7 Tricks for Reducing Test Anxiety & Improving Memory

You would think that leaving your school years would mean that your test-taking days are over. Unfortunately that isn't the case at all. There are plenty of situations where you will need to take tests, either for personal growth, to further your education, or in a work or business environment. When you do so, the old anxiety that you felt in high school and college can come creeping back.

While many people just swallow hard and deal with this frustration, there are tips that you can implement to relieve the anxiety that you feel about taking tests. Think positive and you can create a whole new situation for yourself, improving not only your performance, but reducing anxiety as well.

1. It's All In The Attitude.

Like most things in life, your attitude can really affect your test-taking skills, as well as the anxiety that you feel when you are required to sit down and perform. If you are unsure of where to start, take the time to put things in perspective.

Ask yourself: "What is the worst thing that will happen? Will I lose my job if I don't do well? Might it be that I will be passed up for a promotion?"

In most instances, what you are imagining is not as likely to happen once you look closer at the possibilities. Even if it could go badly, walk yourself through how you would deal with that in a positive way. "I could go back to school and pursue that dream that I've been neglecting! Wouldn't that be exciting?"

2. Improve Memory

One of the biggest things that leads to testing anxiety is the fact that you stress out about not remembering things. Even if you study, you can end up anxious about how well you will recall the information under pressure. To relieve this worry, there are plenty of memory improving exercises that you can do on a regular basis.

In fact, many people find that devoting a certain amount of time on a daily basis to memory games can increase confidence and memory.

3. Develop a System of Association

This is something that business people do all the time when it comes to remembering people's name ... people respond better when they feel that they are being personally addressed, so good customer service personnel always remember names.

They do this by associating the person with someone or something that they are familiar with, creating funny nicknames, so to speak, that help them pull up the information immediately.

You can discover more memory tricks on this page that will help you overcome test anxiety.

4. Sing Along

Music is a very powerful tool. While many people claim that they study better with music playing, they neglect to use it in the actual studying process. Jingles get it right: they are designed to take basic data and make it difficult to forget. You don't have to only burn the benefits of the newest cold cereal in your mind, however.

Set lists, timelines and other strings of information for your test to music and see if it doesn't revolutionize your confidence level.

5. Get Rid of the Crutch

The more that you rely on tools and technology to help you remember things, the lazier your brain becomes. This is true for everyday events and the fallout can bleed over into your testing anxiety. Try to minimize the use of day planners, phone reminders and lists.

Your brain has the ability to recall information if you train it to do so. The more of a memory workout you give yourself, the easier you will feel when it comes time to take tests.

6. Use Mental Games

There are several different types of word games that can help reduce test anxiety. Mnemonics is one such tool. To explain this simply, it is when you choose a word and assign each letter to represent another word or phrase.

Remember the old computer term G.I.G.O? Just about anyone over the age of 20 know that that stands for "Garbage In, Garbage Out?" That is a mnemonic. You can remember numbers in similar ways.

7. Just be confident!

Once you have implemented the strategies that will do the most to improve memory, and found the tricks that really work for your test anxiety, it's time to stand up and be confident. Even the most talented people can ultimately fail when they don't believe in themselves.

Lack of confidence creates subconscious behaviors that can sabotage your best efforts. Many well known successful people extol the virtues of the maxim "Believe it and you can achieve it." Make use of this piece of wisdom from many who have walked the hallways of success.

Finally, do make sure that you are using good study habits to supplement your test anxiety and memory improvement tips.

Ready to leave test anxiety and discover more about the power of positive thinking?

Go to Memory Improvement Tools home page.