It’s common for students to feel anxious and stressed as exams approach. University College London reports an annual increase of 20-25% in students seeking mental health support during exam season, highlighting the pressure they face.
The emotional toll of exams often leads to chronic stress, which can have a negative impact on academic performance. Edutopia.org reveals that 68% of students experience a decline in their grades due to chronic stress. To succeed in exams, students must stay mentally refreshed and relaxed.
In this article, we will dig into seven valuable tips that can aid you in reducing stress and anxiety, ensuring you approach your exams with confidence and clarity. Let’s explore these strategies to support your mental health and academic success.
How to Reduce Stress and Anxiety during Exams? 7 Practical Tips
To achieve your desired success in the exam, it is important to de-stress yourself and concentrate on the studying part. Whether it’s a class test, a semester exam or an IELTS session that has got you stressed out, with the right guidance, you can tackle the exams with confidence.
If you are feeling confused and need any kind of help with your homework, experienced writers at a UK-based assignment writing service can assist you. From the preparation of tailored notes to writing custom papers, they can provide you with any kind of assistance.
Let’s discuss the exam stress management tips for students in detail now.
1. Create a Timetable
You should create a timetable based on the difficulty level of each subject. List out all the subjects based on their urgency and importance. One of the most reasonable forms to relieve the stress of exams is to stay thoroughly prepared for what is yet to come.
Making dedicated timetables for the preparation and revision session will assist you a lot.
- Find a study group for your studies.
- Make a revision timetable that suits your needs.
- Choose the times that are best for you to plan your studies.
- Choose the best place for you to revise all the chapters.
- Make a timetable based on the difficulty level of each subject.
- Find the most challenging subjects with more academic weight for the upcoming exams.
They say that creating a timetable is easy, but sticking to it is hard. With clear and achievable goals, you can stay focused and concentrate on the tasks without worrying about other things. To achieve your goals, you should pick the time when you feel the freshest mentally.
2. Stay Physically Active
According to the American Psychological Association, 53% of people say that they feel good after exercising and 35% claim that regular physical exercises can put them in a good mood.
- Plan some activities and hanging out routines for your friends to de-stress you.
- Take time to play your favourite game, read, take a break and watch your favourite TV show.
- Walk regularly because it is a free exercise and does not need any special equipment.
- Take an active break at least once an hour.
- You should take the stairs instead of using the elevator every time.
- Make it a preference to do leg exercises and cardio by walking or running the stairs in your room.
- Wear shoes that are right for the activities you are doing.
Doing regular physical activities will not only have a good impact on your mood but also improve your health. When you sit down to study after exercising, you will have a clear head and enough clarity in your mind to concentrate.
3. Practice Deep Breathing
When students are stressed, they cannot think clearly. That’s exactly where breathing exercises come in. Using these exercises, you can calm your mind down, and they can bring you back into the present moment.
Here are the tips to practice breathing exercises:
- Wear loose clothes and sit down comfortably.
- Inhale slowly through your nose (note down the number of breaths) and hold your breath for a while.
- As you move, your belly should move more than your chest does.
- Relax using your neck and shoulders.
- Keep repeating the breathing exercises for a minute or longer.
- For maximum benefits, you should keep practising deep breathing on a daily basis.
- You can also try petal breathing to add more fun to your exercises.
When you do deep breathe, it sends your brain a signal to calm down. It helps to lessen the anxiety in your head, and you can also stop the racing thoughts in your head. This can make you further focused on the studying session.
4. Make a Strict Routine
In order to stay the most productive during the exam season, you should make a strict routine and follow it religiously. If you do not work enough and if you do not get enough rest, you will not be able to perform well in the exam; that’s obvious.
Here are some of the steps that you can take to ensure you have a strict routine:
- Wake up early every morning and get done with your chores early.
- Create achievable goals for you.
- Prioritise important tasks for you and set realistic goals.
- Try finishing all your homework on your own time.
- Revise chapters before going back to sleep.
- Schedule regular breaks for yourself; it will help you complete your assignments like a pro.
- Ensure you eat a healthy breakfast.
- Take enough time to exercise daily and regularly.
- Schedule dedicated study time that suits your routines.
According to English Path, it is crucial to get enough sleep to regulate your emotions and cognitive functions. A lack of sleep at night can spike your anxiety and anger levels. Hence, you should create a healthy bedtime routine and wake up at the same time every day to have better sleep quality.
5. Maintain a Healthy Diet
According to Starling Community Services, your body needs the nutrients that it gets from food to function properly. The food you eat will affect you both physically and emotionally. For instance, foods with so much sugar and fats can make you feel sluggish and heavy.
A healthy body comes first, and here are the tips that can make your body act healthy:
- Eat at least 05 different portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day.
- Choose to eat whole grains and higher fibre versions with less salt, sugar, and added fats.
- You should also choose unsaturated oils and consume them in small amounts.
- If you must eat fast food, choose your options wisely.
- Eat plenty of food which is rich in calcium.
- Make it a habit to eat more fish.
- Cut down on saturated sugar and fats.
- Consume less salt every day as it can increase your blood pressure.
- Maintain a healthy weight and stay active.
Once when you start eating a healthy diet, there will be no going back. Following a healthy diet can support your mental and physical well-being. Don’t forget to add vegetables, seasonal fruits and whole grains to your diet to keep it healthy.
6. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
It’s easy to compare yourself to others when you are not focused enough on your own life. It can affect your mental health and can lead you even more distracted from your studies. You have to know that the journey of every student is different.
Some guidelines to follow in this regard are here:
- Focus on your actions, not the outcomes that you have to get.
- You have to consistently work hard to put things in perspective every day.
- Transform your social networks and end all the comparison triggers.
- Seek to make meaningful connections with others.
- Know that the life of everyone is different in different ways.
- Celebrate all your achievements and learn to enjoy different things.
- Know that everything will happen in its own time, and don’t compare yourself with others.
All in all, you have to focus on your academic progress and leave all else behind. It shall keep unnecessary stress away from you. Know that the only person you have to compete with is you, and you have to do it for yourself.
7. Ask for Help Whenever Needed
Whenever students feel confused when working on their academic papers, they should actively seek help from the experts. According to Edutopia, the failure to ask for help can badly impact students’ academic performance, self-esteem, and confidence. They must first acknowledge that they need help with their studies.
Here are some tips to prepare yourself to ask for assistance:
- You have to be specific about what you need and what you are struggling with.
- Use your assertive communication skills.
- Be confident when asking for help, and know that it is a sign of strength.
- You should understand your limitations, needs and strengths.
- Ask for help whenever it’s uncomfortable.
- Think about when is the best time to ask others for help.
Stay in touch with your supervisor so that you can contact them whenever you need help. Your peers, fellows, and colleagues are probably the best people to help you whenever you feel stuck. You must reach out whenever you need help.
Conclusion
Now that you know about the top 7 tips and strategies to reduce anxiety and stress during the exam season, apply them whenever you can. If you are having issues with focus and concentration, the breathing exercises will help you calm your mind. If you are worried that you will not be able to focus on your work, you have to stick to your schedule.
Apart from that, professional assignment writing services online in London can be of great help if you want to ask for assistance from expert writers. They have seasoned experts on their team who can provide personalised and custom help to students on various topics. Keep in mind that it is completely normal to stay stressed during the exam season. How you manage those feelings is important; hence, you should follow the exam anxiety management that we have discussed above in detail.
Author Bio
Caitlin Morgan is an assignment writer, licensed therapist, and mental health professional with multi-year experience writing about mental health, anxiety, and stress reduction. Passionate about empowering individuals through her insights, she combines her expertise with a keen interest in AI and the Internet of Things, exploring innovative ways to enhance mental well-being. She is dedicated to fostering understanding and resilience in her readers.
