3 Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

With exams here or around the corner, you may be feeling super stressed out and anxious.

Don’t worry, I did too.

However, despite this stress and anxiety, I still aced my exams and scored a 97+ ATAR.

What does this mean exactly?

It means that stress and anxiety is not something that will cause you to do bad in an exam…if you manage it properly!

There is a psychological aspect to all exams. No matter how well you prepared, if you walk into an exam super anxious and scared beyond an controllable level, there is a high chance you’ll choke (I’m talking from experience here btw).

Your mental state influences how you perform in exams, so it’s important to manage it to go for you, not against you.

Here are 3 ways that I reduced my stress and anxiety during year 11 and 12.

1. 🏃 Exercise

Exercise is extremely important for both your physical and mental health.

Honestly, without exercise, I think I would’ve lost my mind during year 12!

There are so many benefits when it comes to exercise, but put shortly, exercise releases feel-good hormones like endorphins that elevate your mood and make you feel better. Also, it reduces levels of your body’s stress hormones like cortisol!

What exercises should you do and how often?

The type of exercise depends on your personal preference. However, I found that aerobic activity like running helped most with my stress and anxiety. That being said though, weight-training did help too.

I personally exercised around 3-4 times per week, however, it really does depend on your personal circumstances and preferences.

How long should you exercise for?

I’d suggest you exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

However, even if you do it for less but consistently, it’s better than nothing!

It would be much better for you to exercise for 10 minutes than to not exercise at all.

Exercise is so important for your mental health!

Do not neglect it!

2. 🧠 Mindfulness

Journaling 

Every single day, and especially before exams, I would journal.

What would I write?

Anything that comes to mind. Anything that is bothering me. Anything that I am scared of and worried about.

This had a massively reduced my stress and anxiety.

By putting down your thoughts onto a page, it takes off that boulder that is on your back.

It makes you realise that in reality, your situation isn’t that bad and that you’re stressing for no reason.

Meditation

On the day before and on the morning of my exams, I would follow this video:

Note: this may feel very uncomfortable at first if you’ve never done something like it before. But trust me, it will help you out!

3. 👁️ Visualise your success

Close your eyes and vividly imagine yourself walking into your exam room, sitting down, opening the paper and finding every question to be easy and smooth.

Imagine yourself being able to answer every question with ease. 

Imagine yourself feeling amazing and getting the best results in the end.

When doing this, try to be as vivid as you can and imagine all your surroundings - it will enhance the experience.

Visualisation is something that I personally did every couple of days or so. It’s extremely powerful and is what kept me motivated to get things done.

If you’re not doing this already, I’d highly recommend you do so.

Why visualisation is so powerful!

Visualising your success will remind you of what you’re doing this all for. It will remind you of the success that will come if you were to put in the work and try.

Visualising yourself achieving that end goal will help you to stay focused on the positives and worry less about the potential negatives, like not achieving success.

There are so many more reasons, and if you’re interested, you can have a read of this: https://www.mindtools.com/a5ycdws/visualization

✅ Action Steps for the Week

1. Exercise!

2. Follow this meditation video

3. Sit down in a quiet place and visualise your exam success!