Exam stress is killing me. Help

I've broken up from university for study leave and I am finding it extremely difficult to revise. This, plus the lack of motivation has left me feeling really stressed and anxious which has prevented me from getting a good nights sleep, and has subsequently affected the quality of revision that I do.

I have two exams In ten days and the thought and feeling of failure is taking over my life.

Everything I revise, I find hard to remember after a few hours. I feel constantly tired.

How can I organise my time better? How can I deal with this stress? I would really appreciate suggestions.

Reply 1

oh_life

5

Firstly, breathe. There is a lot you can do in 10 days, but you need to make it count and time stressing is time not revising! Secondly, since you are on study leave your day will lack structure making it harder to be motivated, so try to make a revision timetable and stick to it. Stick it up on your wall or somewhere visible so you can see it and maybe think of a reward that you can get yourself or that you can agree with your parents for completing all your exams. This should help with motivation :wink:

I find to deal with exam stress, the best thing is to just get stuck in to revising because the more confident you are, the less stressed you will be. Don't pull any all-nighter cram revision sessions though, because you are already tired from lack of sleep through stress. Don't work just before bed either because then you will be too agitated to sleep. Make sure you have at least an hour of free time to just relax before going to sleep to give yourself a better chance of sleeping. I've heard that chewing on celery helps to calm nerves if you are nervous, but then again, who wants to eat celery so maybe you could buy some calming tea or if you would prefer herbal medication type remedies, but don't take these on the day of the exam as it might make you drowsy and affect your performance!
Have you taken a test to see what type of learner you are? Google it- they feel really silly but you might not be using the optimum revision method for you which could be why you are forgetting information. To make sure what you are learning is staying give yourself a mini quiz after you have revised each topic.
Don't stress! You can do this! I believe in you and it is not too late to do really well!
Best of luck with all of your exams! :smile:

Reply 2

ItHasToBeTrue

OP

Original post by oh_life

Firstly, breathe. There is a lot you can do in 10 days, but you need to make it count and time stressing is time not revising! Secondly, since you are on study leave your day will lack structure making it harder to be motivated, so try to make a revision timetable and stick to it. Stick it up on your wall or somewhere visible so you can see it and maybe think of a reward that you can get yourself or that you can agree with your parents for completing all your exams. This should help with motivation :wink:

I find to deal with exam stress, the best thing is to just get stuck in to revising because the more confident you are, the less stressed you will be. Don't pull any all-nighter cram revision sessions though, because you are already tired from lack of sleep through stress. Don't work just before bed either because then you will be too agitated to sleep. Make sure you have at least an hour of free time to just relax before going to sleep to give yourself a better chance of sleeping. I've heard that chewing on celery helps to calm nerves if you are nervous, but then again, who wants to eat celery so maybe you could buy some calming tea or if you would prefer herbal medication type remedies, but don't take these on the day of the exam as it might make you drowsy and affect your performance!
Have you taken a test to see what type of learner you are? Google it- they feel really silly but you might not be using the optimum revision method for you which could be why you are forgetting information. To make sure what you are learning is staying give yourself a mini quiz after you have revised each topic.
Don't stress! You can do this! I believe in you and it is not too late to do really well!
Best of luck with all of your exams! :smile:

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate your reply. I think its a good idea just to get stuck in with it, and possibly write a list of all the things I don't know. Its just the fact my parents, and lecturers expect me to do so well but I don't think I have as much ability as what they think. I will also attempt a revision time table! Thank you so much :-) you have given me a glimmer of hope.

Reply 3

Kayc3e

7

I'm exactly the same as you.
Maybe try buying some new stationery or give a mind-mapping program a try?
It might help you forget about your stress. :smile:

Or do something completely irrelevant like playing poker online with fake money. That's what I've been doing for years to chill out and it really helps.

Reply 4

oh_life

5

Original post by ItHasToBeTrue

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate your reply. I think its a good idea just to get stuck in with it, and possibly write a list of all the things I don't know. Its just the fact my parents, and lecturers expect me to do so well but I don't think I have as much ability as what they think. I will also attempt a revision time table! Thank you so much :-) you have given me a glimmer of hope.

No worries, I hope it works for you! And I know what it is like to be under pressure; all of my family is really clever and they expect the same of me, even though I struggle a bit more with school work. . .
However, if your parents and lecturers expect you to do well, it probably is just because you have a lot of natural ability and talent for what you are studying, so you should think of that as encouragement rather than something to stress out about!
Good luck :-)

Reply 5

Miss Charli

I think a lot of the time the reaction to having lots to do and being **** scared about it all is just to do nothing, which is the worst thing at all.

First sit down and work out how much free time you have between now and your exam.
Then break down the revision that you need to do into manageable chunks. The worst thing is sitting down to revise and not knowing where to start. Go over any exam guidance and that should give you a starting point for your revision.
I would say don't write a revision timetable, instead each day set yourself a list of tasks that you have to complete. If you have a smart phone there are loads of to do list apps that can help organise this.

The thing with motivation is to force yourself to do it anyway, you have clearly got to the stage where you know you need to do something. Once you realise that you are making progress you will start to calm down, sleep will become easier and then revision will become easier.

So to sum up, just get on with it basically :tongue:

Exam stress is killing me. Help

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