How To Beat Examination Stress

Start studying well before the exam. Make sure your schedule provides for sufficient revision time. As any good test-taker will tell you, the

revisions are more important than the first time study.

Focus on understanding the concepts rather than rote learningUse mnemonics if rote learning is the only way out. Cont….

Examples of Mnemonics

In English, the 7 coordinating conjunctions are For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So = FANBOYS.

The order of operations for math is Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, and Subtract = Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

The categories in the classification of life are Kingdom, Phylum,

Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Variety = Kings Play Cards On Fairly Good Soft Velvet.

For those who have to remember the order of color coding on electronic resistors: Black, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Brown, Violet, Gray, White, Silver, Gold.Bad Boys Rile Our Young Girls, But Violet Gives Welts (to) Silly Guys

Examples of Mnemonics

Create an Expression Mnemonic for remembering the order of the planets from the sun outward: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Think about the time after the exam. Visualize the happiness on your face when the stressful period is over.

This works very well.

Keep reminding yourself that your hard work will not go waste.

If you are afraid of tough questions, it helps to know that most questions are of average difficulty and designed to be answered

correctly by most examinees.

Designate a "study buddy” …a classmate or a mentor who is an expert in a subject you have trouble

in, whom you can approach.

Get plenty of sleep. It's way more stressful to memorize lots of information or comprehend

complicated concepts on less than 6 hours sleep.

Eat healthy food, since it's often easier to function on nutritious food than junk. While sugar might be a quick source of energy, sugar lows

happen pretty fast and the let-down can often be severe.

Exercise. Physical exercise like running, jogging or skipping for 15-20 minutes everyday will make you feel stress free and mentally fit.

While taking notes, use as many diagrams, graphs, figures and illustrations as possible.

Ask a senior or more knowledgeable person to prepare sample tests for you. If practice tests are available online or in the market, go for them. Many questions are similar to or verbatim from practice material.

On the day of the exam, feel happy! Think positive and keep cool! Good luck!