2008 Woodie Awards
Final Frustration
Losing The Anxiety Over Your Exams
Dr. Rob Gilbert
Issue date: 12/9/04 Section: Feature
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Here's a horror story: You study. You study like you've never studied before. You confidently walk into the classroom knowing everything. You sit down to take the test. You start answering the questions. You freeze. You block. You forget.
You turn in your exam totally frustrated. You know you're going to get a bad grade. As soon as you leave the room, all the answers you forgot come right back to you.
What happened? In sports, it's called choking. In theater, it's called stage fright. In school, it's called test anxiety. I want to make sure this never happens to you.
When you study, it's like filling up your mental filing cabinet with information and ideas. When you take exams and you're too nervous, you lock the file cabinet and can't get to its contents. In other words, the answers to the questions are locked up in your head.
Why would you do this to yourself? Here's an explanation...
Every time you take a quiz, test, or final exam, it's important. After all, you're being graded and your grades matter, so it's important that you do well.
What causes this excess nervousness? There's nothing wrong with taking your exams seriously. The problems start when you make them special - when you start saying things to yourself like, "The rest of my life depends on how I perform on this test." Thoughts like that create excess anxiety and lock your mental filing cabinet.
After former president Clinton had a successful quadruple bypass operation, his team of surgeons was interviewed. One of the doctors said that they treated Clinton just like any other patient.
In other words, Clinton's operation was important but not special. Top surgeons - just like top athletes, top actors, and top students - know that as soon as you start treating something as 'special,' your performance will suffer dramatically.
Students make their exams special by telling themselves things such as, 'This is it.' 'It's now or never.' 'It's do or die.' 'There's no tomorrow.' These are 14 killer words. Never use them. They only add stress and will make your performance on the exams worse.
Melissa Sapio graduated from Montclair Sate University in 2001 with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. When asked what she thought about at the beginning of an exam, she said, "I wasn't evaluating how I was going to do. I was just focusing on the first question." Great advice! Melissa focused on the process and not the product.
You need to do the same thing. Focus on answering the questions. Don't focus on trying to figure out your grade. Suppose you're an actor. How well will you perform on opening night if all you can think about is how the critics will rate your performance?
Question: What's the one most important question on any exam?
Answer: The one you're answering right now.
Do you need a little more motivation? Call Dr. Gilbert's Success Hotline at (973) 743-4690. Recorded messages are available at all times and new messages every day at 7:30 a.m.
You turn in your exam totally frustrated. You know you're going to get a bad grade. As soon as you leave the room, all the answers you forgot come right back to you.
What happened? In sports, it's called choking. In theater, it's called stage fright. In school, it's called test anxiety. I want to make sure this never happens to you.
When you study, it's like filling up your mental filing cabinet with information and ideas. When you take exams and you're too nervous, you lock the file cabinet and can't get to its contents. In other words, the answers to the questions are locked up in your head.
Why would you do this to yourself? Here's an explanation...
Every time you take a quiz, test, or final exam, it's important. After all, you're being graded and your grades matter, so it's important that you do well.
What causes this excess nervousness? There's nothing wrong with taking your exams seriously. The problems start when you make them special - when you start saying things to yourself like, "The rest of my life depends on how I perform on this test." Thoughts like that create excess anxiety and lock your mental filing cabinet.
After former president Clinton had a successful quadruple bypass operation, his team of surgeons was interviewed. One of the doctors said that they treated Clinton just like any other patient.
In other words, Clinton's operation was important but not special. Top surgeons - just like top athletes, top actors, and top students - know that as soon as you start treating something as 'special,' your performance will suffer dramatically.
Students make their exams special by telling themselves things such as, 'This is it.' 'It's now or never.' 'It's do or die.' 'There's no tomorrow.' These are 14 killer words. Never use them. They only add stress and will make your performance on the exams worse.
Melissa Sapio graduated from Montclair Sate University in 2001 with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. When asked what she thought about at the beginning of an exam, she said, "I wasn't evaluating how I was going to do. I was just focusing on the first question." Great advice! Melissa focused on the process and not the product.
You need to do the same thing. Focus on answering the questions. Don't focus on trying to figure out your grade. Suppose you're an actor. How well will you perform on opening night if all you can think about is how the critics will rate your performance?
Question: What's the one most important question on any exam?
Answer: The one you're answering right now.
Do you need a little more motivation? Call Dr. Gilbert's Success Hotline at (973) 743-4690. Recorded messages are available at all times and new messages every day at 7:30 a.m.