Tips to Defeat Test Anxiety

By Megan Potter

Pop-quizzes. Tests. Exams. They are the things nightmares are made of. They give you sleepless nights, and make your mind go blank. It's a normal reaction, even the best students suffer from test stress. Fortunately, there are things you can do to take the anxiety out of taking tests. Try these 15 tips to get ready for tests, and improve your grades.

1. Don't Procrastinate. As much as you hate studying you aren't doing yourself any favours by putting it off. Take time to study over several days and you'll retain a lot more than with an all-nighter.

2. Keep an assignment calendar. Keep it in your binder, locker, backpack, on your desk at home. Every time a test, due date or homework assignment is announced mark it on the calendar. It will help you plan your time more efficiently and save you from the last minute rush.

3. Keep good notes. Learn how to take really good notes. Notes should be thorough, neat and easy to locate (dated) so that when study time comes around you aren't wasting time trying to figure out what you wrote or tracking down that one lesson.

4. Study in your Primetime. You primetime is the time that you get the most out of your work. That's when you will feel the best and will get the most work done. Use that time to study and you'll not only get more work done but remember more of it too.

5. Organize your study time. Studies show that you do your best work in the first ten and last ten minutes that you are working. Use that to your advantage and work in twenty minute blocks. Take ten minutes to relax and then go back at it for twenty minutes. Two or three cycles like this will be more effective than three hours of straight studying ever could.

6. Play teacher. Stand in front of a mirror, or use a tape recorder, and read your notes out loud to yourself. This works because most people remember the things they have heard much more easily than what they have read. You'd be surprised just how helpful this can be.

7. Make up your acronyms. If there are lists, or details that you just can't seem to get a grip on then create an acronyms for it. An acronym is when you use the first letters from a group of words to create a new word or phrase. For example SCUBA stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. And music students use the phrase All Good Boys Deserve Fudge to remember the order of the notes on a scale. The key to making up your own is to make sure it is something you can remember.

8. Get a good sleep. It is important you get a good night's sleep the night before the test. A lack of sleep makes you feel foggy and allows you to get distracted more easily. It's better to sleep the night before and study in the morning than it is to forgo sleep for studying. For major tests or exams you should try to get a good nights sleep for the few nights before. A lack of sleep on Friday doesn't really hit you until Sunday or Monday, meaning a long weekend could ruin a test.

9. Eat your breakfast. We shouldn't have to tell you that studies show eating a breakfast greatly improves the rest of your day. Get up 5 minutes early and sit down to eat something. It doesn't matter much what you eat for breakfast as long as you eat something for that extra boost.

10. Eat lots of dairy products. Ok I lied. What you eat for breakfast can make a difference. Dairy products have a natural enzyme that when processed, helps to relax you. Milk or yogurt for breakfast may help you stay calm whether or not you are ready for the test.

11. Read all the questions first. Reading the questions helps you to get a feel for the test, it lets you figure out which answers you do and don't know and most importantly it can help you give the right answer. Knowing the questions that are coming up can help you make decisions about the answers that you don't really know.

12. Answer the questions you know first. If you answer all the questions in order chances are that you will loose time struggling with the hard questions and might not to get to answer all of them. If you answer the questions you know you know first then you have guaranteed yourself a minimum grade. Leaving you more time to work on the ones you aren't too sure about.

13. Try guessing. For multiple choice especially, but for other questions too, if you really don't know the answer then take a guess. Leaving a question blank is an automatic zero, taking a chance means you may or may not be right, and yes, you could even get part marks. Guessing should only be used as a last resort, and before using it be sure you know whether or not you are going to loose marks for wrong answers.

14. Visualize your success. A positive attitude has a big effect on how we do in life. So, imagine yourself doing well. Going into the test with the attitude that you've already passed it or picture yourself with an "A" on the paper. By believing you can do it you increase the chances that you will do it.

Finally, and most importantly, be prepared. Every subject, every class, every lesson is leading up to one thing, a test. Go into each knowing what is going to be expected of you. All of these tips lead to one thing, Be Prepared. The best cure for anxiety is confidence and confidence comes from being ready.