Exam time is a time that provokes mixed emotions in many students. On the one hand, there is the expectation and joy of good grades and passing. On the other, there is the fear and anger of a result below expectations and the dreaded failure. It is no wonder that dealing with these extremes leads many people to become anxious, stressed, tearful and hypersensitive.
The problem is that this situation creates a vicious cycle in which the student becomes psychologically unstable while waiting for the assessments and, because of this, does not study as he should. Sometimes, he does not even feel capable of exploring his full potential. As a result, the final performance is not good, which only generates more mental suffering.
It is for situations like these that it is essential to work on strategies that help you deal with the pressure of important and decisive exams in your academic career. But not only that: they help to promote your emotional control in the face of these challenges. That is why we have brought 12 tips to help you with these two tasks. Follow along!
Tips to better prepare for exams
To get you started, we have put together six special tips for you. Their goal is to show you how you can better manage your preparation for the exam period, ensuring greater mastery of the content.
After all, the more confident a student is about their knowledge and their ability to solve questions on any subject, the more confident they will be to ace their exams, right? So, take note of all the suggestions here!
1. Plan ahead
To start studying, it is essential to plan how you will do it and, most importantly, how long it will take. This way, you avoid leaving everything to the last minute, accumulating content, missing the opportunity to delve deeper into the subjects that require the most attention and failing to review the subjects.
After all, when these situations occur, you are expected to feel more anxious and helpless. Not to mention the greater likelihood of getting a low grade.
So, learn how to set up a schedule for your exam period, considering the number of topics you need to learn and assimilate in order of greatest relevance. From there, identify the days you can dedicate to learning and how many times this moment will occur throughout the week.
Finally, divide your schedule into two stages. The first is immersion in the subjects through reading and research . The second is the practice of the content, done through review and solving questions.
2. Set realistic goals
The second tip to help you prepare better is to set realistic goals for your learning progress. For example, don’t set yourself the goal of reading and reviewing a lot of content in just one weekend.
In addition to overloading your study time, which affects your routine and other tasks, you are at the mercy of possible unforeseen events. If something happens on Saturday or Sunday, you lose the only time you had to study.
On the other hand, if you manage to do this, you can achieve the goal superficially or, more likely, by doing only a small part of what you wanted and leaving the rest for another free day. This way, you accumulate more material.
3. Invest in the variability of study techniques
Avoid sticking to a study technique just because it seems easier in your day-to-day life, as this tactic can cause your learning to stagnate . Which is certainly not what you want.
The ideal is to vary as much as possible to assess your knowledge, increase your assimilation capacity, expand your repertoire of responses and increase your preparation to deal with different statements and problem questions. Therefore, start testing summaries , notes, flash cards, self-questioning, mind maps , index cards, mnemonic techniques, among other resources.
You will see that investing in a variety of techniques enriches your studies, as they challenge you to leave your comfort zone, constantly test yourself and seek to identify your weak points in the subjects.
4. Have better time management in your routine
You need to study frequently to absorb the content and master it. However, you can’t do it any old way. For example, 20 minutes one day, eight hours another.
These fluctuations in the time you dedicate to your study can hinder your learning pace and make the process of reading, reviewing and answering questions more tiring than it actually is.
For this reason, learn to manage your time in your routine by setting aside equal periods to study, such as 1 hour a day or 2 hours every other day. This will help you maintain consistency and make learning a pleasurable habit.
5. Perform regular reviews
Reviewing is very important for your learning. It is through reviewing that you revisit study materials, check how effective your readings were, clear up any doubts that may have remained after your first contact with the content (or that may have arisen from that moment on) and identify what you were unable to retain in your memory.
This way, reviews can be directed towards solving these problems and helping you master the most diverse topics of the subjects.
6. Solve questions
Finally, solve questions, but not just one here and another there. Ideally, they should be part of your study plan and stand out in it — and there’s a reason for that. The time to do exercises is essential to assess how familiar you really are with topics A, B and C.
You become capable, for example, of discussing them, presenting points of view (different and complementary), making associations and applying them in practice, thinking about both the academic environment and the job market .
Tips for reducing stress and anxiety
The first six tips were dedicated to helping you develop study habits that will prepare you to achieve good grades in different exams. From now on, the tips take a different direction.
They will be aimed at helping you achieve greater emotional balance, take better care of your mental well-being and keep stress and anxiety during the exam period under control . So, pay attention to the tips!
1. Take some mental health precautions
Start adopting some practices to take care of your mental health. These are simple things, but they will directly benefit your well-being. For example, take 20-minute breaks every two hours of studying to relax your body and rest your mind. You can use this time to stretch, meditate, listen to music, play with your pet or sunbathe.
Another suggestion is to learn to reward yourself for your progress in learning. To do this, you can set aside a box with encouraging messages that, as you complete each piece of content, you can remove and stick on a bulletin board in front of your study desk. This way, every time you look at this board, you will see that you have progressed and surpassed yourself every day. What’s more, you will see that you are close to achieving your goals.
2. Seek psychological help
If you feel that your emotions are shaken, that this has gone from being something momentary and easy to control, to something frequent and a source of suffering in your routine, seek psychological help. Having support from a professional is very important to protect your mental health .
After all, worry, fear and anguish about not doing well in college can cause anxiety problems, low self-esteem, difficulties in interpersonal relationships and reduced self-confidence. Not to mention the development of self-sabotaging habits that will harm not only your academic life, but also your personal and professional life.
Through psychotherapy, you will recognize your limits and learn to respect them, being able to deal with negative emotions with more autonomy and confidence. In addition, the student learns strategies to reduce stress, change their behavior when faced with adversity, and much more.
3. Try to adjust your daily sleep
The third tip is to adjust your sleep routine. When you don’t get enough sleep, it tends to increase stress, irritation, anxiety, bad mood, and so on. So, you’ve seen: the next day, you’ll be less willing to study and, above all, to really assimilate and practice different content. So, start organizing your bedtime and wake-up times and follow them strictly.
In addition, practice sleep hygiene , making your bedroom a more inviting and suitable place for rest. To do this, keep the lights as low as possible, maintain constant ventilation, turn off electronic devices in the room and stop using screens ( cell phones and tablets) one hour before going to bed.
4. Eat a quality diet
Taking care of your psychological well-being also includes your diet. After all, when you overeat on nutrient-poor, highly processed foods, full of chemical additives, fat, sugar and sodium, this causes problems for your body and mind.
For example, you may experience gastrointestinal problems, bloating, and physical discomfort. In addition, you may experience increased fatigue, a feeling of indisposition, difficulty concentrating and memorizing, increased compulsive eating to relieve anxiety and stress, etc.
5. Practice physical activities
In addition to what has already been mentioned, practice physical activities. When you exercise regularly, not only does your body undergo positive changes, but your mind as well. This is because you relieve stress and worry about grades while also reducing tension, improving your mood, increasing your self-esteem, gaining more energy throughout the day and sleeping better.
It is worth remembering that there is not just one way to exercise or one that is more correct than another. Quite the opposite! You can choose the type of physical activity you want, taking into account, for example, your limitations and needs, your free time, your current level of health and physical resistance and the expenses you may incur (when doing something that is paid for instead of a free alternative).
6. Balance academic and personal life
Finally, remember not to let your academic life “swallow up” your personal life. Obviously, the first is important and deserves dedication from you, but it’s not just you.
Personal life involves spending time with your family, your romantic relationship, plans with colleagues and acquaintances, experiences and stories with friends, leisure time with your pet and much more. Therefore, leaving all of this aside can have serious consequences for your emotional well-being.
Isolating oneself in studies makes students feel lonely, unmotivated and depressed. To top it all off, they may also feel overwhelmed by their studies and the pressure to perform well academically, triggering episodes of procrastination and even burnout syndrome.
Therefore, it is recommended to seek a balance between the two areas (academic and personal), without excesses on either side. This way, you strengthen your mind and can dedicate yourself to your university routine in a healthier and more productive way.