Do you have your arms full of baggage?

It’s been demonstrated that when you carry extra emotional baggage — “I’ve got to ace this exam” or “If I screw up, I’ll never get this new job” — performance suffers, so don’t lose sight of the big picture.

The most constructive approach is to focus on the task at hand, put in as much time studying as you can afford, and just do your best. Returning to the luggage metaphor: all the excess baggage can be dealt with later, if you’re so inclined. Unpack after the exam.

A certain amount of anxiety is normal (or even useful) when studying for an exam, but if you feel overwhelmed or feel that uncontrollable emotions are interfering with your exam performance, you may be suffering from test anxiety. If you think this is a possibility, you should look at rescheduling your exam.

If things are really tough, you can look into techniques to reduce your anxiety (e.g., relaxation training). If the test center you use is a high traffic center and there is a lot of distraction, it might be helpful to take the exam in a less stressful environment.

I took an exam recently where the woman testing next to me had apparently failed the exam numerous times. Every time she encountered a question that was concerning, she would sigh and breath heavy and shuffle her feet.

At first, I found it amusing and then I found that I could not focus on my exam at all. Every time I would get half way through the question, she would sigh, or moan. In a case like the worst thing you can do is to continue taking the exam without notifying the proctor that there is a problem.

It is the job of the proctor to ensure you have the optimal testing environment. If it is not, raise your hand and raise your concerns. Serious distractions can be addressed with Prometric or Pearson Vue and you can have your test rescheduled.