1. The effect of anxiety on your test performance
Before doing the experiments, let’s look at this fact on math section of the SAT, a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States:
Calculator: 38 questions in 55 minutes.
No calculator: 20 questions in 25 minutes.
You may instantly think about time. You may immediately feel restless if you know you need to take the test someday: “How can I finish all the questions on time?” When taking the test, you’re likely to look at the clock constantly. Every time you look at the clock and return to the question at hand, it may take the brain 10-15 seconds to refocus. This creates gaps in the problem-solving process and in the whole test-taking process. It’s like you often take the pot of water out of the stove and have to re-boil it again and again.
In the worst case, you freak out after looking at the clock because you’re behind the average time. This may change your state of mind from enjoyment, the growth mode to the survival mode; your performance will also be fluctuated to reflect your mental state.
2. Suggested experiments
These experiments are to give you a glimpse into the nature of a test result and how anxiety can affect it. You can do the experiments with your simulated test or a set of questions.
Here are two ways to prepare your mind before taking a simulated test. You may be surprised about which method is more effective. If you haven’t tried both ways, give them a try.
· Experiment 1: Allocate 5 to 10 minutes to do this affirmation: strongly affirm that you will get a great result, and that you will tackle any problems that jump at you. You even visualize your ideal score and how it will bring you to your dream school. You can also think about your friends who got a great score as motivation. After that, work on the questions the way you usually do. (If you have always done simulated tests this way or doing another kind of affirmation, now try experiment 2 below).
· Experiment 2: This time you expect nothing about the result. Before taking the test, set your clock for a 10-minute meditation (if you are new to meditation), or for a 30-minute sitting (if you meditate regularly).
Breathing in—feeling your belly is rising, rising, rising…
Breathing out—feeling your belly is falling, falling, falling…
If you have excessive thoughts at the moment, you may want to place your hand on your belly to truly feel it. Give your mind a moment of silence and being alert.
Now it’s time for solving questions.
In this experiment, you can do it a little more slowly than usual, just to get the feeling of how you can do the task differently.
Fully focus on each tiny step when tackling the first question as if each step is complete on its own.
For example, if the step you are taking is reading the question to get information, then get the information precisely. You may want to jot down some notes. You may want to stop and look at the information that seems vague to you until you understand it thoroughly.
Your attention totally follows the information in the question, piece by piece. In a sense, you become the question. By the time you are finished reading the last part of the question, you already see the situation fully. But if you simultaneously think about other things while reading the question, you will find that you still “stand” outside of the situation. You may even find your mind turn blank after reading the question: no information got in!
Be aware that your mind may want to rush through reading the question: You may read only a part of the question and skip the rest when seeing something similar to the questions you already did. Your mind may say “oh, I know what the question is about”, and you stop reading. Be careful! You may miss the part that is unique to that question. How many times have you inserted your own information into a new question? How many times have you not answered the actual question at hand but an old question in your memory?
(Note that if you use “skip reading a part of the question” as a strategy, say, for the reading comprehension section, then it’s fine. It’s not what I mean here).
You also shouldn't think of how to solve the question at this step. If you missed just a piece of information, however good other steps you do, you would answer it wrong. There will be no correct answer for a wrong question!
So, when you’re reading for information, just look into the information. You may see a “trick” or a hint that requires a close look. If you read the question carefully and understand it fully, the solution may already appear in your mind.
The answer is actually in the question!
When you’re quite satisfied with acquiring all the necessary information, do a small celebration with a deep breath. Now you can move on to the next step: analyzing the information or choosing a strategy to tackle the question. Then, do the same with the second, the third, the fourth question and so on until you finish all the questions.
3. Compare the results of both experiments
Now, you have finished both experiments. You can compare your performance in both cases. Are there any differences worth noticing? You may find you better performed in experiment 2. You may find you were better focused in experiment 2 than in experiment 1.
There are two things you have done differently in the experiments:
- The first thing is, you didn’t try to control your mental state or expect a good result in experiment 2. Your mind had a moment of rest before doing the work; it became clearer and easier to concentrate.
- The second thing is, in experiment 2, you stayed fully in each step. You don’t rush through the process. When you perform a clear, complete step, you reward yourself at the same time. Your mind becomes calm and focused when it really observes the information. Your mind became clearer and more concentrated through the whole process. And the result reflected this.
On the contrary, if you were demanding or rushing, you punish yourself unknowingly. Your mind became restless. What I have learned in meditation practice is that when I focus on each detail precisely and fully, my awareness increases; I have more energy to work on the task in front.
You may say you won’t have much time to do each step carefully when taking the official test. That’s true. But now it’s time to practice. When your skills go up, the time needed to work on the task will go down. Learning to solve questions carefully to establish a good habit and accuracy from the beginning will save you time and energy later.
But don’t try to remain calm by doing it too slowly. It’s unnatural. Just slow enough so you can do it carefully, but quick enough to stay focus.