How To Overcome Competitive Exam Fear?

Exams are an integral part of our lives, and nearly everyone has felt exam fear at least once in their lives. Firstly, it is normal to feel scared and nervous before the big test of your career. However, it is essential to understand that creating panic and a strange sense of fear before the competitive exams can severely affect the performance of the test. Besides, it can also affect you psychologically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively.

Hence, we have come up with 5 ways suggested by learned professionals and wise minds to help you overcome competitive exam fear.

5 Ways to Overcome Competitive Exam Fear

These are the steps to overcome competitive exam fear, take a look and follow for best results:

1. Make a Study Plan

Do you know the purpose of the timetable? Don’t you remember your school days when there used to be a fixed timetable for your classes?

A timetable allows you to give a fixed amount of time for each subject/paper section every day. When you make a concrete study plan (Use Notion), you do it keeping in mind the final date of the competitive exam. So, you break the entire syllabus into chunks and pieces to be finished well before the exam date.

This will help you-

1. Helps you to stay on track.
2. Allows you see a concrete study plan on paper, not just in your mind.
3. Gives you a sense of direction and a set amount of work for each day.

Tips to make the study plan:

1. Start by understanding the competitive exam pattern and analyzing which topics have more weightage. 
2. Devote more time to finish and strengthen the essential topics way (preferably a couple of weeks) before exam dates. 
3. Divide the day’s plan with not only the complex topic but a combination of easy, medium, and complex topics to help your brain digest everything comfortably.
4. Keep time for revision of the entire syllabus too.

2. Stick to a routine

No one can deny the importance of routine in one’s life. There are ample research and the psychological impacts of following a routine. People who follow a routine tend to be more organized and comparatively have a stress-free life. This is because our brains can make only a limited number of decisions in a day, and overburdening it to make trivial decisions such as “what to do next” can cause decision fatigue.

Therefore, you tend to live a happier life when you have a fixed routine with a specified time to sleep, eat, workout, and enjoy your free time. Moreover, the need for a routine is much higher when preparing for a competitive exam. Hence, do yourself a favor by making a routine and start working on it, and see how you achieve all your goals!

3. Exercise Regularly

When was the last time you indulged in any kind of physical activity? If your answer isn’t a day or two, you need to get up from your work desk and unroll your yoga mat right away. After all, research shows that regular physical exercise can significantly reduce the production of stress hormones.

Most of the students are seen to devote their entire time to studies, sitting in one place. However, this can severely affect their mind and body. Understandably, you think your time is precious, and you need to focus only on your studies, but without a healthy body, how will you prepare or sit for your competitive exam? So, follow the tips and make time to work out regularly.

Plan for your workouts:

Give yourself 30 minutes of daily workout—choose anything from skipping, cardio, running, weight lifting, pilates, to yoga. But make sure you get yourself all pumped up for your brain to absorb the study material you will read in the day. 
Follow a fitness geek on any social media platform and experiment with their easy workout sessions if you do not find a way to join a gym.

Make your body your priority, always. After all, a healthy mind resides in a healthy body.

4. Make time for your Hobby

When making your routine for competitive exam, add at least 30-40 minutes to indulge yourself in things you enjoy doing. Be it painting, singing, listening to music/podcast, writing, gaming, comics, or whatever makes you happy. Sticking your head in a book/laptop all day can numb your mind.

Doing one thing for 8-9 hours straight can kill your creativity and dull your spirits. So, allow yourself to breathe and enjoy the daily stuff you love to do.

Tips to Follow:

1. Join a community of your interest— be it online or offline. 
2. Take part in the events of your interest regularly. 
3. Interact with people who have similar interests.

5. Spend Time with Your Loved Ones

Locking yourself in a room for the entire day, away from your loved ones, can make you feel lonely. Therefore, make sure you have some time with your family and friends to rejuvenate your mind and spirit. Besides, sharing your feelings about your competitive exam with your loved ones will help you quickly overcome it.

Tips to follow:

1. Make sure you take meals with your loved ones. If they are away in another city, make a video call and connect with them.
2. Call a friend or relative you enjoy talking to. Or just call them to get a quick life update. 
3. Sit with your parents and siblings, talk to them about your feelings, and ask them about their day and work life.
4. Show gratitude towards people who make your life easy and worth living.

Conclusion

Well, you have 5 easy ways to overcome competitive exam stress now. The pro tip here is to break things into small pieces to help your brain digest them easily— be it syllabus, routine, or any other task you have at hand.