Managing Exam Stress

We all experience stress and a bit of stress can have a positive effect on us as it can sharpen concentration and performance and help to create the extra energy and focus to keep studying.

However, too much stress, for too long, can be overwhelming and prevent us from studying or sitting our exams effectively.

If unaddressed, stress can affect our mental and physical health.

Signs of exam stress:

• Problems with short and long-term memory, the capacity to learn, concentrate and focus.

• Problems with sleep.

• Increased muscle tension

• Increased heart and breathing rate

• Increase in alertness to the slightest touch or sound

Self-care strategies of managing anxiety

• Getting adequate sleep.

• Eating a balanced diet.

• Regular exercise.

• Relaxation routines

• Breathing exercises.

• Taking regular breaks from studying.

• Keep hydrated by drinking water more often.

• Meditation and mindfulness

Unhelpful coping strategies that WON'T work and should be avoided include:

• Smoking

• Drinking alcohol

• Using drugs

• Using stimulants such as caffeine

• Eating too much or eating unhealthy meals/snacks

• Insufficient exercise

• 'Over-studying' and not taking breaks

• Not getting enough sleep

Other helpful resources

• Student minds: Exam stress resources studentminds.org.uk/examstress.html

• Mind: 14 ways to beat exam stress mind.org.uk/information-support/ yourstories/14-ways-to-beat-examstress/#.Wt24-C7wbIU

• BBC Radio 1: Beating Exam Stress youtube.com/watch?v=7AgswlakjRw

• Papyrus: Coping with exams papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/ uploads/2018/09/Coping-with-Exams.pdf

• Samaritans: Exam stress coping strategies samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/ schools/deal/deal-resources/copingstrategies/examstress-coping-strategies/ examiner will have already read the same cliche phrases in a hundred papers before yours.

Something else that people always seem to do when writing narratives is use loads of stereotypes. It's frustrating reading about women that are written as damsel in distresses, or the anarchist with a cause, or even the girl next door that ends up with the star football player. The point to making your own narrative is to come up with something that is original. It doesn't even have to be a happy ending; the main character doesn't have to save they day as they could end up dying.

Look at George RR Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire, loads of main characters die in those books because Martin turns the stereotype on its head.

Let the Reader Envision

It's easy to write something yourself because you have a vision in mind of what is happening. But unless you use great description, the reader cannot imagine what is going on.

Using words like 'perfect, awful, alright' are descriptive words but your idea of perfect and the readers idea of perfect may be very different. By using those words, you would be assuming that the reader knows what you mean when in fact, they don't. Remember to be specific when you're describing something.

If you're just explaining something through how a character reacts to it, then the reader can not picture in their mind what the character is reacting to and you want the examiner to understand what you mean.

Don't use lots of dialogue

Long dialogue does not help the plot of your narrative. You may want to have a sense of realism in your book, but reality must be put aside so it doesn't become dull.

Reading long pieces of dialogue with no description going towards the setting or the characters themselves will make the examiner bored and you could lose marks for that. However, that's not to say that you can't have dialogue in your narrative, just keep it to a minimum.