Strategies To Better Manage Test Anxiety

General Skills

• Engage in regular physical exercise and maintain a balanced diet
• Check vision and hearing
• Use good study habits and strategies
• Manage your time effectively
• Organize material to be studied and learned
• Use a step by step approach to build a strategy and not get overwhelmed
• Manage outside pressures (success/failure consequences, peer pressure, competitiveness, etc.)
• Reviewing your past performance on tests to improve and learn from experience
• Prepare by taking practice exams

Week Before

• Map out a routine
• Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night
• Review practice questions
• Simulate exam to help better manage test anxiety

Day Before

• Approach the exam with confidence (view the exam as an opportunity to show how much you've studied and to receive a reward for the work you've done)
• Be prepared (use a check list to review material and organize what you will need for the test tomorrow)
• Give yourself enough time that morning (attend to things you need to do before the exam and try to get to the exam site a little early)
• Avoid thinking you need to cram just before the test
• Try to achieve a relaxed state of concentration
• Avoid speaking with people who express negativity or who will distract your preparation
• Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam
• Do not take the exam on an empty stomach (have an energizing snack, i.e. fresh fruits and vegetables, and try to stay away from heavy/processed foods)
• Take a small snack with you (eat a healthy snack during a break to replenish energy and help take your mind off of your anxiety)

• Be on time
• Go to bathroom prior
• Do not drink too much coffee
• Stay relaxed; you are in control (take slow, deep breaths and use relaxation techniques)
• Change positions to help you relax
• Focus on present, not past or future
• Prepare for some anxiety (anxiety is a reminder that you want to do your best and it can provide energy and motivation)
• Realize that anxiety can be a "habit" (it takes practice to use it as a tool to succeed)
• Focus on questions, not fears (pause and think about the next step and keep on task, step by step)
• Use positive self-talk (use positive reinforcement for yourself: acknowledge that you have done, and are doing, your best)
• Challenge negative thoughts
• Take breaks if possible
• Budget your test taking time
• Read directions and entire questions carefully (e.g. twice, aloud, silently)
• Identify and mark clues (i.e. qualifiers and absolutes)
• Approach each question as a separate test
• Make an educated guess and go with first answer
• Organize your ideas
• If you're taking an essay test and you go blank on the whole test, pick a question and start writing. It may trigger the answer in your mind
• Don't panic when other students start finishing the test. There's no reward for finishing first
• Proofread at the end

If you prepared well and passed the test

• Reward yourself (celebrate with friends/family, get yourself a present, etc.)

If you did not get the results you expected

• Be proud of yourself for trying and for being on the road to overcoming this obstacle
• List what worked and hold onto these strategies (it does not matter how small the items are: they are building blocks to success)
• Identify what did not work
• Ask questions for clarification and review any available feedback related to your performance on the test
• Make specific plan for improvement (e.g. get tutoring, use a study group, attend workshops on topics tested on the exam, organized your time effectively)