Online exams: Taking care of yourself
Naturally, the focus when you are preparing for exams will be towards revising and learning. However, to learn and perform as well as you can, you need to take care of yourself both physically and psychologically.
The exam
It is important to prepare yourself for the exam. For example:
- Choose what you are going to wear. Dress like you mean business – whatever that means for you. (Are you more alert in your pyjamas or in smart-casual?) This will put you in the right frame of mind psychologically (Dress sleepy, think sleepy!).
- Plan to get enough sleep.
- Be well-watered – keep your brain hydrated so that it can function at its best.
- Avoid alcohol
- Avoid caffeine
- Food – have breakfast
- Slow-release carbs (Porridge)
- Protein (Eggs)
- Long-chain Omega-3 (Smoked mackerel)
- Positive thinking
Stress
Build your confidence by taking control. You can do this by:
- Being prepared
- Arriving early
- Budgeting your time
Tips for feeling in control are:
- Don’t do the questions in order
- Do quicker / easier questions first
- Aim for the easiest marks first, or…
- Do the questions you like first
Going blank in the exam
What about if your mind goes blank? Here are some suggestions:
- Jog your memory by brainstorming thoughts onto paper
- Take a couple of minutes time out (Stress inhibits thought processes and creativity)
- Take slow deep breaths
- Think of something/somewhere else
- The chances are that an idea will come to you – This will lead to other connected ideas
- Skip the question and come back to it later.
Activity
Here is an activity to review the above information.
