The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over other.
                                                                                                -William James
                                                                          It is very normal to feel nervous before the exams but some students find text anxiety exhausting. The symptoms such as headache, fast heartbeat, sweaty palms, pit in stomach shows the test anxiety and it spoils the whole preparation and the hard work which is done for months. Test anxiety often caused by negative thoughts where one deliberately thinks of bad things or failure. It generally happens when one has less self-confidence, doesn’t believe in himself/herself and has faced failure in past, lack of preparation time and has faced a bad experience while giving exam.

Here are few tips how one can stay calm during all such situations during exams:

Be Prepared : One should be well prepared because exam time is just revision time , as revising all the concepts twice or thrice will build the confidence and that will also going to help in recalling the things in a better way. 

Be on time : Reach the examination hall on time , everything that is required for exam should be packed a night before exam , set the alarm so that you will able to leave for the exam on time.

Read carefully : The question paper and the instructions that are given should be read carefully. Also, the questions which can be easily solved need to be attempted first so that time may not get waste in solving the tough questions, which will further create anxiety due to shortage of time.

Don’t pay attention what others are doing : One should not discuss anything before entering in the exam hall and once after getting the paper don’t focus on what others are doing and making your own strategy of doing it as per the availability of time.

Just start : Sometimes seeing blank paper also creates the anxiety so, one should start writing instead of thinking about such questions which are difficult to solve or we don’t have idea about the concepts of such questions. Corrections if needed can be done later on but to start writing the exam is more important.

Practice relaxation techniques : If you feel anxiety coming on, take a deep breaths for 20-30 seconds , this will going to help in refocusing again and you  can  again concentrate on paper in a better manner.

Good vibes only : Even if the negative thoughts are coming in the mind, thoughts like “ I can do it “, “ I can give my best, because I am well prepared “ will going to help and will you to remain calm and positive during exam.

- Mahima Gulwani