It’s a given, that in school there are tests to take.
An overwhelming majority of test-takers feel varying levels of building anxiety within the 36-48 hours preceding the exam. To help alleviate some of that nervous energy, educators provide their students with study skills, test prep packets, and time; in order to better prepare them. Another important aspect to the test preparation, one that is often overlooked, is what studying students should do with that last bit of time before an exam. That is the focus in this article.
It’s what I like to call, “A little R & R.” No, not ‘reading and arithmetic;’ instead, it’s rest and relaxation.
This part of the studying regiment is focused on what to do the day before and day of an exam. For most students who are getting ready for an exam, they utilize the last two days as a cram session (this is especially true of high-school and college students); in the hopes that last bits of information will be absorbed in their memory. Unfortunately, this isn’t accurate. Research shows that by preparing in advance and studying over a longer period of time, that a person is better enabled to recall more information with greater accuracy. Plus, what the person studying rarely realizes is that cramming information into the memory with such a short amount of time is actually counterproductive to the learning process.
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Let’s start with the day before the exam. The morning and early afternoon before should be the test should be the last time that you look at your notes. This should be the time when you are actually talking out loud to yourself about your notes; read your notes, ask yourself questions. By reading aloud, you are giving your brain another way to record and remember the information. Studying should stop by 3pm. The rest of the day should be spent relaxing; read, go for a walk, watch a movie, hang out with friends. {If the test you are taking the next day is, say, the SATs you can spend more time talking about the concepts of your exam with friends and family – but no actual studying}. For dinner be sure to eat a healthy and satisfying meal, no alcohol, excess sugar, or caffeine.
In fact, there should be no alcohol consumed at all that day; and caffeine and sugar should not be consumed after 12pm the day before. Avoiding alcohol seems like an obvious decision; but limiting caffeine and sugar are sometimes confusing to people. The reason you don’t want to ingest large amounts of these three is because the caffeine and sugar have a tendency to make people jittery and stay up longer. Add that with the anxiety of taking an exam, and it’s almost impossible to get a solid night’s sleep.
The evening before be sure to go to bed early. The human brain and body need at least 7.5 hours of sleep an evening. To help you calculate the time you should be going to bed, consider these factors. What time is your test tomorrow? How long will it take you to get there? Be sure to include time for breakfast. Once you know what time you should be asleep, two hours before that begin to winding down your day. You know the ways in which you relax best, so do those activities; read a book in bed, drink a cup of decaf tea, take a hot shower or bath, etc.
The morning of your test is here! Again, remember you want to wake up with plenty of time to eat breakfast and arrive to your test. This morning you need a breakfast that is going to carry you through whatever morning activities you have up until the end of your test. No coffee, caffeine, or sugar today – instead, focus on a meal that has plenty of protein and starchy carbs. I recommend having a bagel sandwich with egg and cheese on it. Also, your morning drink should include juice, water, or milk. Again, the goal here is to give your body the fuel it needs for a healthy day.
The day of your test, don’t study or look at your notes. By doing this, you won’t be remembering anything important. Instead, you’ll be psyching yourself out of what you do know and worrying about what it is that you think you forgot to study for. It’s very counterproductive. What can help you is to find someone you know who is also taking the same exam and talk about it with them. This activity will get you more into the conversation and less into worrying.
For those students taking a longer more comprehensive exam, such as the SATs or finals, there are a few different steps to take. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing, in layers, so you can add or remove clothing according to your body temperature. Also, bring several pencils and hair rubber bands for longer hair. It’s a good idea to not wear a watch and leave your cell phone in your car or backpack. When you are taking the test, be sure to give yourself a break, literally; take at least one bathroom break during the exam – even if you don’t need to use the restroom. Just by going outside of the testing area, walking around, and breathing – you are mentally making yourself ready to complete your test.
All of these preparation steps are meant to encourage your body and brain to be as relaxed as possible. By following these guidelines for the two days before a test, you will be reducing the anxiety you feel. And by reducing your nervousness about the test, you will allow yourself to perform better on it.
Another article that I wrote earlier, Learning is like Eating a Steak, gives pointers on how to study and learn better. That article focuses more on the learning process; whereas this one focuses on those last crucial hours before an exam.
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