What to Do When the Exam Stress Becomes Too Overwhelming?

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How to Get Rid of Exam Stress and Pass Them Like a Boss?

There is nothing bad if you are a bit anxious about your exam. This might be a positive motivation and an adrenaline boost to help you get to work. However, sometimes, stress becomes unbearable and goes totally out of your control.

When you are worried, your brain activates a specific part of your nervous system called sympathetic. On the one hand, this makes you more focused and alert. This means that you become more attentive and productive. However, when the stress is too intensive or prolonged, the negative consequences step on the stage. In such a case, the brain continues throwing adrenaline into your blood, and you are alarmed all the time. As a result, you become aggressive, lose your sleep, feel exhausted, and depressed. You forget important things and cannot control your emotions. As you can easily understand, this doesn’t make your exams pass better. You cannot focus on studying, and your performance falls along with your well-being.

How to improve the situation?

The first step you should make is simple. Just bring all of your duties to order and organize your time. When you have everything scheduled and follow your own order, you won’t have a feeling that you don’t control anything. The second step is connected with your self-awareness. You need to track the reactions of your mind and body and learn how to adjust them.

The automatic part of your nervous system works without your participation. It is no way you can control it, but you can learn how to track your inner states and change them. Feelings can be controlled when you are fully aware of them and know how to observe them. You can achieve this by such practices as yoga, meditation, breathing, and thought stopping.

These techniques bring fast and apparent results, and some of them can be practiced wherever you are. For example, thought stopping and breathing are universal methods you can practice at any time and place. Your mind and your lungs are always by your side, so why not. Learn to breathe calmly and deeply. Practice this way of breathing when you are in stress or panic. Just try breathing deeper when you feel the anxiety possessing your mind. You will be surprised that a feeling of control and calm will come almost at once.

As for thinking practices, they are a bit more advanced than breathing. For example, mindfulness is a technique when you catch yourself in a particular moment and focus on what is going on. This way, you teach your mind to stop wandering around and keep focused on something that is important, namely – the current situation. When the current situation is a test or an exam, this technique might be exceptionally efficient. Also, mindfulness improves your self-reflection skills, which is also a perfect practice.  

When you know how to keep yourself under control, your academic performance and well-being improve unavoidably. However, there is one rule to follow. You need to do practices like meditation, mindfulness and breathing regular. When these techniques become a part of your daily life, you see the difference. Compare your overall state before practicing yoga and after practicing. If you see that everything has changed to better, then these techniques are for you. 

Final thoughts

The trick of yoga and mindfulness is to teach you to become aware of your thoughts and states. You need to know what you think and how these thoughts impact your state. Thoughts bring anxiety and fear too often. To change negative thinking, you need to track it first. Then you will learn to control the flow or to keep yourself on a distance.

Also, don’t forget about time-management. To improve your well-being and mental state, you need to have enough sleep, eat healthy food, do exercises, and have enough rest. This will make you more productive and less stress-susceptible.

Last but not least, you need to arrange your studying schedule in a way that allows you to allot time to your hobbies and interests. Education is something you need to focus on, but other meaningful things are no less important! Stick to these techniques, and your everyday life will become brighter for sure!