10 Ways to Relieve Your Stress Passing the Exams

10 Ways to Relieve Your Stress Passing the Exams

Guest post by Richard Nolan (Share your favourite tips with 56,000+ Malaysian students)

You have to study hard, but cannot do it because you feel under great pressure? Here are the 10 best ways to get rid of stress before your exam.

1. Visualize Your Success

It has been proven already that visualization really works. Believe it or not, you may pass your exam if you’ve imagined it. The positive emotions you get imagining your success will reduce your stress hugely. This is a big deal already, isn’t it? You can even write about how you are going to pass your exam - this is a great tool to control your emotions!

2. Be Emotionally Prepared for a Failure

You don’t have to wait for a failure. Just try to understand that it happens sometimes. Even to those who are 100% ready. Mainly, because of stress, by the way. So just let it go. It can happen, and you can survive the consequences. Now, get to work!

3. Revise and Study

Haven’t you thought that you’re stressed because you are simply not prepared? If you know that you are suffering from procrastination or trying to avoid actual work, stop it right now! Stress is not the reason to do nothing! Besides, it won’t go, if you don’t revise the material, it’ll grow! Put yourself together and don’t waste time.

4. Don’t Think About Others Too Much

This point includes a number of aspects that are equally important for making the situation less stressful

• don’t think about what other people will say if you fail
• don’t think about what other people say because you’re revising too much/not enough/not the way you should
• don’t think that other people are studying better that you do
• don’t think that other people are more gifted/have better writing skills/have a better background, etc.

Such thoughts take your energy away and give you nothing back.

5. Choose the Right People

Everybody is different. So, in various situations, the RIGHT people are different for everybody, too. In a stressful situation you may need communication with:

• someone who’ll calm you. This is a rather typical need. You may want someone to support you and to say that everything will be ok.
• someone who’ll distract you. This is not always about having fun and hanging out with your friends because you may have no time for this while you’re studying. But if someone will tell you a funny story, it will take your thoughts away for a while.
• someone who shares your feelings. Sometimes, you just need to hear: ‘Yes, you are under enormous pressure. It’s hard to deal with it. Exams are always stressful.’ That’s it, no clapping on the back, no calming words. You may just need to know that someone knows how you feel. 
• someone who has (or thinks s/he has) more serious problems than you do. No, you don’t have to be sarcastic. Some people need to be supportive when they are under stress themselves. This is a way to distract and a way to help someone at the same time.

Listen carefully to yourself and spend time with people you really need right now.

6. Mind What and How You Eat

Avoid junk food, while you’re studying for your exam. If course, you are better to avoid it all the time, because it doesn’t give you enough energy and it’s never enough for you. Mind that you have to get enough of carbonates and protein. Don’t eat too many sweets - instead of making you happy, they will make you hyped and give you sleeping problems. Drink enough water. Try to reduce caffeine.

7. Get Enough Sleep

It is one of the most widespread students’ mistakes - to study until their eyes are red and all the coffee in the house is miraculously gone. You really have to sleep well to have strength. But! You are to sleep right. Go to bed early (at least, earlier), wake up early, don’t oversleep, and turn off ALL the light and all the sources of sound.

8. Don’t Forget About Your Hobbies

Yes, you are quite busy now. The point is you're going to be busy all the time. Other exams will come soon, then work, family… You seriously have to develop a habit to do what brings you peace. Here, setting up writing daily schedule could be a great idea - start a journal, craft a story - anything that takes your mind off the stress.

9. Listen to Music

You can listen to whatever you like when you are having a break. What makes you happy? If you are a real music fan, you certainly have many options. But some students like to listen to music when they are working. It is quite acceptable, but there are some major rules:

• try listening to something you never listened before. Otherwise, you can start singing along;
• listen to instrumental music rather than to songs;
• choose relaxing tunes over those that make you feel excited.

10. Use Various Relaxing Techniques

There are plenty of them you can read about. You can even watch a tutorial if you have difficulties mastering relaxing techniques. Among the best of them, there is free-writing. Just put all your negative thoughts on paper and forget about them. Meditation has no rival, but learning to do it right takes some time. Remember, it is totally worth it! Surely, you're better to master meditation before your life gets too stressful. Breezing techniques are close to meditation in their power, and they are much easier to complete. Anyway, find whatever help you need and don’t forget to do it!

Exams are a major stress for a student. It seems that the whole world has united to make you fail. Processing a lot of information, lack of time, limited physical conditions (seriously, they probably think they teach robots) – this is all too much! Or is it? Haven’t you lived through your exams before? Are you the first one who has to go through all this? You just have to find the way to believe in yourself and get really focused. We hope our tips are going to help you!

Richard Nolan is a writer and a private tutor, sharing his experience in spheres of writing, entrepreneurship and psychology. Richard writes for numerous blogs and gives useful tips for bloggers, managers and students. Currently, Richard works as a general blog editor for proofreading & writing center. Liked this post? Subscribe now to read more post like this one! Tweet