Comprehensive Strategies to Fire the Inner Critic and Eliminate Test Anxiety and Stress
HOW TO TAKE THE TEST AND NOT HAVE THE TEST TAKE YOU!
Preparing before test day is your primary guard against unruly nerves.
Here are 10 simple ways to take good care of yourself:
1. Study and be prepared. If you go into the test “cold” or even cramming the day before, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. While statistically there are some folks who can do this, most likely it isn’t you (if you are reading this, that is), so buckle down and learn the material with a trusted course, tutor or program.
2. Sleep! Never underestimate the power of sleep. Not only does it physically regenerate your cells, but also it gives time for your mind to process all information it has taken in. All the “stuff’” you’ve encountered and learned during the day has a little organizing party while you sleep, so when you awaken, you’re able to easily access and utilize the integrated information/skills.
Don’t forget that it is difficult to function to your potential when you’re tired. Researchers at UCSD School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, San Diego, speculate that the brain is adversely affected by sleep deprivation because certain patterns of electrical and chemical activity that occur during sleep are interrupted, impeding the brain’s ability to function normally. In fact, researchers in Australia and New Zealand report that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk.
Getting less than 6 hours a night can affect coordination, reaction time and judgment, they said, posing "a very serious risk." Here are some sleep habits for a good night's rest:
• Stay away from caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, particularly later in the day.
• Have a light snack (but avoid eating a large meal) shortly before bedtime.
• Go to bed and get up at the same times each day, even on weekends.
• Get regular exercise early in the day.
• Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. A fan or soft music can help disguise distracting bedtime noise.
• Use your bed for only sleep and sex.
• Before bedtime, do muscle-relaxing exercises or take a warm bath.
• Do not take sleeping pills unless your doctor prescribes them.
• Avoid daytime naps unless they last less than 1 hour and are taken before 3 pm.
• Try counting sheep or counting backward, which can lull some people to sleep.
• If you lie in bed awake for more than 30 minutes, get up, go to a different room and read or watch television, and return to bed when you feel sleepy.
(Taken from: www.postgradmed.com/issues/2002/10_02/pn_sleep.htm)
3. Avoid use of quick-fix drugs or chemicals that claim to make you alert and perform at your best. Caffeine, speed, and some of the drugs circulating on college campuses actually interfere with mental ability and process. While there is something known as “state-dependent learning” (i.e., learning in the morning, while drunk, etc.), it is difficult to maintain over the long haul and takes serious planning. And there are so many easier ways to ace your test. Let it go!
4. Exercise and get fresh air! The benefits of exercise, even walking 10 minutes a day, are touted daily on the news. It increases circulation, gives time again for your mind to process information, and gets more air to your brain – which seems to increase alertness and sharpen your mind.
5. Eat brain food! Be sensible – eat fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Organic and local produce is generally healthier and tastier, but do what you can. If you eat well, your brain and body are happy and this will reduce stress and make you feel good. Avoid caffeine, sugar, processed and junk food.
6. Manage your time. Know that the most important thing in studying is quality, not quantity. Slowly build up your speed using a timer, or time-simulated software. These are included in the TEST PREP NEW YORK packs. And before the test, go to your test center and time how long it takes to get there. Arrive early.
7. Manage your energy. The feelings of abundance and the ability to perform well are as much about energy management as they are about time.
8. Control your study space. Where you study has a huge impact on how you study. If you are at home, go through a checklist as to what that space is like. Does the refrigerator or television beckon you like an Odyssean siren? Does your bed suddenly seem like a good alternative? Does the phone, cell, palm, berry command attention at will? If so, figure out if home is really the best place to study. Are you better off in the office? A library? A café? Try them all out until you find your solution.
9. Learn techniques to support your process. Breathing, visualization, self-hypnosis, energy work and other techniques will center yourself while studying and enhance your confidence and focus on test day.
TEST PREP NEW YORK features the Full Potential(TM) Audio Program an audio product to help you learn to do this with ease. Maximize your score while minimizing your stress. That’s our motto!
10. > Have a positive affirmation program. Remind yourself that you are able to ace this exam and that you’ve studied and done everything possible to succeed. Say it to yourself, and/or display reminders through your home and elsewhere.
TEST PREP NEW YORK offers guidelines to help with this: write us and we’ll send you some information. You want to take on a mantra of sorts to keep things in perspective, something like, “I am going to ace this test because I am totally and completely prepared, confidant and calm”.
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