With finals week impending, stress levels have skyrocketed and we need all the self-love and relaxation techniques we can get! There are so many opportunities to take advantage of, like yoga, petting dogs and cats, and getting the right amount of sleep, food, and exercise. However, a common aspect of finals week we overlook are the tests themselves. These simple techniques, combined with your meditation and stress-free habits, will completely set you up to succeed.
1. Study in as similar conditions as possible, and over time. Studies show that reviewing material multiple times over a period of time are the best way to learn and remember it.If your test room is quiet, do your homework and review in quiet. Skip the music, snacks and study partners, and try to replicate your test environment. Your brain gets conditioned to remember certain things in certain environments (look up state-dependent memory!) and this is a quick and easy way to prepare for exactly how the test will be.
2. Dress for success. Skip the sweats and flipflops and go for a more refined look. Although this might seem counterintuitive, it has been shown that comfort during tests slows your focus and response time, causing you to be more sluggish during your test.
3. The cold helps. Ideally, you want to be a little bit uncomfortable while taking tests to keep you on your game. If you think back to taking your AP tests in high school, you’ll remember that the gym you were in was freezing—it was cold for a reason! The cold helps stimulate blood flow, and keeps you alert.
4. Get there early. Not only does this give you a little extra study time, but it will boost your confidence and give you time to mentally prepare yourself. You’re also giving your body the time it needs to wake up and get into test mode.
5. Visualizing and breathing. Take deep breaths before and during the test to keep oxygen flowing and to keep your stress levels low. A helpful technique to is to take 30 seconds and visualize yourself doing your sport of choice, in extreme detail, imagining yourself going through the motions. Then get back to work. This actually promotes better circulation and focus, because while doing sports your brain is more active and alert, and you can trick your brain into those same levels by taking 30 seconds to imagine it.
6. Plan it out and mind dump. When you get the test, allocate times for different sections and hold yourself to them so you stay on track. Look at lengths of sections, point values and the type of section. You want to make sure you’re going to have enough time to finish and/or get as many points as possible. Also, immediately do a mind dump. Use the margins and get any important information onto paper so you don’t have to remember them anymore.
7. Easy questions first.This seems pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many people let themselves sit on the same problem for minutes. Circle it, move on, come back later. It’s better to get all the quick and easy free points that you can, while you can. This is also a huge confidence boost and way to help relax. Oftentimes this means sticking to multiple choice, matching and fill in the blank at first.
8. Trust your instincts. You have no idea how many times I’ve second-guessed myself, went back and changed the answer, only to find out later that my first guess was right. Read it all over carefully, make sure you understand, and then choose. Trust that you know what you’re doing.
9. Don’t leave anything blank.It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, or if you’re unsure. Rewrite the info you’ve been given, organize it, jot down your thoughts, guess, anything helps. Also, many teachers give partial credit, you might as well give yourself the chance!
10. Check your work.Yes, it’s tedious. Yes, it’s boring. But yes, it really does help. If you have any extra time, avoid the temptation to walk out early, and instead just do a 3-5 minute walk-though, making sure everything makes sense, that you didn’t accidentally skip a question or make a stupid mistake, and to review any questions you may have had some trouble with. There’s no harm in double-checking.
These tips will keep you prepared in the classroom, and on test day. Take your tests right, and good luck as we head into finals week!