By: Jennifer Greene
There’s a lot of reference material online to aid you in preparing for testing. In researching some information for this article there came forth several articles, study guide websites, and tutoring platforms. While these preparation tools may be very helpful, most of them did little to mention the human experience through physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual senses. Testing isn’t just about the material you need to memorize or critical writing you must complete. Instead, during times of stress, it is most important to think about the whole self.
Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a person are all affected by the experiences they endure. It is often true that you cannot have one without the others. We must take care of our entire well-being by tending to these different aspects of ourselves, especially during times of anxiety. Of course, it is okay to feel overwhelmed, especially during times of stress such as exams week. For the sake of simplicity, let’s focus on a topic such as testing anxiety. Although most of these tips for study can be helpful in other stressful situations as well. First, we’ll go over the physical followed by the mental and emotional, and lastly, the spiritual senses in hopes of better preparing you for your next exam, project, or challenge.
The physical requires us to go over some tips for preparing for a big test, or any exam you need to study for. These are not in any specific order, as they have been roughly gathered to provide a general overview. We will begin by noting that it is important to speak up and ask questions. Dive into professional and peer discussions with the subject material you have been learning. Don’t forget to take notes during lectures, in study groups, and within your schoolwork.
For some individuals it helps to create a study schedule, cutting out a space and time for practicing their lessons. Others find it helpful to change their scenery to remain focused on the tasks at hand. This might include going outdoors, to a coffee shop, or to the library. Remember every subject you are learning may require a different format for practice. For instance, taking a practice quiz for your math or science exam may be beneficial. However, you might want to record yourself speaking that second language you’re hoping to become fluent in.
Even the simplest physical actions can make a huge difference in one’s performance. Don’t forget to eat and sleep! Resting can contribute to one’s academic success through better concentration and higher energy levels among other benefits. Eating certain foods may increase energy as well, and others may help with memory. There are lots of ways we can physically act in preparing for an exam, as mentioned above.
Now, let us look at the physical self a little deeper by discussing the mental health topics that may help during testing and times of stress. Test anxiety is a real and frustrating response to the stress of exams that many students suffer from. It is important to keep your mental well-being in perspective during times like this. Prioritize things like sleep, self-care, and taking breaks during study times. Sleep is important when it comes to managing daily functions and individual performance, specifically academic performance. Self-care requires you to take the time to practice self-love and self-protection. This may help you concentrate, retain more information, or give you more energy in general.
Lastly, do not forget to take breaks during your practice study. This is important because it gives you mental health checks which can open your awareness of where you are at and how you are doing internally. It could be stepping outside for fresh air, calling a family member or friend, or simply switching your focus to an activity that doesn’t relate to your schoolwork. Breaking up long study sessions is a beneficial way to not only take care of your mental health but also aid in your academic performance.
Emotional health can play hand in hand with mental health. And things like self-care and sleep can indeed provide emotional stability too. To grow in this discussion, emotional coping skills should be mentioned to enlighten ourselves about the options available to us. Note here, that if things are too overwhelming or emotionally straining, you should seek help from a family, friend, professional, or mentor rather than trying to handle things on your own. Just don’t try to do it alone, none of us should be alone in our efforts, especially when we’re overwhelmed or anxious.
There are countless ways to cope with emotional stress. From exercise to crafting, listening to music to cleaning your house, coping with emotions comes in various forms. The goal is to find what works for you, helping you decompress from the internal chaos. Maybe you are someone who doesn’t like to talk about your emotional state. That’s okay, just don’t do that thing where you push it all down and don’t deal with how you are feeling. This can lead to explosive emotions which may have negative effects. The importance here is to learn to cope with one’s emotions rather than sweep them to the side or ignore their existence at all. Emotional stability enables better focus and personal motivation.
Before we conclude, it must be touched on that the spiritual sides of ourselves are very much a part of who we are. No matter what your faith may be, clarity in your beliefs and peace within your surroundings may provide you with strength, determination, and resilience. These types of things can also help improve your feelings of self-worth and self-esteem. Both of which can make you more confident in your testing abilities. Yes, even the spiritual parts of ourselves hold weight on our performance, even academically. And for that reason, we needed to be made aware of its importance as well.
Hopefully, you now see that preparing for an exam is not all about how much vocabulary you memorized or the number of words you wrote. It involves taking care of the whole self, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For we cannot act on one without affecting the others. To complete things to the best of our ability, we must focus on our well-being from the perspective that it has different parts that must all be tended to and coped with. Anxieties may not fade away completely, but these tools and tricks may provide you with some stress relief that can make or break the passing of a test
