In this lecture, I want to talk a little bit about the mental side of test taking and also how it applies to studying and study strategies in general. Eat, sleep and move. These are three core critical concepts to not only academic success, but essentially life in general. Proper nutrition in eating is a key element of success. It's often overlooked in I can fast it's difficult as a college student or professional students to always be able to get out and shop or have the time to make something that's nutritious. Oftentimes, we're eating things that are in wrappers, eating bars, or you know, eating the proverbial ramen noodles and Diet Coke.

But we all know that certain foods make us feel a certain way you know that when you eat a bunch of junk food or a large quantity of fast food. You may not feel as well as if you ate something that was maybe cooked to prepared at home. Sleep is often overlooked and comes at a premium. We're all busy. We're studying, we're working. We're preparing for exams, we have a social life we like to work out or we have athletic pursuits that we're interested in.

But even just short, little 15 minute naps are often enough to rejuvenate and recharge the body, mind and spirit move. It's well documented in the medical literature that sedentary activities are associated with an overall increased risk of death mortality. many jobs at least in this country involves sitting for extended periods of time and you can think of being a student as a job you're sitting for four hours a day probably in lectures plus a number of hours seated, driving to and from campus and also number of hours you spend, seated studying and so just even taking a timeout for a half hour walk clear your mind Taking a jog or run or participating in a, a exercise class at the Campus Rec Center are all highly valuable more in terms of just overall health but also the benefits for recharging and restoring the mind to allow you to focus again back on the task at hand which has academic success.

In studying it's After all, the purpose of of your education is to not only get a degree but also to demonstrate proficiency and learn along the way. The other thought that just comes to mind is just moving. I have a close friend of mine in medical school that was an avid runner and spent a lot of time either on the treadmill or the stair climber or the elliptical, going over notes or reading and that's certainly an option takes a little bit of practice getting used to trying to study with some element of motion. And subaltern alternative as an exercise bike or a trainer. If you're Like to bike or your triathlete or whatever, that's a simple way to participate in some exercise and capitalize on the chance to study a little bit in the process. All that brings us to the next topic, which is a big issue.

And I'm just gonna dive into this here with some strategies that that I found helpful with the students I've worked with over the years. And that topic is anxiety, more in tune to test taking anxiety. And so, the first bullet point here is get help. If you have a test anxiety problem, and you know about it, don't ignore it. Get help. There are plenty of resources available on campus and professional resources to help you work through this.

Tackle it head on and address it early. Don't just ignore it and hope it goes away because it never does. Without proper help and proper techniques and strategies to address it. Schedule yourself appropriately. schedule, study time schedule, test preparation time, scheduled downtime, map it all out so that you're not panicked running around the last minute right To figure out how you're going to fit it all in. Point number three is to visualize this is well versed in the sports psychology literature about visualizing success.

When the mind visualizes success, in no matter what arena it is, the likelihood of achieving that success is much higher. Visualize yourself having succeeded in preparing for an exam, taking the exam, getting a decent score, visualize any of those steps, and you'll be met with success. I don't want to get too woowoo here, but meditation is is a simple strategy that helps with anxiety not only test anxiety, but just anxiety in general. We all operate at a frenetic pace, and it's very difficult to find time to have downtime. And so just taking five minutes in the morning before you check your phone or check your email, just to focus and meditate. Take some deep breaths, just appreciate what's around you.

Be thankful for what you have the chance To pursue higher education if you have goals and aspiring future ahead of you, and I'd like to book in that at the end of the day with just a few minutes, when the books are put away, TV's off computers off phone is not on and just take a few minutes just to breathe and sit and sort of reflect on what I accomplished during the day and advise students to just reflect on their successes and what what they're thankful or grateful for, and that oftentimes will reset the mental clock for the following day. Avoid negative, we're all prone to negative thoughts. I saw statistic once that's something to the tune of 40,000 negative thoughts enter a person's mind during the day which is as outstanding in crazy and scary statistic but try to push those negative thoughts from your mind when you're trying to study some difficult material and thought pops into your head that you're never going to get this through.

You're gonna perform poorly on the exam, just push that from your mind and refocus back on the task at hand. Next point is befriend anxiety just like a before performance, whether it's music or athletics. First Date, we're all prone to feel a little bit of the proverbial butterflies. And just knowing that that's your your mind and your body's way of just signaling that you're ready, that you're excited for the task at hand and realize that some degree of jitteriness is normal. It's not the absence of fear where we're looking for, it's just the ability to proceed in spite of the fear. Make a break.

If you're if you're studying or doing practice exams or, or preparing for a test and you just can't focus, it's just not going well take a break, you're more likely to be able to come back and actually achieve what you're trying to accomplish than just simply muscling through. I've seen a lot of students over the years just, you know, they're there. Tired, maybe they were up late the night before, or they worked an extra shift to make some extra money. Or maybe they stayed out partying too late over the weekend and they're tired. And they're trying to force themselves through a three hour study session. And in the end, they really gained a little and remembered little because they were exhausted.

So take a break, take a nap, take a walk, just go sit outside, call up a friend, call your family, whatever, just just completely separate yourself from the learning process, at least for 15 minutes. And oftentimes, that's enough to allow you to come back and refocus. Remember the past, just remember your successes. Most people tend to hang on to a lot more than negative things that happen in their lives and their failures versus the successes the successes are, are important to remember and to celebrate. And by focusing on that, focusing on past exam, success, focusing on your innate abilities and skills is a great way to You remember and honor the past. And to sort of set the expectation in your subconscious mind that you will succeed in the future on the next test the next course the next semester.

In the last part is is breathe. I've mentioned this in several other lectures. But when a person is anxious and tense, they tend to breathe shallowly and even breath hold. This creates a whole host of physiologic responses in the body. And also the mind, just remembering to take breaths when you're anxious or stressed, or nervous goes a long way to letting some of that tension out. And kind of just dispensing the the pent up anxiety and emotions that are building up.

So deep breath in, deep breath out, you can count you don't need a mantra. This is not a meditation course. This is a technique that's been very successful for many of the students I've worked with over the last decade. And I think it's I think you'll find value in it too. So that's the end of this lecture.