Tips on how to beat test anxiety

The most of us have encountered at least one time the feeling of nervousness, anxiety, sweaty hands and sometimes even a blank state of mind when we had to cognitive perform and give our best. In an exam, a test, a interview or maybe even “just” a presentation.
Performance or test anxiety is something real- it can be very beneficial because it increases our awareness and our focus but it can also limit and hinder us to fulfil our potential.
The following tips are aimed to help your performance anxiety in order to excel when you have to:

• Reaffirm your self-worth by writing about your many interests and activities for a couple of minutes before a stressful (especially academic) situation.
• Diagram what makes you a multifaceted individual. Use the mind-map method to capture the roles you have in your life, the strengths you have the interests you explore.
• Write about your worries for less than 10 minutes- without any mental editing. Just write down anything worrying which is on your mind.
• Meditate.
• Think differently about yourself by reminding yourself that you have the tools to excel. What are your credentials? Your past successes?
  -If you encounter physical responses (like sweaty hands) remind yourself that these also occur under more pleasant circumstances (meeting the love of your life).
• Walking away and pause for a moment to think alternatively about a problem you are currently facing.
• Practise under pressure, under test circumstances. Or practise even under worse situations than you will face during the test.

(It is told that the golf pro Tiger Woods practices golf as soon as it rained- even at night- to hone his skills under adversity so when he would face rain in a tournament he wouldn’t choke under the pressure of encountering something “new”.)

• Organize what you know in different ways. Capture your knowledge in Mindmaps, graphics, spreadsheets, notes…what ever suits your interest and the knowledge itself.

Resources and further reading material:

• Block, S. (2010) Choke What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, Atria Books: Chicago