Wellbeing 

How to handle exam anxiety

It would be weirder to have zero nerves and be relaxed.

Dr. Richard Keegan, Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Canberra, wants you to know that "some degree of tension or anxiety is natural and necessary" before exams.

In fact, that tension can be used to help you study and even improve your performance.

We caught up with Richard for some step-by-step tips on identifying and handling study stresses.

STEP 1: Come back to reality. Don't needlessly freak out.

The first thing to do [when stressed] is pause and reflect on what's being asked of you.

Most people miss that step because they assume whatever emotion we feel must be real and genuine, and actually, sometimes, the emotions we feel can be a runaway train.

Richard recommends that you begin by reflecting on what you've covered over the school year—or semester—and how you've performed on previous tasks and assignments.

You're reassuring yourself that you have done relevant, meaningful, purposeful work along the way [which] can help alleviate that initial stress.

STEP 2: Talk it out. You might know more than you realise.

If you want to test yourself informally, you can try to talk through some of the things you've learned with parents, friends, or people who may not even know what you're supposed to be doing.

So, they won't be judging you in relation to the criteria. You're just getting a sense of, 'You know what? I actually have learned something here. I'm saying things I couldn't have said three or four months ago now.

He also recommends creating mock exams with fellow students who know the subject matter.

[It's] an incredibly powerful strategy to get into the mind of an examiner and think, what would they look for? What's a reasonable question to ask people that's not too hard or too easy?

STEP 3: Start doing the work.

[You] have to have done some of the legwork.

By that, he means that studying can help alleviate the stress of studying. Does that make sense?

Afterwards, you find, 'Oh, I actually remembered some of that stuff; it wasn't just meaningless facts; some actually went in'.

Richard also encourages students to pat themselves on the back when their study is going well.

[It's] borderline cruelty to the self [otherwise] because you have done meaningful work; you're further along than yesterday.

That anxiety… can have knock-on effects in terms of undermining your sleep [and] just generally making you more tired.

You may even start to associate negative emotions with revision, which is not helpful.

STEP 4: Getting stuff wrong helps you identify knowledge gaps.

Sometimes, you can do a lot of revision and realise, 'Right, I've got some extra work to do here.'

That's a meaningful, important discovery, but it can make someone feel bad, so they may shy away from the next day's revision.

No one likes having those things exposed.

However, that's why pushing past the ego-bruising and studying through self-doubt is important.

Without knowing what's missing, how do you know where to start building?

That is the nature of how knowledge is built and constructed… You spend much time groping around, not knowing what it is. And then suddenly, something makes sense, and you get a minor reward.

STEP 5: Stick with it!

The best of the best, the PhDs and professors, have basically just got the hang of being slightly out of their depth.

Some of the learning takes a while to connect.

It's worth the effort, and you have to have faith that the effort will pay off. Even if that weren't true, you'd still have more fun, enjoyment, and persistence if you believe that.

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