Most people suffer some degree of anxiety when preparing for a test. This can range from a mild nervous feeling to a full panic attack. Whatever your level of anxiety, learning to reduce it is very important to study effectively for a test. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to reduce anxiety, which will benefit your grades and your overall mental health.

Part 1 Reducing Anxiety with Effective Studying

1.Remember you have already learned the information. The most effective way to study is attend class regularly, take good notes, do your homework, and otherwise be an active student. If you have done this, you are already way ahead of students who have not been doing this.

2.Leave yourself plenty of time for studying. Waiting until the night before a test to start studying is likely to spike your anxiety. You will be crunched for time, you will not have time to ask questions or find lost information, likely feel overwhelmed, and otherwise be in a bad situation.

• Instead of waiting until the last minute, start studying as soon as a test is scheduled. With several days or even a week to prepare, you'll feel more relaxed because you have plenty of time to learn the material.
• Draw up a schedule to make most of your study time. Set aside as much time as you feel you need; it could be 20 minutes a day, it could be 2 hours a day. You can adjust this if you feel you need more or less time after studying for a few days. Stick to this schedule so when it comes time for the test, you know you've prepared as well as possible.
• You should also get into the habit of looking over your notes from class every day. Statistically, students who do this get better grades on tests because the brain absorbs information more efficiently this way. It can help with your anxiety because you'll have a head start on your studying before you even knew a test was coming up.

3.Keep all of your notes and schoolwork organized. Being disorganized can make anxiety much worse. You'll start to panic because you can't find that one page of notes you need to know, and then lose time looking for it instead of studying.[3]

• To avoid this problem, keep all of your schoolwork neat and organized. That way, you'll be able to find everything you need and spend the maximum amount of time studying.
• Keep all of your notes for a certain class in one notebook, so everything for that class is in one place. Also make sure to date the page every time you take notes. If you take notes on your computer, keep your notes, assignments, and any study aids in separate folders for each class, and date all of your notes.
• Designate a folder for any loose material you have for a class. Handouts, essays, homework assignments, and past tests can go in here so you can find them easily when you need them.

4.Take breaks while studying. Although you should study as much as you need to, it is possible to overdo it. Spending every minute of the day studying will wreak havoc on your nerves and make anxiety worse. Be sure to factor breaks into your study schedule. Every hour or two, you should take a break for 10 minutes or more.

• Any activities will do. Try watching TV, exercising, doing some stretches (especially for your neck and arms), going for a walk, taking a nap—whatever you have to do. This will rest your brain and you can come back to your studies refreshed and ready to continue.

5.Keep the exam in perspective. While under stress, it is very easy to "catastrophize"—that is, think the very worst of the situation and get worried about what is unlikely to happen, but mildly possible. This can set off a chain reaction, in which the student gets more anxious, more distracted, more worried, and then less likely to do well. Some mindsets to help put things in perspective:

• If you have been doing well in exams throughout the class, it is likely you will do well here.
• If you do not do well, it is probably not the end of life as you know it.
• Many tests can be taken more than once, whether it is a driving test, passing the bar, or just having to re-take chemistry class.

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