Are you revising for your exams? Tough, isn’t it?

Everyone wants you to do well; some, including yourself, expect you to shine. Unfortunately, the pressure this puts on your to succeed builds up the closer you get to the exam.

Stress is something that everyone encounters throughout their academic, professional and personal life. The purpose of this article is to explain what stress is, how to recognise that you're under stress - it can manifest in many different ways, and how to reduce its effects so you can persevere and succeed.

Stress is usually perceived as a negative but, like all supposedly damaging emotions - including fear and anger, stress can be both a powerful motivator and an impetus for change. Healthy stress can drive us to complete a task or perform a task to an excellent standard.

There is another kind of stress, though, the kind that overwhelms and disrupts our ability to think, act or perform to the best of our ability. Non-productive stress often makes its presence felt when we least need it to: during the already tension-filled season that is exam time.

You can adopt one (or more) of many strategies to stop stress from numbing your mind and from reaching such great proportions that it can cause anxiety or even full-blown panic attacks.

If you've failed an exam recently, you may be at a greater risk for stress and anxiety. These tips will help you manage stress better for your next round of exams - or just in general.

Stress is fundamentally fear
Facing the fear that causes stress is the best way to manage stress Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay

Short Bursts of Stress Can Be Good

Stress can in some cases be a good motivator, it often gives students the get up and go that they need to start working.

A recent study has found that short bursts of stress can help us focus and improve our ability to perform cognitive tasks.

The important word here is short; chronic stress produces premature ageing and cellular damage. Productive stress is the kind that pushes us to study harder as exam time crops up, motivates us to improve on past results and leads us to concentrate harder on our main goals.

Remember that, short of dying, you’re going to live through everything you encounter. As long as you do it with dignity, determination and to the best of your ability, you have nothing to worry about.

You may find the following tips useful to stay calm and do your best in your exam.

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Get organised

Making a plan and sticking to it are the first two steps in combating stress, no matter whether you're preparing for SATs, GCSEs or any other ordeal life may throw at you.

First, determine what has to be done. Once you've written an outline - maybe you listed which subjects you will test in or the degree of preparation you should take, rank those tasks from most to least important, most to least demanding, most to least difficult...

Now, it's time to schedule your study sessions. Our hopeful art student might conclude that s/he needs to spend one hour, twice per week, getting math fundamentals down and 30 minutes per day reviewing art history and English.

However, you set up your study schedule, make sure it reflects your strengths, weaknesses and priorities... and don't forget to schedule some free time, too. You can't study all of the time without risking burnout!

Remember: all of your study goals depend on taking small steps daily, not one giant leap the day before exams.

Are there other, deep-seated reasons for your stress, such as a fear of failure or a lack of self-belief?

To identify what's holding you back despite all of your carefully-laid plans, you might talk with your parents, teachers or school counsellor; even a mental health professional might do you some good. If nothing else, talk with your friends - hopefully, ones whose organisation skills you admire.

Waiting for your exam result? Read our article on how to do so the right way.

Studying in groups can help lower stress
Joining for forming a study group is a great way to keep stress at bay Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Learn With Friends

Any situation is more difficult to face when you feel isolated and alone.

In the quiet of your room, it is much easier to credit uncertainty and believe in your imminent failure. By contrast, among like-minded peers working toward the same individual goals, you will feel empowered and competent; ready to tackle both that day's study session and the exams, when they finally roll around.

Peer learning is a modern educational initiative which supports a student-centred philosophy that embraces knowledge sharing as a platform to build confidence and embrace different points of view.

Another good reason to set up a study group is to avoid procrastination; with everybody counting on everyone to keep up, you won't be able to slack off in your studies!

To make sure you get the best out of your study group, you should choose students who are as dedicated to the task as you are. If your best mate could aptly be described as the class clown, extend an invitation to join the group only if s/he will be as focused as the rest of you will be.

You don't have to declare yourself the group's leader - that might cause more stress; in fact, you don't even have to form your own group if your school/class has already-established study groups. However, you all have to set some rules for optimal learning.

Where and when you will study together are prime considerations, followed by the group's study schedule - how long will you spend on each topic and when will you take your breaks.

You don't all have to study the same subjects to function as a group; the main purpose of group-study is to prevent feeling isolated and bolster confidence, sharpen study skills and not put your studies off.

Are you struggling with exam failure? You may want to read our article on the topic; it is sure to help you.

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Practice Mindfullness

The reality is that practising mindfulness is not as dull as one might imagine. It turns out that this sporty practice, which may be performed laying down, in a chair. Combining asanas, postures, meditation and stretching can make the practice more intricate and deep than one might initially believe.

Just take a look at the estimated one million practitioners in the UK; they serve as an important example of how popular this fashionable subject is growing. Many people view this hybrid discipline as a chance to come together, to strengthen the bond between the body and mind, or to just practice sport and stretch.

When practised routinely, mindfulness can be beneficial for everyone, and investing in an instructor is a smart first step. Incorporating the practice into your routine will help you alleviate some of that stress.

If you are looking to start doing yoga as part of your daily mindfulness routine then tutoring might benefit you a lot. Availing of a personal mindfullness instructor can help you to grasp the basics much sooner so you can get your wellbeing and exercise routine up off the ground sooner than you might think!

With the online resources and educations platforms that are out there in this day and age, you could learn for a cheaper price than you might think! Tutoring platforms such as Superporf help people just like yourself to learn new hobbies such as mindfullness with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Coping with exam failures may be difficult. But, you can handle the situation better if you read this article - how to cope with failing your exams.

Avoid Negativity

You are not superhuman, nor does anyone (seriously) think you are or should be.

It's okay to take a little time from your studies as long as a five-minute study break doesn't turn into two hours and a night off doesn't turn into a week away from your notes and books.

Don't let anyone call you a slacker (or worse!) for taking a few minutes away from your books and don't try to convince yourself that you are a monumental failure for not grinding away.

Everybody is their own worst critic; the danger of putting down your study load too often and for too long is that you might beat yourself up for anything from being weak-willed to... (insert insult here). Such negativity can become a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle - a defeat mechanism to be avoided at all costs.

If you are active on social media, you might want to scale back on that passion a bit, too.

If you are in an exam year at school then you will know yourself how stressful this period of your life can be. Being surrounded by your classmates who are also in the same boat can be a stressful environment. Make sure to give yourself some fresh air and perhaps exercise when you feel like this stress in getting the best of you.

Research shows that social media can have a negative effect on a person's life, especially if that person experiences bullying and/or battles self-image issues. Various platforms actively work to create unrealistic expectations for their audiences, something that could send you down a rabbit hole of envy and despair . It would be best to minimise any such influences.

What about the negative people in your life?

Everyone at school knows a handful of students who like to worry other students about the upcoming homework or brag about their test scores, you know the type!

Those who constantly compare their results to yours, casually mention disturbing information or rumours that may cause you to panic, or generally make you feel unhappy should be avoided. Surround yourself with positive people around whom you can feel good about yourself and with whom you can laugh.

Indeed, humour is one of the most efficient stress busters there is since it puts things in perspective.

Attitude is everything; make sure yours is balanced
You have to consider the good and difficult aspects of exam-taking to get your attitude right Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Look on the Bright Side?

Just about every culture has a series of idioms and adages that advocate for seeing everything in the most positive light possible; this segment's header is a case in point.

The practice of looking on the bright side of things certainly has its advantages, the main one being that you don't have to look very hard to find something good, even in a bad situation. On the other hand...

If you look only at one side of a coin, you fail to see the other side.

It is important to have an understanding that there is indeed life after your exams, despite what you might hear at school.

Yes, your upcoming exams will be difficult and you might fail. On the other hand, you will have successfully confronted the ordeal - regardless of the outcome, and you did your level best.

The truth is that while the exams will pave the way and ultimately determine what we can study ar college, even this won't necessarily dictate what we putsure thereafter. Most past students will tell you that their team results had little or no impact on their lives after a few years.

Even if you suffered from a mental block while taking a written exam or froze up during an oral exam - both decided negatives, being prepared for those possibilities will allow you to pick yourself up and carry on which, in turn, will permit looking back at your moment of panic with humour.

Stress and fear are emotions that take hold of everyone at some point in their lives.

Usually, the outcome of a stressful situation (exams, public speaking etc) is not as bad as our imagination led us to believe. Ultimately, even if the worst-case scenario did take place, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Your voice is needed: how do you recommend combating stress while waiting for your exam results?

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Joseph

Joseph is a French and Spanish to English translator, language enthusiast, and blogger.