Breaking the exam's spell - Pass the fear by and do well!

Has exam always ruled over you like a barbaric dictator? Has it been the single most deadliest event? Does it seem like the ghost of the exam is haunting you? Do you see nightmares with number "zero" and the word "fail" tormenting you? You give your best, but it doesn't work. What is going wrong? Find out some of the reasons and counter tasks you can perform so that you can beat that fear of exam and know that you are doing it right.

From various psychological studies, it shows that the more you try not to do something, you invariably end up just doing that! So when you force your mind to remember something, or you tell yourself that you shall, at any cost would wake up at dawn to study; you end up forgetting the little thing you knew or turning off the alarm and digging deep into pillow.

Forcing yourself to do something means you are not interested in that. Develop interest, be curious to know what the subject is all about. Find out how things work, not because you have exam and you need to pass, but because you enjoy knowing it!

Newton's 3rd law: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Apply the law now, "For every bit of interest you develop, you gain an equal amount of knowledge with lesser effort (which is completely opposite to working too hard to score or understand!)" doesn't this sound great?!
Let's get going then with the ways of expelling 'fear of exams' and know that you are doing it right.

You are a dreamer:

Another reason why you might be thinking a lot of positive things and feeling great and then achieving nothing in reality, could be the fact that you live in a fantasy world! You think you can finish a text book containing 714 odd pages over night?! You have to be practical! You know that a tree doesn't grow in a day. You have to learn things each day and plan well in advance for exam. Your schedule for study should give you enough time to study everything and to revise it once as well.

The day the exam dates are released, should be the day you have to prepare the time table, never neglect and end up in the same pit of repentance.

Blind follower:

You might be in that belief that what worked for the others will work for you as well. No it will not, not if that is something to do like scoring a record marks by studying the night before exam and exclusively memorising important questions
Stroke of luck will not always work, what will, would be constant effort.
You have to follow a schedule to study. You can set one for yourself or ask a teacher or a friend to set one for you. Whichever works out, this cannot let you down if you have been faithfully following what you believe to fetch beneficial results.

The drift :

You go right, but only for sometime and then you wander away. The outcome could be any-body's guess! Maybe you are moody. What you need to do is identify what is your state of mind and be aware of it at all times. If you feel low, lazy or fed-up of things, take a brief break (again don't be too long drifting away in this break!) Amuse yourself with music, or a funny video or a comic strip or anything you like, re-fresh your mind and you're ready to get back in track.

Take help:

You might be doing all that is mentioned and yet not getting there, then its alright. Take a deep breath, there is no evil witch! Convince yourself that you can do it. Subjects don't get into your head? Repeatedly study until you understand, ask your teacher to repeat the chapter. Make your friend explain how he/she understood the subject. Imagine the things mentioned in the chapter, get into it. Go take up tuitions if you must!

So, be interested, know things, be practical, be aware of your state of mind, stay focused and put your efforts in an effortless manner (you know now how to!) There you are, a proud you! Its just an exam, no biggie! You can score well, trust yourself in that. Drive away that silly thing called "exam-fear". Break the exam's spell!