So you have studied for weeks or months and the big day is finally here? If so, the chances are that you are feeling a little worried and tense right now. If this is you, don’t worry, this is entirely normal, and you are not alone. Most importantly, please don’t turn it into a problem by continually thinking about it too much. Any test is, in fact, nerve-wrecking for many people, especially if it’s a big exam. It is natural to feel some uncertainly and anxiety when your prospects depend on a test. However, you can either amplify these feelings by needlessly dwelving on them, or, you can cope with them.

Thankfully, there are some tips that I have collected from my own experience, and I am sure they will help you as well. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can battle your test-day anxiety.

Be Confident in your Test Prep

I am sure if you are here, then you have spent months carefully studying for the exam. You have probably solved hundreds of practice questions and multiple mock tests. I am also confident that you have scored well on your practice tests and all the quizzes and exercises thus far. If this is the case, I want you to take comfort in knowing that you have done very well studying for the test. Pat yourself on the back because you deserve it. However, what you don’t deserve is needlessly worrying about your test day performance because that is yet to come. Ask yourself, is your worry rational? I can bet you the answer would be no. Why fret over something that hasn’t even happened yet? Instead, remind yourself that you have studied diligently and effectively for months, and all the mock tests testify to your readiness.

Optimistic Thoughts

As human beings, one of our most significant weaknesses is that we tend to think about negative scenarios more than positive ones. It may result from our evolutionary history in the hazardous plans of Africa surrounded by thousands of predators. Still, whatever it is, it doesn’t help when we want to get things done.

How many times do you find yourself imagining the worst possible outcomes when doing something new? A lot, right? Most of the time that is our first instinct, but I want you to realize that you can intervene and change your thoughts’ trajectory.

Do this, the next time when you feel those negative thoughts creeping in, tell yourself that the likelihood of you doing well on the test is equal, if not more than doing worse. Think about it. You have studied well and continuously practiced, right? What data do you have to suggest that you will do poorly on the test? How are you arriving at that conclusion? You haven’t yet taken the test, then how can you know what’s going to happen? For all you know, you may end up acing the test and falling in the 95th percentile or above.

Why should negative thoughts be the default in your mind? If you can think negatively, then you can also think optimistically. Reinforce the idea in your head that you are more likely to do better on the test. Always remind yourself that you have no rational basis for thinking negatively.

Visualize Success

Thoughts appear in our consciousness out of nowhere most of the time, and it seems as if we don’t have any control over them. As I previously said, we are tuned to entertain the worst-case scenarios for some reason, and that is what we visualize most of the time.

However, I have found that I tend to do better if I actively imagine positive outcomes than I previously expected. This takes a bit of practice, and you will have to conscientiously fight off those negative mini-films that run in your mind. If you catch yourself fretting over a negative outcome, intervene in your thoughts and instead start visualizing success. Imagine that you will come out triumphant at the end of it all. This can help your attitude, and if you do it enough will thwart off anxiety.

Convert Anxiety into Excitement

According to Professor Alison Wood Brooks of Harvard Business School, she found that by merely getting yourself excited about a stressful task, you can improve your performance. The core of her research identified that those students who amp themselves up before a test tend to do well than those who don’t.

The key here is to excite yourself by jumping around before the test and doing things that simulate real excitement. This can be anything such as doing a little exciting dance or clapping your hands, or saying encouraging phrases out loud. Moreover, if you feel stress during your test, remind yourself that the pressure is helping you. In Allison Wood’s research, the group that didn’t do any of this performed significantly worse than those that did.

Meditate

There are many various forms of meditation, but one of the most commons ones is called mindfulness. The objective is to sit down in a chair or on the ground as you feel comfortable. Close your eyes, take a deep breath through your nose and slowly exhale. While doing this, you will concentrate on the air coming in and out of your nose. More specifically, the gushing sound it makes. You will try not to think and keep your mind “empty.”

However, in the beginning, this will be difficult as a barrage of thoughts will come flooding in, but every time they do, you will deviate your focus to the breath. Concentrate on the air going in and out through your nose, slowly and steadily. If you do this for 15 minutes before leaving for the test, you will feel calmer and in better control.

However, do know that meditation works best when it is a habit. So keep on doing it each day and slowly increase the duration as you get better at it.