Perhaps you’ve experienced that sinking feeling in your stomach at the thought of an upcoming important exam. You try to study but can’t get over ruminating thoughts that lead to procrastination in preparing for the test. Maybe you’ve even prepared well but then when you get there your mind goes blank, you feel overwhelmed by the content and can’t seem to focus. Sweaty palms, pressure in your head, and an increasing pounding in your chest may take over. The room seems like it’s going into a spin and you’re about to go into a panic because you feel so out of control.
Then it happens the next time—and again, and again. You wonder if this is the new normal. You can’t seem to “get it together.” You dread future experiences because you’re afraid they’ll all be the same. How do you break the cycle?
First, let’s get to the root of the problem—your thoughts. Anxiety is always fueled by a worry about the future. According to the ADAA, causes of test anxiety include a fear of failure, a lack of preparation, and a bad experience taking tests in the past (thinking history will repeat itself). Fortunately, there’s a solution to each of these problems and they’re all within your sphere of influence.
I work with individuals who are experiencing anxiety in a variety of ways and we get down to business peeling all the layers of unhelpful thinking. On the surface, it appears these things may be out of your control. However, when we take a deeper look, my clients begin to recognize the power they have within.
For example, when we think we are going to fail, it produces a feeling of fear. That fear produces a physiological response within your body that can send you spiraling, proving your thought true. When we’re experiencing negative emotion, we take negative actions and get a negative result. We have to go back to the root of the problem—the thoughts you’re thinking. Our thoughts create our feelings, which drive our actions and produce our results.
It’s not usually easy to go straight to a positive place from a negative one, so we take a “step-ladder” approach. Adopting new thoughts is a process. Here’s how it works.
If I’m thinking “I’m going to fail,” and this thought is at the bottom of the stepladder, the next “thought step” might be, “It’s possible I could fail.” And the next may be “It’s also possible I won’t.” Acknowledging that our thoughts are just that—thoughts, not facts, loosens up neural pathways that have been created and offers a new avenue for brain connections to be made, leading to higher, more helpful thinking patterns. Working on stepladder thoughts until you make your way to the top with a new believable thought to practice will create entirely different results. By the time you get to the top, your thought may be, “I’m ready for this” or “I’m confident I’ll do my best.”
That said, lack of preparation also leads to test anxiety, so we need to find its root cause as well. Procrastination and avoidance behaviors come from a feeling, which ultimately come from a thought. If we’re thinking “I’m not sure I can do this,” or “I’m worried I won’t do well,” we may be feeling insecurity, uncertainty, worry, stress, or fear. Those feelings could drive actions that distract us from studying regularly and making other good decisions that would otherwise help us prepare. If we work on our thoughts as mentioned earlier, we will be more likely to manage our time wisely, get a good night’s sleep, follow through in getting help if necessary, and making good food choices for our bodies to be at their best.
Other helpful approaches in preparing for a test include the following:
1. Learn and practice relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness. When we get in touch with our bodies, we develop a mind-body connection that aligns our thinking with what we’re feeling. From that place of awareness, we can more easily take actions to create the results we want.
2. Along with these exercises, learn proper belly-breathing and practice it regularly.
3. Implement visualization in your routine. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the place you will be taking the exam, thinking the thoughts you want to think, feeling the feelings you want to feel, doing the work you want to do, and getting the results you want to get. Connect with this visual daily. Draw on its power.
4. Do the work of studying and preparing thoroughly. Practice reading all the instructions carefully instead of rushing through to the next step. If it’s a timed test, practice using relevant time constraints until you are comfortable and know how to pace yourself accordingly. Seek help from others whether through tutoring, talking to someone who has been personally successful in this same experience, or have a parent or friend quiz you on the material beforehand.
5. Get a good night’s sleep and choose healthy foods that will help you maintain concentration and energy.
6. Plan to lay out what you need for the exam day the night before. Make sure you know where you’re going if it’s a place you’ve never been before.
7. Arrive early and get situated. Draw on your mantras and visualizations from before to generate the feeling you want (confidence, determination, peace, etc.).
8. Once the test begins, don’t look at everyone else—pay attention to your own test and follow your pace. Keep track of time, scan the test, allocate your time between sections accordingly, stay on task, and practice breathing calmly, confidently, and deeply.
Lastly, remember that experiencing anxiety is a normal part of life. When it comes up, learn to accept it, allow it, and be ok with it. Understand that you can coexist. When you neutralize the presence of this feeling, rather than fearing fear itself, it defuses its power over you.
If you need help working with your anxious thoughts, or getting “unstuck,” sign up for a free consult below. Each milestone reached begins with the exact same start—taking that very first step. You can do this!
