how to handle study stress?

Question

i would get panicked and do anything that would get me off my studies, like going online and browse around till late night and engaging in useless activities like that. my exam is drawing near everyday and i cant afford wasting more time like this. i've flunked my first sem and i am retaking it along with the new sem. music dosent work for me, so as exercises. how should i study under this pressure and how should i handle this stress? please advise? thanks alot!

Answer 1

Stress in this instances is probably related to the feeling of the 'inability to cope', and you may be feeling overwhelmed.

Revision is an art - and the secret is to get organised.

Make yourself up a revision chart - allocating 1hour periods to two of three subject a day with at least 30 minutes between study periods.

Use highlighter pens to highlight and to distinguish the important information. Even copy out certain blocks as this will assist your memory retention.

Read a couple of sentences at a time (using a blank piece of paper to blank out the remain text - this keeps you focused) then STOP - and reflect on what you've learnt from those sentences.
If you can, I alway try and think of a practical application of the infomation I've just learnt - as this again will help your memory.

Remember everyone is feeling the some - you're not alone in feeling stressed - and you won't be the last.
Try relaxation exercises - ideal just before revision, and lastly try visualisation - here I mean actually imagine yourself going to the exam room, sitting down - then imagine yourself feeling relaxed, confident and imagine some of the questions you might get being answered easily.

I've used all this during my studies - and it did help.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Why stress? It's not going to get any better if you don't do anything about it. You either crack the books, study as much as you can, and take the best grade you can get for the little studying you did, or you flunk AGAIN, and try to retake the class. You experienced how not studying can effect your grade last semester. You spent 2 semesters sitting next to people who weren't any smarter than you, but managed to get through the class because they were willing to study when you weren't. You created your current situation. The stress you feel is a mask for guilt. Something for you, and maybe for the people around you, to focus on instead of the fact that YOU are screwing up your LIFE. Instead of occupying your mind with how stressed you are, open those areas of your brain to absorb how your actions affect your outcomes. Then you can figure out what you're capable of and make up your mind about what your game plan for life should be. If you're one of those people who just can't get into the amount of work involved with college, you might need to consider taking a trade until you're ready. In some trades, the salaries rival a 4 year degree. Not such a bad deal for what's often a 2 year commitment. Some people do much better in a more hands on training environment than they do with classes only based on study. If you used the energy it takes to act stressed and apply it to learning from your mistakes, you'll find you're a lot better off.

Now get off the computer!

Answer 3

I know exactly how you feel. Last quarter was hell, and now Im in the second half. Im still working on how to handle the stress, but Im finding some things that help.
Definitely get a planner, and write down when everything is due. Make a schedule for each day of what you have to get done, and try to stick to it. If you get a little behind, dont worry, because itll just make things worse. Just make sure to finish it the next day.
When you find yourself getting off track (as I write this I should be studying for a midterm in 40 min) consciously notice it and say to yourself that this isnt being productive. I physically get up and walk away from the computer, or tv, whatever, and go sit somewhere with my book and a highlighter. take notes on what you read, it helps to remember it.
if youre really having trouble with the material, talk to your professor. i always try to talk to at least one person in each class, and see if they want to do the homework together, or study. working in groups will help keep you on task, because you have to make time to meet with them.
And finally, make time for fun. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. If you do nothing but study, youll be tired all the time, and probably wont remember much of what you learned. so take time to watch a movie with your friends, read a book that has nothing to do with school, play videogames for an hour.
if you stay well balanced, youll be better able to focus when it comes time to study.
I hope this helps! im going to take my own advice now and study in the hopes i pass this midterm... good luck!

Answer 4

go somewhere where you cant get distracted eg, no tv, no computer etc, and have a bootle of water with you. make sure you have lots of natural light and any artificial light you might need. then revise for about 1/2 hour-1 hour, and then take a break -like walk around the house twice, go to the loo, fill up your water bottle, get a snack. then go back to work again-but make sure that the breaks are no longer than 5 mins or you'll get distracted. when you are revising sip the water often- you should be drinking at least a glass and hour to help your concentration. Dont work everyday, all day either, make sure that at least one day you go out and do something- maybe swimming or cycling etc, and then you will be better motivated to work the next day.
standing up and drinking water increases the supply of oxygen and energy to the brain and so helps your concentration - note if you are working for a solid hour (like reccommended above), make sure half way through you stand up, and jump up and down or stretch or something to get the oxygen pumping round the body quicker etc!!
hope this helps, good luck with your exams xx

Answer 5

If you don't enjoy studying, then you need to find a new answer to life. At this point, why are you taking classes, if your not going to take it seriously. If you love what you are learning in class, you would want to study, just like if you love hobbies, it just occurrs. Maybe you need to understand how lucky you are and appreciate that you have this chance to get this education.

Maybe you're scared of studying because you flunked your last semester and you don't want that to occurr again. But realize that at this stage of life, it is easier to take this path to educate yourself than later in life when you don't have the right education to get a job you truely want.

Answer 6

Do what I did. I just said "I don't even care about that sh!t any more" now I have very few friends, very few problems, and nothing to worry about. Social problems are silly and meaningless. Just chill out, cut back on the alc tho thats bad for you. Get some bud if you really need something to take the edge off, and just avoid social issues by not being social

Answer 7

Hi, why not try having a friends night & do the revision together, have some food lying around ie: crisps,ect. make it a fun night as well as studies, hope this works for you, good luck with your exams

Answer 8

Time management is always important. Why don't you make a planner? List out all the things that you need to do, and plan them. Make a time table; and follow it. ^_^

If you don't understand the subjects, ask a teacher or a senior, or even your friends. Organise a study group~ ^__^

All the best!

Answer 9

A man goes to a shop, picks up a beautiful cup and says "my god this cup is so beautiful" and suddenly the cup starts talking to the man. The cup starts saying "O man, I am beautiful right now, but what was the state of my being before the pot-maker made me a beautiful pot?

Before I was sheer mud and the pot-maker pulled me out of the mud from the mother earth and I felt why that pot-maker is so cruel, he has separated me from mother earth. I felt a tremendous pain. And the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me and churned me, when I was churned I felt so giddy, so painful, so stressful, I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me into a oven and heated me up, I felt completely burnt. There was tremendous pain and I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait."

Then he poured hot paint on me and I felt the fume and the pain, I again asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then again he put me into an oven and heated it to make me more strong, I felt life is so painful hence pleaded the pot-maker and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." And after that the pot-maker took me to the mirror and said, "Now look at yourself". And surprisingly I found myself so beautiful.

When god gives us lot of trouble, it appears god is very cruel but we need patience and we have to wait. When bad things happen to good people, they become better and not bitter.

So all difficulties are part of a cosmic design to make us really beautiful. We need patience, we need understanding, we need the commitment to go through in a very calm and wise way. So all difficulties are not to tumble us but to humble us.

With this understanding, let us not be against difficulty. Understand difficulty is a part of a purifying process. A purifying process at present which we cannot understand and hence we need faith and we need trust.

Let us understand how to handle stress with this background. You can be affected by stress from two angles. There is an internal stress and there is an external stress. Nobody can avoid stress; one has to only manage stress. Managing stress can be internal and also external.

The internal stress is; your thoughts can create stress, your values can create stress, and your beliefs can create stress, meaning thereby your stress is coming from your mind more from the outer world. Many people suffer not from heart attack - they suffer from thought-attack.

For example, when somebody says you are an idiot, we get so hurt, we get so victimised. My boss has called me an idiot and I am feeling tremendous pain. Now where does this stress come from? If my boss has called me an idiot, I have to ask myself "am I an idiot"?

If I am an idiot nothing to be upset about; and if I am not an idiot, then also nothing to be upset about! It is the perception of the boss. But why do we suffer from that stress? I suffer not because my boss has called me an idiot but because of the thought-attack.

I may say the boss has called me an idiot; therefore I am suffering? It is true that the words are unpleasant. But what hurts is the interpretation of the unpleasant word. The thought in me interprets. That is pain and therefore it becomes pain. Much of our stress is our mind interpreting it as pain. So we suffer from thought-attack more than heart attack.

Answer 10

We always revised and studied in groups, good for motivation and also helping each other out.