Tips to manage academic stress

Your years at university are exciting and will make you grow as a person but occasionally they may also be stressful, above all in exam periods.

At first, stress may be persistent as the change in your circumstances is very big and the adaptation period may put you under strain, more so if you have decided to study outside your home city. The good news is that your stress levels will eventually fall, although they may rise again in exam seasons or under specific circumstances.

Exam stress has symptoms such as negativity, bad thoughts and nervousness. A student can be their own worst enemy and make exams more difficult for themselves.

For this reason, in this post we’ll talk about how to get through exam periods and will give you some advice to help you lower your stress levels and manage your anxiety, thereby improving your academic performance.

How can I beat exam stress?

Once you’ve adapted to university life, as we’ve already said, stress tends to only appear at certain times. This is why we’d like to give you some tips about how to overcome exam stress.

• Learn relaxation techniques. These techniques will help you stay calm and have the confidence you need before and during an exam.
• Begin revising well in advance and choose a routine study space. Studying little by little is the best approach. Starting your revision well in advance of your exams will give you the time you need to assimilate concepts. Choosing a set place to study, somewhere you can concentrate, is also important. Here you can find more information on the most effective study techniques.
• Eat and drink. The brain needs energy to work properly and so you need to stay hydrated, avoiding sweetened drinks to prevent anxiety from entering this process.
• Sleep the hours you need. It’s important to sleep the hours you need to ensure good academic performance.
• Speak to support staff or your teacher. It is important that there is two-way feedback between you and university staff so your teacher can see you are committed and interested and the student can get answers to all their questions about the subjects to be examined.
• Routine. It’s important to establish a study routine before the exams and see which techniques are most helpful to you when it comes to acquiring concepts, retaining them and combatting stress in the exam. This will reduce your stress levels and help you feel confident that you are well prepared.

We hope that these tips can help you reduce your stress levels and enter exam periods feeling as relaxed as possible.