20 Tips for Exam Stress

Me and many of my friends I know have January exams going on right now, only two left for me now, yay!

One of the best ways to do well in an exam is to have the right mindset going in and having done the right preparation, but this can be really hard when you're so nervous, so here are my 20 top tips for how to cope with exams and exam stress.

Music: Listening to music can really help, especially if you listen to classical music it will help calm you down.
Planning and organisation: Plan your study time so that you know you are making the most of your time and having a list of what to revise will help it be more managable, even if you don't stick to it the whole time, it'll help you to feel more organised. There's loads of mobile apps out there for this kind of thing.
Bubble wrap and puppy therapy: This is a proven method of calming people down, it's such great fun and will release feel-good hormones and endorphines in your body.
Sleep: This is a really important one, especially the night before an exam, make sure you go to bed early!
Meditation: Meditation can help you to focus and will also calm you, it should be used as a break from revision. I found this a useful guide to meditation
Dark chocolate: Eating dark chocolate with over 70% cocoa in helps to fight the stress hormone cortisol, which leads to an overall relaxing effect. And, any chocolate has endorphines which are natural stress fighters. Remember in Harry Potter when Lupin gives Harry chocolate?

Let it out: It's ok to say that it's hard and that it's getting to you, just find someone to talk to that will help you to tackle the issue rather than sitting on your own and letting all the negitivity stew away.
Procrastination: During revision it is so easy to get distracted, just yesterday I was trying to revise and after about ten minutes I would end up on facebook or doing something completely unrelated for about an hour! If you can stop procrastinating by yourself then great, if it's too tempting for you to check facebook or tumblr then try using a website blocker such as the SelfControl website blocker Or use the app Forest available on Android and App Store, this app makes you set a revision time and will grow a tree, if you exit the app then the tree dies!
Positivity: Believe in yourself. Think positively and you will do great, your biggest critic is yourself

Zone out: Before the exam, zone out and and listen to music. Avoid focusing on what you know or don't know, it'll only make you worry more if you do that.
Avoid stress heads: On the morning when you are waiting to go into the exam room, avoid stress heads. These will be people who are visually nervous and will be worrying about what the questions are and probably asking everyone questions about what X is. Stay away from them.
Drink lots of water: Stay hydrated and try and eat fruit that day, or at least eat something good for you (not a takeaway!)
Read carefully: Read the questions carefully and when you've finished re-read. Don't get a disappointing grade because of a silly mistake you could have prevented.
Excersise: A healthy body, will lead to a healthy mind. Excersise boosts energy levels, clears the mind and relieves stress.
Reward yourself: Take study breaks, this gives your mind a chance to rest and digest what you've been revising, if you come back to the same thing in about twenty minutes you're very likely to have improve. At the end of exams do something nice for yourself, you've worked hard, you deserve it.
Don't try and be perfect: Set yourself a goal, but make it something achievable. The most important thing is that you can leave the exam saying I did my best, I prepared and I tried my hardest.
Navigation: Leave plenty of time to get to the exam room, try and be about 20mins early. There's nothing worse than worrying about being late for an exam, or wasting exam time because you turned up late. Remember to set alarms to wake you up with plenty of time to get ready.
Breathing: Use breathing techniques to calm your nerves whilst waiting to go into the exam, try closing your eyes and practise. There's also some calming aromatic gels that you can get to help with calming, I have a mint one and it's wonderful!
Don't panic: When doing the exam try not to panic, even if you have a blank out, move on and come back to it later on. If you are worrying about thinking about one thing, it won't come to you.
Checking notes: After the exam, go home put your feet up, no need to check over the exam notes, there's nothing you can do now, just know you tried your hardest! Have a movie night or go out with friends as a reward to yourself.