Sitting in the exam hall, your moment of truth is here. All those hours spent cramming are finally going to pay off. You read through the questions, and so far so good… but wait; what’s this question? You vaguely remember reading about the topic but have forgotten the details. Oh well, it’s only one mark, you can come back to it later. You continue reading, and here is one more question you can’t recall the answer to. And one from a section you skipped studying because you didn’t think it would be given importance — but here it is, making a grand appearance and worth a whopping four marks. Super! Why is nobody around you freaking out? Are you the only one who is stumped? Is this exam going to destroy your future?
In the thick of exam season, anxiety is a common phenomenon. The tense atmosphere of the exam hall, coupled with the pressure (both from others as well as from yourself) to do well, can build up and be set off by the smallest speedbump — a forgotten answer, or a pen that stopped working halfway. Anxiety can throw you off your game, no matter how well you have prepared.
Here are some suggestions on how to better manage anxiety in an exam setting:
- Tackle the unknown: If you don’t plan to cover the entire syllabus, or are not confident of recalling some sections, prepare a strategy for dealing with such questions if you encounter them. For instance, you may decide to prioritise time for questions you know the answers to; and for the ones you don’t, you could skip them initially but schedule a 15 minute window towards the end to revisit them and see if you have any flashes of brilliance.
- Know thyself: It’s always good to put a plan to test. Take practice exams and mimic the exam hall setup as close as possible (formal seating, no distractions or access to textbooks). When finished, review your answers of course, but also think about your actions. Did your answering strategy give you confidence or make you nervous? Did you stick with it throughout or abandon it halfway to try something new? Did the new plan work? Where did you find yourself getting stuck and losing the most time? Did you blank out or day dream, and if so, in which part of the exam? Have you been monitoring time properly? Analysing your own test-taking habits will help you better prepare for dealing with the real thing.
- Stay focused on yourself: Outside the hall, avoid friends who want to do last minute studying with you, if you know that’s going to make you nervous. During the exam, don’t be tempted to see what the rest of the world is doing. It has no bearing on your own performance. This time is about you, not about others, so focus on yourself.
- Breathe: If you find your paper to be particularly difficult, pause to take deep breaths before you tackle the hard parts. It will take you less than a minute to do, and will help clear your head.
- Forget about the future, focus on the “now”: While writing the exam, if you find yourself starting to worry, recognise this and pause your train of thought. Avoid thinking about the lofty goals you have set for your future — you will have plenty of time to mull over these when the results are out. In the hall, fix your mind on only one target: getting through the next few hours and leaving the room. The rest can wait.
The writer is a psychologist and management consultant. krithvis@gmail.com
