How to improve stress management in preparation for competitive examinations?

Some tips and strategies to manage stress when preparing for competitive examinations.

Although competitive examinations have to do with the way in which the administration fills job vacancies configured by the State, there is no doubt that it is not a simple bureaucratic process.

It is a phenomenon with a clear human and psychological dimension, and of all the emotional elements involved, one of the most important is stress management.

The fact is that the fact of preparing for competitive examinations often makes it easier for candidates to become more stressed out people than usual compared to the rest of the population. Fortunately, from Psychology there are proposals to manage the emotions and feelings linked to this discomfort.

Why is it important to prepare psychologically for competitive examinations?

Stress is a form of psychological pain that, in most cases, is completely natural and even beneficial. and even beneficial. The Biological and psychological mechanisms on which it is based are the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, which has led our lineage to have several "tricks up its sleeve" to adapt quickly to situations of danger or crisis in which something must be done as soon as possible.

Of course, when we expose ourselves to situations that keep us under stress for longer periods than normal, it is easy for problems to arise, and this is often the case with the preparation of competitive examinations. The more persistent this external source of stress is, the more likely it is that we will participate in the maintenance of this stress without realizing it, by adopting dysfunctional ways of managing our emotions. In these cases, stress becomes one of the causes of our problems, rather than a resource to adapt to them, and a vicious circle is created.

Thus, when we are preparing to apply for competitive examinations, we are not predestined to suffer from mental health problems, but we do have a greater risk of suffering unnecessarily or even involuntarily participating in the appearance of a psychopathology: a phobia, a mood disorder, panic attacks, etc. Faced with these possibilities, it is best to to know some of the keys to stress management so as not to let the study sessions applied to our daily life for months take their toll on us..

5 tips to learn how to manage stress in the face of competitive examinations

The first rule to know how to manage stress is to assume that there are no magic recipes or infallible ways to ensure a total avoidance of discomfort due to being anxious or stressed. Emotions always have an advantage with respect to our strategies and our voluntary actions, going ahead of them, even if they are not the only ones.However, we do have room for maneuver to modulate their intensity and to increase or decrease the likelihood of experiencing them in a given context.

Thus, the following tips are not perfect and do not guarantee that you will not suffer stress, but they are based on principles used in psychotherapy and can help you to cope emotionally with those months of hard preparation for competitive examinations. In any case, you must be clear that in cases of severe discomfort, it is essential to seek professional help in psychotherapy..

1. Establish a schedule that includes the important moments of the day.

Your schedule should be as detailed as possible, delineating when the major blocks of activities in their day-to-day life begin and end from Monday through Sunday. This includes both study sessions and the time in between, including (and this is very important) sleep and rest periods during the day. We will look at the latter in more detail in the next section.

2. Plan your rest periods

If you assume that your study sessions will consist of several hours at a time when you will be preparing for the exam without detailing anything else in your schedule, you are doing it wrong. You should plan that for every 40 to 50 minutes of study, you should rest for at least 10 minutes. In this way you will ensure that you will be able to make use of your maximum attentional capacity.Avoid spending half an hour looking at your notes without being able to assimilate anything you read.

In these pauses, it is important that you do not stay in the chair you were in, that you stretch your legs and that you can look away from the computer screen, your notes or the books you have been using. That way you will let your eyes rest. Remember that physical fatigue also produces mental fatigue, and this state of weakness predisposes you to enter into a state of more intense stress to try to "compensate" that vulnerability.

In addition, it is important that from time to time during the same day, you should intersperse these short breaks with other longer ones, of at least half an hour.

3. Assume that the time to go to sleep is one of the most important moments of the day.

Something as simple as sleeping 45 minutes less than you should will cause you to underperform significantly less on that study day. on that study day. This includes concentration problems, trouble remembering, and even physical discomfort. In addition, if lack of sleep becomes a persistent problem in your day-to-day life, the physical wear and tear it will produce will also affect your brain, exposing you to more stress and even depressive-type symptoms.

Therefore, it is very important that you are clear about the exact time when you should be in bed with the light off. If necessary, include in your schedule not only that moment, but also the preparation activities before going to bed: brushing your teeth, picking up your table, etc.

4. Include leisure time in your exam preparation program.

You should not see leisure time as a waste of time. can also be an element that helps you to better manage your emotions and your life in general. and your life in general.

Beyond bringing you well-being in a subjective sense, having the possibility of disconnecting serves both as an incentive and a source of self-motivation (for example, so that you can consider "earning" those moments by fulfilling your study schedule) and to let your brain also receive stimuli from areas of your life that have nothing to do with the oppositions, which is beneficial when it comes to maintaining good mental health.

5. Fill out a personal journal

Finally, the routine of filling out a personal journal can help you manage stress before the competitive exams because it will make it easier for you to detect dysfunctional behavior patterns that you use to vent the anxiety and tension you sometimes feel.

Notice if you get into the habit of performing rituals to "cover" that discomfort, such as going to the fridge and eating without hunger, or smoking, etc.for example, going to the fridge and eating without hunger, or smoking, etc. Once you have recognized these actions that you do almost unconsciously, you will be able to note their frequency and recognize the moments in which you think of carrying out these behaviors, so it will be easier to avoid them in time.

Are you looking for psychological assistance to prepare for competitive examinations?

The preparation of competitive examinations is a very complex and psychologically demanding process, so some psychotherapy centers have developed programs specifically designed for this kind of needs.

In UPAD Psychology and Coaching We have been working for years with people with diagnosable mental health problems as well as with professional projects that require mental preparation; we work with professional athletes, competitive examinations, high level company executives, and all kinds of people exposed to pressure due to their short, medium and long term goals.

If you are interested in learning more about our services, please contact us: we attend face-to-face sessions in our center located in Madrid, and also through online sessions by video call.