 Test performance and stress are related to each other. For most students, test performance falls off because they are over-stimulated by stress in their lives. There are such test performance barriers as physical barriers (body), cognitive barriers (thoughts), and preparation.
Physical Barriers to Test Performance
Before taking a test or during the test itself you experience: jitters, sweaty palms, stomach or bowel pains, racing pulse, heart pounding, or the inability to focus and concentrate? Aforesaid are physiological symptoms of stress. There are some ways to reduce their effects.
1. Get plenty of sleep the night before the test. If you are drowsy, your ability to think clearly and to remember will be affected. Keep in mind that cramming is an ineffective study strategy that inhibits recall.
2. Avoid stimulus like coffee or sugar prior to test. Don’t drink coffee in the morning and don’t eat the sweet roll. These stuffs add chemical stress. It is advised not to take stimulants or drink coffee to stay awake the night before the test.
3. Eat a balanced diet. It is significant for optimal functioning that your body has all the nutrients it requires. Don’t skip meals and eat foods from all four food groups.
4. Learn to relax. Spend time to learn about relaxation process and what works for you. The strategies you choose should be comfortable, brief and be the type you could do in the testing room in front of other people (hot baths work but are impractical).
Read the following ideas:
• Breathe deeply but slowly for 30 seconds. Breathe out through your mouth and in through your nose.
• Imagine heavy weights on each shoulder and push down and stretch the muscles of your neck and shoulders.
• Visualize your anxiety as a color concentrated in different parts of your body. Then visualize the colors slowly draining out through your hands and feet.
• Say to yourself, “I am relaxed in my body, I am relaxed in my mind, now I am ready.”
| 
