Are you feeling nervous about your upcoming test? Whether you’re worrying about the SAT/ACT, a test for school, or any other upcoming exam, here are some proven alternatives to worrying:
- Study – briefly. If you’re worrying because you’ve been procrastinating, 10 or 20 minutes of actual studying will help you see if you’re well-prepared or if you need to hit the books a while longer. Set a timer and go over your notes or books until it goes off, then evaluate your next steps.
- Travel back in time with your prior tests (practice tests, other tests from your class, or related assignments). Look at your progress between then and now! This is also a good time to make sure you’ve filled in any knowledge gaps that showed up in your past work.
- Take your test right now – in your mind. Imagine that it’s test day and your alarm has just gone off. What do you do next? Walk through every detail and imagine the best possible version of your day – eating breakfast, getting your test day supplies ready, arriving at the test center, and calmly (maybe even enthusiastically) taking the test, section by section. If something strikes you as stressful, write it down but continue making your mental movie. Once you’ve “finished” the test, look over your list and take care of anything that came up: sharpen your pencils, review your math formulas, etc.
- Trust yourself. If you’ve put in the work, you will get the results! Don’t let your stressed-out friends, test rumors, or other pressures get to you. The best thing you can do for any test is prepare while you have time, then relax and trust your preparation when the test arrives.
- Crank this and strut around your room for a while. Once you feel sufficiently bad, ask yourself if you are still worried about this test.