Test Anxiety: Tips to Control How You Respond to Tests

There is something very nerve-wracking about taking tests. Indeed, any type of test, whether it’s a test for school, a medical test, or even some type of job related test. Tests cause a lot of anxiety. There are many reasons for this:

• First, for many, tests are considered a reflection of you. When you take a test, you’re going to get a score, and that score is going to tell you something about yourself – something you may not want to know.
• Second, tests require a considerable amount of anticipation. Rarely do you not know when a test is going to occur, which means you spend time thinking about that test, waiting for it, and fretting over it.
• Tests often come with expectations and judgments from other people. Whether it’s teachers, parents, bosses, etc., someone is usually going to know how you did on the test, and that can cause a fear of judgment.

In addition, you may experience a lot of anxiety about what happens with the outcome of the test, such as a bad grade or the inability to get a promotion. These are all some of the many reasons for test anxiety.

Tips to Reduce Test Anxiety

It’s important to find ways to decrease your test taking anxiety, not just because anxiety feels bad, but also because anxiety can make you do worse on the test. Anxiety is a distraction that causes discomfort and rapid thoughts, all of which make it harder to perform well on some types of tests. Reducing that anxiety will play a key role in how you do.

Reducing test anxiety thrives on confidence more than anything else. Learning to change your mindset about tests so that you feel more confident when you take them is a critical strategy for reducing your overall anxiousness. You can be more confident by:

• Studying – There is a direct relationship between how much you prepare for the test, and how anxious you feel about it. In school, that means studying, no matter how much you don’t want to. Studying in different ways, studying often, and testing yourself is still going to be the best way to reduce your anxiety. At work, or with other types of tests, knowing what to expect and coming prepared will make you less anxious at the outcome.
• Planning Next Steps – If less is dependent on the outcome, it will create less anxiety. That means already planning next steps for whatever happens with the test. In school, this means creating a plan for the next test, and figuring out how you can best study. In work, or medically, this means knowing what you’re going to do next to make sure you have the outcome you want.

These two changes are going to be highly important. Confidence, in all forms, is a very important tool for improving how you feel about any type of test, and learning to be more confident going into the test is going to be your greatest tool for performing well during the test.

Of course, confidence is often easier said than done. In the interim, you can also consider the following tips and strategies for reducing test anxiety.

• Take “Mock Tests” – You can get used to almost anything. “Mock tests,” which are fake tests that take place in the general test taking environment, help make it possible to get used to what it’s like to take tests. The more comfortable you are in that type of environment, the easier it is to adapt to actual test taking environments.
• Find Your Support System – Tests are a lot less scary when you have people that are there to support you, no matter the outcome. Whether it is friends, loved ones, or relatives, find people that are willing to be there for you to celebrate your triumphs and console you after your mistakes.
• Learn Test Taking Strategies – It’s hard to go into tests without a plan. There are different ways to take tests, such as how determining how long to spend on each question, how to decide when you have a right answer and when to check your work, etc. Learn a test taking strategy so that you have a plan when you’re taking tests, and that you’re not going into it blind.
• Reduce All Your Anxiety – Anxiety is cumulative, which means that the more anxiety you experience on a regular basis, the stronger it feels in times of extreme anxiety. That is why those with anxiety in general tend to have more severe test anxiety. Some people even have panic attacks before tests, because their normal anxiety becomes extreme and unmanageable. The more you can control your anxiety outside of the test taking environment, the less you will have on test day.
• Plan Something After – One of the worst things about taking a test is being stuck in your own thoughts afterward. All of that emotion and self-doubt can be stressful, causing you to think negative thoughts that may feed into future test anxiety. Instead of dwelling, try to plan something fun or interesting for right after the test is over, so you have a chance to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones and distract yourself from how you feel.
• Do Something For You – You don’t want to cheat on the test. But you can do something that makes you smile and makes your day better. For example, find some funny and/or “lucky” underwear and put it on, or draw a smiley face on your toe. Do something that makes your day a little brighter that serves as a reminder during the test that everything will be okay.
• Habituate to Anxious Test Taking – You won’t be able to cure all of your test anxiety right away. That’s okay. As you learn more anxiety reduction strategies, consider learning to take tests while anxious. There is a phenomenon known as “state dependent learning,” where your memory is linked to how you feel. If you are not anxious when you study, and then you experience anxiety on the test, you end up doing worse because your recall is worse with anxiety. If you’re a little anxious when you study, and you are anxious on the test, your recall will actually be slightly better. Think of things that trigger a SMALL amount of nervousness while you study, like watching spider videos on YouTube before studying, and then study, so your mind associates the feeling with learning.

These are only some of the many examples of ways that you can decrease your own test anxiety. In addition, make sure that you don’t pressure yourself to perform that well right away. It takes a lot of time to get rid of your test anxiety. But the more you try, and the more you commit to it, the better you will be.