Six Tips to Manage Stress Before an Exam

However, according to EssayShark, it is the anxiety and stress that help us to mobilize our forces. But at the same time, this feeling disturbs us and conceals a real threat.

Stress and anxiety affect most systems of the human body, but most of all, they negatively affect the nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems. Anxiety causes the increment of heart rate and spikes in blood pressure. Due to malfunctions in the work of our body, various disorders in the emotional sphere of the personality often occur. They include mood swings, problems in communicating with parents and peers.

How to calm down before exams or other important events?

There is no need to calm down fully. A little anxiety before the exam helps. If you drink too much sedative pills so that nothing else worries you, there is a high probability that you will be just as calm and stupid at the exam. A little thrill stimulates and sets you up for good mental work.

The most straightforward recipe is also the most effective: you just have to get to work. If you have one hour left before the exam, use it as effectively as possible. If you walk around without doing anything, you’ll start worrying again. Use this hour to rewrite the basic phrases you need. It will help you to distract from negative thoughts. No matter how much you manage to learn during this hour — you have done your best and have not wasted your time. Your conscience can be calm.

Why should you not take any pills?

Do not think that this method is the easiest and most effective one. Sedative pills (and almost all drugs) not only calm but also slow down the nervous system. At the exam, your decision-making should be as fast as a flash of lightning to help you respond quickly, confidently, and adequately. That is why the sedative is an evil assistant.

Stress is an important, useful, and occasionally necessary physiological reaction of the body and should not be completely deprived of it. It is possible to cope with such experiences as the examination anxiety without any trendy pills.

How to manage stress?

• Stop overthinking, imagining possible failures, and treating it as the end of the world. You can think about the worst that can happen if the exam is not passed. Most likely, the consequences of failure are not as fatal as it seems. You will just come back home from school, make yourself a big cup of tea, and life will go on.
• Think of the fact that you are well-prepared for the text, and you will not only dazzle everyone with your knowledge but also impress the teacher and the group. This attitude is a bit perky, but it works well.
• Use physical activity to distract from anxiety. Even a few minutes of jumping jacks will blow off some steam and give some rest to your head. Great, if there is a punching bag or just a pillow — let the nervous child inside of you beat it off as hard as it can. You should feel like a winner who is able to cope with any difficulties, not just with a simple exam.
• Explore the situation. What awaits you? Learn about how and where the exam will be held. Find out the personality of the examiner. It is always possible to find out this information from those “who have been in this situation before”. Make sure you communicate with people you trust and who are not inclined to an excessively emotional perception of reality. Don’t let anyone rile you up. Your job is to gather facts, not gossip.
• Get a good sleep at night that lasts for at least eight or nine hours. If you do not sleep all night before the exam, and then take a sedative or drink an energy drink, you might have even more troubles — fall asleep in the most responsible moment or become too nervous.
• Breathing exercises are a great way to calm your nerves just before the exam (5-10 minutes before the test itself). Take a deep breath and deep exhalation. Repeat several times. Breathing exercises allow you to control the flow of oxygen entering our body, that is — to affect energy metabolism.