How To Overcome Test Anxiety

Settling in for the new school year can be challenging. Aside from adjusting to new professors and thinking about how to even pass every requirement, taking the test can be one of the difficult task one has to complete. Test Anxiety is one of the common issues a student encounters and it is one of the academic dilemma students face every school year.

Most often students complain that they don't have much time, apparently the "too many things to do too little time" is the oratorical statement when it comes to school and time management. However, students can best benefit from time management, study skills and helpful techniques to create a low anxiety stress resistance academic lifestyle.

TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS

1.  Prioritize - Identify your goals and your engagements and rank them base on their importance.
2. Work on a system - Develop a 24 hours time tracking system so you have a full view of what your    daily task will look like.
3. Study Priority List - Create a weekly study priority list base on your test timetable . Mark down chapters that you need to study and set your timing when you are most efficient. Study the topics you find difficult to the ones that you find easier.
4. The "Hit List" - Create a list of daily study task so you can tick it off once you complete them.
5. Divide your task into chunks so you don't get overwhelm and by dividing it into steps you will find it easier to accomplish it.
6. Create a yearly Calendar and note down all the test you need to take and the requirements you need to comply so you have an overall idea of what to accomplished first.
7. Create a Weekly Study log which includes the specific date you need to take the exam or complete a requirement and prioritize them in your study time table. 
8. Time Limit -  set a time limit when you study. That way you don't find yourself lingering around instead of focusing on the task you need to do.
9. Do not procrastinate.

STUDY SKILLS

1. Organize your school materials that way you don't waste your time looking for them when you instead needed to study. Organize school handouts or syllabus in specific folders and tag them, if you must so that it is convenient for you to retrieve it.
2. Set up a study space where you most feel efficient and productive. Stay away from the things that distracts you and take only what you need to help you study. 
3. Put your phone on stealth mode and turn off you social media tabs if you need to.
4. Refresh yourself before you start to study and make sure you hydrate yourself every so often.
5. Use study tools to help you achieve productivity. Use highlighters to emphasize important details and use the dictionary to check the words you are not familiar with.
6. Do not memorize information. Read and understand what it means and how it applies to your daily life, the community, or other people's lives. If you are a visual person, you can draw mind maps or illustrate them in the best way beneficial to you.
7. Use social media to connect with other people and ask them what they think about the topic that you are studying. But make sure you don't linger too much and find yourself doing things not totally related to what you are studying. So again, focus.
8. Highlight the phrases or concepts you don't understand and formulate questions you can ask your teacher to clarify it and get another view point.
9. Ask yourself how relevant is the topic to you and why not.
10. Relax, take a deep breath, take a short walk and begin again.

POSITIVE SELF TALK

Here are example of positive self talk excerpt from Saint Louis University Student Success Center to replace the negative talk you often tell yourself.

• "I failed the course last semester, but I can now use my study/math skills to pass this course."
• "I went blank on the last test, but I now know how to reduce test anxiety."
• "I know that with hard work, I will pass math."
• "I prepared for this test and will do the best I can."
• "I feel good about myself and my abilities. I am not going to worry about that difficult problem. I'm going to use all my test time and check for careless errors. Even if I don't get the grade I want on this test, it is not the end of the world." 

So I hope you find these tips useful. Good luck to a productive school year ahead. For more questions and feedback please comment below or send me a message.