Exams can be very stressful for anyone no matter how many years they have been studying for or how advanced they might be in a field. Test anxiety is a common occurrence for many people and it can cause even the best prepared of students to feel like they can remember nothing.
If you find that this has become a common problem for you, there are quite a few different things you can try doing in order to perform your best during your exams. Here are some of the best tips to help you overcome a mental block during any exam.
- Get enough rest the previous night
Getting a good night’s rest is essential before every exam you take in your life, whether that is a school exam or a driving one. When you are sleep deprived, your tired mind struggles to easily recall and connect information and this can cause you to experience a mental block.
“No matter how much you wish to stay up and revise until the early hours of the morning, getting sleep will be much more beneficial for your brain. So, make sure to go to sleep early the night before and rest well so you are able to perform well,” – says Stephanie Donahole, a contributing writer for TrustMyPaper, Super Monitoring and GrabMyEssay.
- Have a snack and water with you
Sometimes, being hungry during an exam can cause your blood sugar levels to drop and as a result, you might feel tired, irritated and your mind might feel foggy and tired. This is very easily fixable and the only thing you have to do is to think in advance and have some much needed water and a few high-calorie snacks which can help fuel up your brain quickly.
Some options you can choose from which are easy to remember and pack are dark chocolate, nuts and seeds and even some electrolyte-enriched water which can help you feel energized and awake. Caffeine might make you feel more irritable so it would be a smart idea to avoid it during your exam.
- Take a few deep breaths
Being very nervous during an exam can definitely cause you to get confused and experience a mental block. This is probably one of the things that happen most frequently to people and while it might be frustrating, it can be easy to fix.
The key here is to try and calm yourself down without you having to think about the fact that you are actually nervous. Something you can try that is usually effective is taking a few deep breaths and keeping your eyes closed for a few moments. This can help your mind slow down and you to feel a little more relaxed and calm without having to lose your focus.
- Think about something else that inspires you
When experiencing a mental block, it is easy to have negative thoughts and to consider yourself less good at what you are studying or well-prepared than you actually are. Instead of focusing on negative thoughts which can affect your performance, you should think about things that make you feel good about your knowledge and skills.
These can be related to the exam you are taking and they can help you feel a little more confident so you are able to overcome your mental block. While this can be beneficial, you should also make sure that it will not take up too much time of your given time to take the exam.
- Try answering a different question
If you find that you are stuck trying to answer a particular question, you should make sure to skip it and go to a different one. This is something that you can do in everything you work on from exams to essays and translations and if you find yourself stuck, you can work on something else and get back to what is troubling you later. Also, you if you don’t have enough time for your homework you can check writing services such as Studicus, BestEssayEducation and WowGrade.
Many people even tend to not look through all of the questions at the beginning of the exam so they don’t confuse themselves with thinking about all sorts of different pieces of information. This is something you can also try and it could potentially help you prevent a mental block from the very beginning of the exam.
- Look up while thinking
Last but not least, another thing you can try doing in order to help you overcome this mental block is to look up while you are trying to think of the right answer to your problem. In case you are not aware of it, looking up while we think is technically a natural response of the body and many do it without even thinking it.
Looking up allows our brains to connect to its visual memory center, therefore making it easier to visualize the questions and answers and come up with the solution to our mental block a lot easier. So, instead of looking down, try giving the ceiling a few glances while you try to remember something during an exam.
Finding the right ways to eliminate mental blocks
Mental blocks can be difficult to deal with, especially if they tend to happen often and if they affect the way you perform in your studies. Being able to think clearly and to answer every question with easy is exactly what every student wants and there are a few tips which can help you achieve that.
What tips would you encourage others to try in order to overcome their struggle with mental blocks during exams?