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Test Anxiety
Many people get worried about upcoming tests. Feeling nervous about a test even be used as motivation to help you study for the test. However, if left unchecked, anxiety can hinder your efforts on a test instead of helping you.
Two Faces of Test Anxiety
Test anxiety comes in two forms. If you tend to procrastinate and put off studying for a test until it's really too late to do much, you most likely fall into the first form of test anxiety. However, if you do prepare for tests to the best of your ability and still feel nervous about them, this is the second form.
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Preparation
If you fall into the first category, preparation is the key. Most of what you have read in Exam Preparation should help you. The main key is to get over the first hurdle, which is starting to study early. It is hard for most people to actually get down to studying, but if you spread out your study time you will feel more prepared.
- Do your best to avoid last minute cramming for a test.
- Get plenty of sleep the night before the test.
- Take advantage of your instructor's office hours.
- When studying or in class try to pick out potential test questions, and then work them over.
Change of Attitude
Easy to say, hard to do. Changing your attitude plays a large role in reducing nervousness about an upcoming test, yet changing your outlook on the test is possible, and there are several methods for doing this.
- Reward yourself after a test, regardless of how well you did. It's important to correlate something good with having completed a test.
- Remember that there will be other tests, and tests do not reflect your self worth.
- Remind yourself that you are not alone, almost everyone has test anxiety.
- Take frequent breaks when studying. If you work yourself too hard too fast, you may feel more overloaded than necessary.
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