughout your body
Take a deep breath and exhale through your mouth