Studying, Healthy Thoughts Can Reduce Exam Stress

Adopting good study habits and keeping healthy thoughts may reduce student’s final exam stress in the coming week.

That according to Tennessee Tech Licensed Professional Counselor Shonteria Russell.

Russell said the first step to keeping a clear head on finals week involves keeping a healthy schedule.

“First of all… [make] sure you are developing healthy sleeping patterns and eating patterns,” Russell said, “because you are more likely to be productive if you are sleeping on a regular basis as opposed to if you are staying up all night to study, which a lot of students do.”

Tutor and Class Plus Assistant Brittany Lafever said schedules should include every type of activity.

TN Tech officials encourage students to take care of themselves while preparing for exams.

“I would say first create a daily or weekly schedule, including study times for all your exams,” Lafever said. “Any class time you have left, any work time, time for socializing, all of your meals, sleeping. Basically, anything you can do in a day put it in a schedule and stick to it.”

Both Russell and Lafever said procrastination fuels bad study habits.

“Procrastinating, waiting until the last second and then pulling all-nighters before an exam,” Lafever said. “Just because if you are tired you are not going to be able to think as quickly about all the content you have learned and then skipping meals prior to the exam is not a good thing to do.”

Russell said a poor study environment can affect how well students perform on exams as well.

“I think a lot of students may also get distracted easily when they should be studying,” Russell said. “So one of the best ways to kind of combat that is to create a learning environment.”

When relating to test anxiety, Russell said most students seem to mull over unhealthy thought patterns.

“Like they are giving themselves their own anxiety by saying, ‘Oh I’m not going to do well. I am going to fail this test.’ And that might not necessarily be true,” Russell said. “Most students who are well prepared, who have studied, usually do well. So typically students are their own worst enemy by telling themselves they are not going to do well on the exam.”

Russell said students must identify the unhealthy thoughts in order to alleviate the test anxiety.

“Really figure out what that thought pattern is and figure out if it is a healthy or unhealthy thought pattern,” Russell said. “And is it realistic? Because if it is kind of an unrealistic thought  pattern, if it is not probable, then try to replace it with a healthier thought.”

Lafever said contacting professors and instructors may reduce test anxiety as well.

“First find out what type of test your professor or instructor is giving you. Whether that is multiple choice, short answer, or essay,” Lafever said. “Just so you kind of know how to study for it and what is best suited for you because that can reduce a lot of anxiety.”

Finals week for Tennessee Tech students begins on Monday, April 29.