In order to perform well in a challenging situation, you must be psychologically and physically alert. You certainly won't perform well on an exam or in an event if you are nearly asleep! This level of "alertness" is also called arousal. Some degree of arousal is essential for optimal performance. Increasing arousal is the idea behind "psyching up" and it works in many cases, psyching up enhances performance. The problem is that when the intensity of arousal gets too high, we often begin to feel nervous and tense and experience anxiety. At this level, anxiety becomes distracting and performance declines - we get "psyched out." For optimal performance, you need to keep your arousal at an intermediate level psyched up, but not psyched out!
Optimal Arousal
So, how do you know when you are "up" enough, but not too much, for an exam or performance ? When psyched up, you'll be able to focus on the task at hand and performance will feel natural. When psyched out and anxiety takes over, you may experience :
- distracting thoughts of failure
- an inability to pick out important environmental cues
- becoming distracted by irrelevant environmental cues
- interpreting the results of physical arousal (muscle tension, heart rate, respiration) as signs of fear
- excessive muscle tension
- attempting to avoid or escape the situation
- giving up
Some tips for reducing test anxiety. Fortunately, there are several things that can be done to make test anxiety more manageable :
- Preparation – develop good study habits, spreading studying over several days ; ask for additional help when needed ; eat good foods, get adequate rest, and exercise to build energy; attend class regularly and complete all assignments in a timely manner; make and take practice tests
- Keep a positive attitude – develop reasonable expectations ; do not allow your grades to become dependent on the outcome of one exam; avoid negative and irrational thoughts about catastrophic results ; set up a system of rewards for dedicated studying and good test performance ; encourage yourself
- Relaxation techniques – deep breathing exercises, imagery and visualization, and muscle relaxation techniques can help to increase focus an concentration ; don't arrive too early or get distracted by others preparing for the test ; check to make sure you have everything you will need
- Learn good test-taking skills – do not panic if you can't remember something right away ; answer questions you know well first, and then go back to other ones ; read questions and directions carefully before you begin ; outline essays before you begin to write ; keep short answers short ; don't spend a lot of time reviewing answers
The above information thankfully comes from the campusblues.com at the following link.
