So, you are a college student and you have found yourself feeling worried, nervous and tensed in many situations that involve academic activities such as studying for an exam or working on an assignment. Because of this, you may have noticed that you are not as interested in learning as before, that you don’t feel motivated to do your homework properly, or that have been getting bad grades on tests (even if you did study). These are signs of study anxiety, and though you may be worried that this is only happening to you, it is actually very common among students all around the world.
Anxiety is a normal response of our bodies and minds whenever we are in a danger or in any situation that represents a threat; it prepares us to deal with these situations properly, taking action instead of freezing or running. Anxiety is also important in school, it motivates us to fulfill our tasks and, therefore, achieve our goals. Indeed, without anxiety we probably wouldn’t take action on anything, so, as we can see, feeling anxiety is fundamental to be functional individuals -it could even save our lives.
But anxiety can become a problem and stop being normal. This happens when we start feeling anxious in situations that don’t deserve it because they represent no threat at all, or when we try to control our anxious feelings and thoughts as hard as we can but we fail to. Some symptoms that can indicate anxiety has become a problem are: excessive worrying, constant fear, pessimistic thoughts, restlessness, insomnia, or self-isolation.
Now, study anxiety, is a term that refers to the anxiety that can be experienced during the study process and affects academic performance negatively.
How can we reduce study anxiety?
First of all: ask for help. If you think you might have been experiencing study anxiety, don’t keep it to yourself. Talk to someone about it: a friend, a parent, a teacher, a counselor or a health professional.
There are also some tips you can try in order to manage your anxiety symptoms:
- Don’t try to make everything all at once. Make a list of all your assignments and organize them in a calendar in order of priority. Be realistic: recognize what you can do today, and what should be left for tomorrow. By doing this, you will avoid seeing your workload as a giant block of tasks and you will instead have small tasks to work on. This way you will also avoid procrastinating, since you can start by the most urgent or the most difficult tasks and you will have them ready before the due date.
- Know your strengths and debilities. Recognize when you can do all the work by yourself and when you need to ask for help. There’s nothing wrong in recognizing when you need a little bit of help, trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders will only make you more anxious.
- Have small breaks after some time. Break your study time into study sessions of 30-45 minutes each, with a small 5–10-minute break after each session. During your breaks try to clear your mind: take a snack, listen to some music or go get some fresh air.
- Treat yourself nicely. This can be done in many different ways:
- Let yourself rest. Whenever you are stuck in a task, take a small break and start again after it. Sometimes you will need longer breaks -to go for a walk, talk to a friend, or take a nap- and that’s ok too.
- Listen to your body. When hungry, eat. When thirsty, drink. When tired, sleep. Your body is always telling you what you need, don’t act as if you don’t hear it.
- Be careful how you talk to yourself. “I can’t do this” or “I’m so bad at this” may be your first thoughts but, instead, have more positive thoughts like “This task is hard but I can do it, maybe I just need a little break or I need to ask for help, but I know I can do it.”
- Share your experience with your classmates. Believe or not, your classmates are going through similar struggles. Talking to them might make you feel more understood and you can encourage each other to keep going even through difficult times.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of a healthy diet, exercise and sleep. This three have a huge impact in your health, well-being and, of course, your academic performance.
- For an important test don’t forget to:
- Be prepared, so you feel more confident.
- Sleep and eat well before the exam.
- Arrive early because feeling rushed will only increase your anxiety.
- Read the instructions and the questions very carefully and start with the ones you know. Your confidence will build up as you start solving the test.
- Focus on your test only, don’t pay attention to what others are doing.
- Don’t forget to breathe and remember to have positive thoughts.
- Remember: you are doing the best you can and that is -and will always be- enough.
