STRESS MANAGEMENT: HOW TO OVERCOME TEST ANXIETY

The countdown has begun. Your date with the test is looming on the horizon. Anxiety is on the rise. You have butterflies in
your stomach, and your thinking is getting cloudy. Maybe you think you won’t be ready. Maybe you already know your stuff,
but you’re going into panic mode anyway. Don’t worry! It’s possible to tame that anxiety and stress—before and during the
test.

Remember, some stress is normal and good. Anxiety is a motivation to study. The adrenaline that gets pumped into your
bloodstream when you’re stressed helps you stay alert and think more clearly. But if you feel that the tension is so great that
it’s preventing you from using your study time effectively, here are some things you can do to get it under control.

Take Control
Lack of control is a prime cause of stress. Research shows that if you don’t have a sense of control over what’s happening in
your life, you can easily end up feeling helpless and hopeless. Try to identify the sources of the stress you feel. Which ones
can you do something about? Can you find ways to reduce the stress you’re feeling from any of these sources?

Make a Study Schedule

Often the mere realization that you’re procrastinating on your GMAT study can cause stress. To help you gain control over
your preparation process, make study appointments with yourself on your calendar—and then keep these appointments
with yourself! Without setting aside time to study for the GMAT, it’s easy to keep putting it off due to looming work deadlines,
business school applications, or other commitments on your calendar. The hardest part of studying is getting started, so get
started soon and start small. Even committing to working on five problems a day will produce a pleasant feeling of
accomplishment and momentum, leading you to be able to make longer and longer commitments to your Test Day success.

Focus on Your Strengths

Make a list of areas of strength you have that will help you do well on the test. We all have strengths, and recognizing your
own is like having reserves of solid gold in the bank. You’ll be able to draw on your reserves as you need them, helping you
solve difficult questions, maintain confidence, and keep test stress and anxiety at a distance. And every time you recognize a
new area of strength, solve a challenging problem, or score well on a practice test, congratulate yourself—you’ll only increase
your reserves.

Imagine Yourself Succeeding

Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a relaxing situation. Breathe easily and naturally. Now think of a real-life situation in
which you did well on an assignment. Focus on this success. Now turn your thoughts to the GMAT and keep your thoughts
and feelings in line with that successful experience. Don’t make comparisons between them; just imagine yourself taking the
upcoming test with the same feelings of confidence and relaxed control.

Set Realistic Goals

Facing your problem areas gives you some distinct advantages. What do you want to accomplish in the study time remaining?
Make a list of realistic goals. You can’t help feeling more confident when you know you’re actively improving your chances of
earning a higher GMAT score.

Exercise Regularly
Whether it’s jogging, biking, push-ups, or a pickup basketball game, physical exercise will stimulate your mind and body and
improve your ability to think and concentrate. A surprising number of test takers fall out of the habit of regular exercise,
ironically because they’re spending so much time prepping for the exam. A little physical exertion will help you to keep your
mind and body in sync and to sleep better at night.

Stretch
Anxiety causes tension, and so does working at a computer. If you find yourself getting spaced out or burned out as you’re
studying or taking the test, do a few simple stretches to relax and get the blood flowing. Try shrugging your shoulders toward
your ears and rolling your head from side to side. You can put your hands together and stretch your arms up above your head
or stretch your legs out and move your ankles up and down (or both!). Last, shake your hands as though you’ve just washed
them and there aren’t any towels.

Even though you’ll be pausing for a moment, it’s a moment well spent. Stretching will help to refresh you and refocus your
thoughts.
Eat Well
Good nutrition will help you focus and think clearly. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables; low-fat protein such as fish, skinless
poultry, beans, and legumes; and whole grains such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and pastas. Don’t eat a lot of sugary
and high-fat snacks or salty foods. Note that on Test Day, you can’t bring food or drink into the testing room. But you can
keep a healthy snack in your locker to recharge you between sections.

Sleep Well
Every GMAT problem requires careful critical thinking. Unfortunately, that’s the first mental skill to go away when you are
sleep deprived. Get a full night’s sleep as often as you can during your preparation, especially as Test Day approaches.

Keep Breathing
Conscious attention to breathing is an excellent way to manage stress while you’re taking the test. Most of the people who
get into trouble during the GMAT take shallow breaths; they breathe using only their upper chests and shoulder muscles and
may even hold their breath for long periods of time. Conversely, test takers who breathe deeply in a slow, relaxed manner
are likely to be in better control during the session.

Before you shrug this off, let’s talk for a moment about neuroanatomy.

The Autonomic Nervous System

Parts of our nervous system are under our conscious control: thoughts, skeletal muscle motion, etc. Beyond that, there are
circuits that run everything over which we have no conscious control. This is the Autonomic Nervous System, which takes
care of digestion, kidney and liver functions, healing, etc. The Autonomic Nervous System has two complementary sections:
SNS & PNS.

The Sympathetic Nervous System

The first is the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): this is the system that revs us up in excitement, fear, or stress. When the
SNS is activated, adrenaline & cortisol levels rise, heart rate increases, breathing becomes more rapid and shallower, digestion
& immune function & libido are inhibited, muscle tension increases, and blood is directed more toward the outer musculature
(as would be needed in fight or flight). A little bit of SNS arousal is good every day, but prolonged SNS arousal with rare breaks,
over the course of months and years, has potentially disastrous effects on long-term health.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

The second is the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), the so-called Relaxation Response. When the PNS is activated,
adrenaline & cortisol levels decline, heart rate decreases, breathing becomes slower and deeper, digestion & immune
function & libido are enhanced, muscle tension decreases, and blood is directed more toward the inner organs. This state
facilitates focus, concentration, recall, and insight.

SNS/PNS and Test-Taking

Of the two branches, which is more helpful on a big test like the GMAT? Well, to excel, you have to be energized enough that
you are not apathetic or falling asleep, but beyond that minimal level of SNS arousal, you should be relaxed, in PNS arousal.
There, your intuition has the greatest free play, and you will be better positioned to draw on your potential.

The “On Switch” for the PNS

If you are in SNS arousal, how do you get to the PNS state? This is the magic of the breath. One can’t consciously direct one’s
heart rate or cortisol levels, but by consciously taking slower and deeper breaths, one can stimulate the PNS and all its effects.
This is one of the many benefits, for example, of meditation. The breaths have to be very big: comparatively short in-breaths
that expand the whole belly & whole chest, and then comparatively slow out-breaths. If you practice this regularly, you will
feel the effects. Practice while sitting in traffic or meetings or standing in line. Practice before (or during) a stressful discussion
with your boss or lover. If you practice this skill enough to develop some proficiency in relaxing yourself by the time you take
the GMAT, you will be giving yourself one of the most powerful overall advantages you could possibly have.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is open-ended awareness. If I move through my life with mindfulness, I am curious, perceptive, and present to
my circumstances. To be mindful is to notice the often-overlooked details of everyday life. To practice the skill of mindfulness,
one might, for example, try to notice one new thing on one’s way to work each day, or try to notice one new sight or
perspective in a place you ostensibly know very well. Mindfulness can be externally focused on the environment, and can
also be internally focused: how does my body feel right now? What is the quality of my breath? Are my muscles relaxed?
What emotions are passing through me? What thoughts are running through my head? To be mindful is never to be too far
away from such questions, never to completely lose track of the primary feelings of one’s self in the rush of outer events.

Benefits of Mindfulness
In recent years, psychologists have amassed a small mountain of data demonstrating the enormous benefits of mindfulness
practices. Jon Kabat-Zinn is one of the leading authors in this burgeoning field. Several books & workshops are available to
assist one in developing mindfulness practices. Mindfulness practice can reduce stress and increase both clarity and
perceptivity.

Mindfulness and the GMAT

Consider for a moment your GMAT practice questions: how many times have you gotten a question wrong, only to go back
and realize that you misread it or overlooked an important subtlety? Yes, that’s what many people would call a “silly” mistake,
and the truth is we all make more of those than we would like. What would it mean for your GMAT score if you could
drastically reduce the number of those mistakes? If you develop a mindfulness practice, enough to have some familiarity with
it before you sit for the GMAT, then you will be able to walk into that test and read each question with the same careful eye
and open-ended curiosity you have been practicing elsewhere. Your mind will be clearer, and you will feel less stress.

Of course, there’s a chance that being mindful of customers’ requests, mindful of connections with others, and mindful of
cool-headed priorities in the heat of the moment might pay dividends in your career far beyond the GMAT. And, you’ll be
happier.

STRESS MANAGEMENT QUIZ

Don’t be alarmed: This is not a GMAT quiz. It is important to your score, though. Imagine that there are two people with equal
GMAT knowledge, skill, and practice. Why might one still outperform the other? The biggest difference will likely be that one
manages stress and anxiety better than the other. This quiz is a chance to reinforce and expand upon the ideas and advice
you’ve read so far in this lesson. Have fun with it and think about how to apply the correct answers to your own life and study
schedule. Encircle the letter of your answer.

1. What is Test Day stress?

A A feeling of anxiety felt only by those aiming for a top score
B Any factor, physical or psychological, that impedes my performance on the GMAT
C A consequence of poor preparation
D A constant fear of not getting into my first-choice school
E Something that only poor test takers experience

2. It is most helpful to my Test Day success when my friends and family

A push me to study more.
B tell me how much more I have to learn.
C compete with me over test scores.
D have positive attitudes about my ability to achieve my best score, and help me get my mind off the test whenever I
am not studying.
E care little about my performance and prevent me from getting sufficient time to prep.

3. In the weeks leading up to the exam, how can I reduce stress?

A List my weaknesses and create a study schedule to overcome them, one topic at a time
B Get some exercise
C Limit self-deprecating humor and keep a positive attitude
D Get sufficient sleep
E All of the above
4. In the final days before my exam, I should worry about all of the topics that I still have trouble with or haven’t hit, rather
than congratulate myself on how far I’ve come.
 True
 False

5. The night before the exam, what can I do to reduce stress?

A Try to learn topics that I have not mastered yet
B Go to my local bar with my friends, drink a few pitchers of beer, and try to get my mind off the exam
C Briefly review the topics that I mastered but haven’t looked at in a while, and get a good night’s sleep
D Stay up all night, memorizing the grammar and math concepts
E Panic

6. On Test Day, what can I do to reduce stress?

A Make sure I know where the testing center is and allow plenty of time to get there early
B Eat a nutritious breakfast
C Dress in layers to be ready for any temperature in the testing room
D Expect a lot of paperwork before the test begins
E All of the above

7. During the exam, if I don’t know how to answer a question and I begin to panic, I should
A keep rereading the question until I determine the correct approach, no matter how long it takes.
B bite my fingernails and moan.
C keep breathing, take a moment to get my bearings, and determine whether I should take a strategic guess or give the
question another minute or two.
D remind myself that if I miss the question, I will not get into business school, I will fail in life, and I will be forced to live
with my parents forever.
E choose an answer choice that I haven’t chosen much so far in that section.

8. During the GMAT, I should avoid worrying about questions that I have already answered.
 True
 False

9. What should I do next to make sure that I am prepared to overcome the natural stress that comes with taking a
standardized test?
A Find a good psychiatrist
B Take control of my preparation by following a study schedule and cultivating a positive attitude
C Forget about Test Day stress until Test Day, and then figure out how to deal with it
D Decide not to take the GMAT
E Nothing. This exercise has taught me all I need to know about Test Day stress management.