Exam Stress? What you should and shouldn’t worry about

So the exam season is underway and a lot of students are feeling stressed. feeling stressed is very common commonly associated with exams. It’s very important to realise that if you’re feeling stressed during this period that you’re not alone. Childline delivered 3,135 counseling sessions on exam stress in 2016/17– a rise of 11% over the past 2 years. In this blog I’ll be sharing the tips and tricks I’ve used in the past to cope with my stress. I hope this blog will be a valuable resource to all of you who are going through this and hopefully you’ll find this useful with the stress and worry that you might be facing at the moment.



First of all you might be wondering who this random guy is on the internet and what right does he have to write a blog about exam stress? Well I, myself, am a student currently in the process of going through my final A-Level exams. I’m studying mathematics, physics and geography and hopefully next year I’ll be going to university to study astrophysics should I get the grades (fingers crossed). With all that being said, I think its fair to say that I’m currently experiencing and have experienced a lot of exam stress. I’ve gone through 4 years of exam stress so far and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more to come in the future, and I’m eager to share some of the things that help me.

Why do students stress?

First of all, I think it’s important to understand why people feel stressed during exams. You may think that the answer to this is simple, they want to do well, but by digging a bit deeper into it I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than it seems and there are a number of reasons. According to kidshelpline a few reasons why students feel stressed before exams are that they:

Worry they might fail

Don’t feel prepared

Want to do really well

Don’t have much time to study

Need to get a certain result

Don’t think they will do well

Find it hard to understand what they’re studying

Feel pressure from family to get good marks

Feel they need to compete with others

Have other things happening in their life

You might or might not be able to relate to some of those causes but it’s important to realise that stress is a very personal thing so the reason for your stress could be very different to others.

What does exam stress look like?

Just like the seemingly endless causes of exam stress there are almost as many ways that the stress could affect you. Some of the main signs of stress are lack of motivation to do anything, bad sleep schedule/ lack of sleep, depression/ feeling low, lack of appetite overeating, headaches, feeling confused/ overwhelmed and many more.

What can you do to deal with exam stress?

There are many many things you can do to deal with exam stress. In order to do this I’m going to attempt to categorise them into different categories. Some of the ‘tips and tricks’ will be long term fixes while others will be short term fixes and so depending on how far away your exams are, you can choose which will work best for you.

Prepare to study

Before you can effectively prepare for your exams you must first prepare to study. As my old teacher used to say “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail”. Preparation is key and so its important to understand how to study effectively and distraction free.

Have a dedicated study area

A dedicated study area can help separate the mind from distractions. According to Brendan Baker “Your environment has a huge impact on how productive you are. That means the temperature in your room, the colour of your walls and the noise happening around you”. If you have a separate study area then you are much less likely to be distracted by others around you because they’ll realise that you’re in your studying area. Its best to try and get a space away from where you eat, sleep and relax and a separate office room is ideal. However, if you can only use your bedroom try and separate yourself from your bed. The best way to do this is to have a desk that faces away from your bed. Think about when and where you work best. Not everyone is a morning person, and some people don’t find the library a productive place to work. There’s no one best place or time to work – it’s about what works for you.

Lighting

Not only does lighting help you to see what your studying but it also helps to boost your mood and happiness. Our cortisol levels rise significantly under artificial or poor lighting conditions. That means that we’re more stressed, and have less ability to stabilise our energy levels under these conditions. Being exposed to dim light as well as too much artificial light is scientifically proven to make us both sleepy and more stressed in the long run.The best way to fix this is to use natural lighting when possible but when not use plenty of lighting around the room.

Turn off distracting music

Research suggests that music with lyrics can decrease the effectiveness of studying with Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University saying “Music with lyrics is very likely to have a problematic effect when you’re writing or reading”. However research also suggests that listening to background music prior to task performance increases cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, through the mechanism of increasing a positive mood. Other studies show the opposite effect. It seems that in general, music with vocals is distracting, while instrumental music might actually help with your productivity but this one is very much a personal preference. I personally like to listen to quiet music and I would highly recommend the Lo-Fi Beats playlist on Spotify.

Have a good sleep

Most would say that 7-8 hours is the recommended amount of sleep however most people get between 8-12 hours. Health scientist Daniel Kripke found that “people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive”. However there’s no one size fits all for sleep. You can find what works best for you. On top of all the other health benefits to a good night’s sleep it’s proven to increase concentration and productivity, helps problem solving skills and enhances memory performance. Not having enough sleep simply isn’t good for you. While sleep deprived our brains will work normally but when we get distracted it will be much harder to steer back to focus.

De-clutter your workspace

A messy workspace can lead to distractions, increase stress and make you feel overwhelmed. De-cluttering your workspace is proven to clear your mind and increase productivity and boosts creativity. Being surrounded by a bunch of stuff not only slows you down, but it can also complicate your daily tasks. While it may be tempting to keep every single idea you’ve ever had at hand, there’s a big difference between a small creative mess. Remember to only have the stuff you definitely need to have at hand and keep the rest neatly filed/ stored away.

How to study

There are many ways to study and not one way works best for everyone. Some subjects demand different study techniques than others. However whatever technique you use, its important to get into some good habits.

Take frequent breaks. Psychologists say we can only concentrate properly for 30-45 minutes. You could use a technique like Pomodoro, that helps you to take regular breaks. When you do take a break make sure you don’t stay at your desk, you could go for a walk or even just make a cup of tea!

Keep active. Even a short walk will do. Exercising is one of the quickest and most effective ways to de-stress. Fresh air will clear your head and perk you up.

Schedule your downtime. As well as scheduling your study sessions it’s important to schedule your downtime. Make a plan of how long of a break you’ll have and what you’re going to do to relax. This could be a warm bath or watching some TV or YouTube. Just make sure not to get carried away with your breaks.

A few important things

Firstly, remember passing an exam is only part of the story. There’s always a second chance or another way to reach your goals. Exams aren’t everything. Whatever happens in your exams, you can still be successful in life afterwards. So if you don’t do as well as you’d hoped, try to keep things in perspective.

As well as knowing how to deal with exam stress its also important to know how not to deal with exam stress. Check out this amazing blog on How NOT to Cope with Exam Stress