Keep calm and carry on with your exams!

There is something about the word ‘exam’ or ‘tests’ that fills us all with foreboding and dread. Some students start seeing words swim in front of their eyes, others forget to read the instructions on the question paper properly and, in worse case scenarios, some students completely blank out and can’t remember anything. Well, sweaty palms, breathing difficulty, inability to concentrate are some other symptoms of exam stress that students report. The problem is that no matter how well you have prepared during the year the onset of exams will definitely bring out those butterflies to some extent or the other. So let’s take a closer look at strategies you can use to stay calm and ensure a better performance during those exams.

Develop small study goals and a reward mechanism for each time that you achieve those set goals. This is probably the most obvious and creating a time-table to complete those chapters is the most basic strategy that you can utilise. However, unless you have a system to reward yourself when you achieve those goals you might find that your motivation starts to go down with time. So whether it is a strictly 30-minute slot for playing your favourite game or hanging out with your friends once a week, small regular rewards do keep us motivated and excited about our goals.

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