Manage anxiety before, during and after an exam

For students: Manage anxiety during the exam period You can find here practical tips, namely: • What to do before, during and after an exam

• Deep breathing exercise

January, 11, 2018

During the exam season…

Don’t forget to BREATHE! It can help you manage anxiety and protect your performance!

Diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing is an incredibly effective tool for reducing anxiety levels. ❶ Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Put your hands on your abdomen. Imagine that you have a balloon in abdominal area and breathe slowly, for 3 seconds, feeling it to fill up.

❷ During the next 6 seconds let the air leaves, without any effort, slowly, emptying the abdominal area. ❸ Continue to breathe in this way, slowly and slowly. Practice between 5 to 10 minutes.

DO NOT LET ANXIETY STOP YOU IN THE EXAM!

Become more in control of your anxiety BEFORE THE EXAM ▪ Study in advance and take short breaks (5 to 10 min.), after one hour of studying.

▪ Don’t study intensively over a short period of time before an examination. Take care of your sleep routine (sleep about 6 to 8 hours). Sleep deprivation is the worst for you and for your study.

▪ Eat healthy (without skipping any meals).

▪ Eat a light snack before the exam.

▪ Do physical exercise and some relaxation exercises (e.g. breathing).

DURING THE EXAM • Arrive early at the exam room.

• Don’t discuss the topics with your peers before the exam.

• Read the exam questions carefully and answer the easiest questions first.

• If you block while writing, don´t give up. Take a deep breath and write down any words that come to your mind, which will help you remind other words and ideias.

• Focus on the task at hand and don’t focus on your peers’ perfomance.

• Allow time to review the answers given in the exam, before delivering it at end of the exam.

AFTER THE EXAM ▪ Don’t think about the exam anymore, and focus on the next one.

▪ When you get the results, try to think about whay went well, what could have gone better and what can you do different in the next exam.

Psychological Unit of University of Madeira Location: :: Colégio dos Jesuítas: Monday to Friday; :: Campus da Penteada: Tuesdays and Thurdays (morning) Contact us: (+351) 291 20 94 98 / (+351) 91 81 59 467 Email: servico.psicologia@mail.uma.pt Website: http://scp.uma.pt/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ServicoPsicologiaUMa/