The older you get, the more stressful exams may become. As a student, you may be anxious about your exams for various reasons. The fear of letting your parents or teachers down, or failing to succeed, can all add to your nervousness and cause you to have anxiety attacks. Anxiety is not only exhausting; it can also render you incapable of giving your best performance. Hence, if you have an upcoming exam, it is essential for you to not only prepare but also to ensure an anxiety-free exam session. Here’s how to do so.

Eat well: Often, when studying for exams, we forget and sometimes even avoid taking our meals, trying not to waste precious minutes that can be spent studying. This is very harmful for our body, which will continue working on adrenaline for a while, but will eventually give out when we most need it. Anxiety attacks make the blood pressure and blood sugar drop, and this in turn leads to dizziness and nausea. To avoid feeling lethargic and panicking before an exam, keep yourself well-fed and in good shape, as this will do wonders for your confidence and help you remain anxiety-free.

Sleep right: As with the dietary habits, sleeping habits also play a huge part in causing you to have anxiety-related panic attacks. Make sure you are relaxed and have slept well before your exam, for lack of sleep can exhaust you and keep you from being at the top of your game, leading to an anxiety attack. Your study routine should give you a minimum of six hours of sleep, so that you are fresh and alert not only when studying, but also on the day of the exam. Make sure you don’t take any chances, disorientation and dizziness caused by sleep deprivation can cause panic, no matter how well prepared you are for your exam.

Make flashcards: Something that is bound to give every other student an anxiety attack is thinking about concepts at the last moment and panicking when something can’t be immediately recalled the night before or even immediately before the exam. One way this can be taken care of is to make flashcards with little study notes and keep them handy, so that you can give them a quick glance whenever you want, instead of thinking yourself into a panic attack and getting anxious at the last moment.

At the end of the day, the best thing you can do before an exam is be well prepared and remind yourself that it is just a small obstacle and not the end of the world.