How to think out of the box in time pressure?

[MoonChild1234]

Hi,

I've noticed that when I am at home and doing the separator questions at the end of the exams for practice I can figure out the answer fine, but when I was under pressure in the sac I just blanked and panicked, meaning I couldn't figure it out. I was wondering if there are any strategies or tips to ensure I can solve these hard/weird questions under time pressure as well?

thank you!

[whys]

Hey, I do the exact same thing. I can do super hard questions at home but in test conditions can’t reproduce the same type of thinking. The reason for this is probably the high state of stress experienced during any form of test, because at home you’re probably just chilling and won’t be stressed about the questions you do. If you start panicking in the sac, take a deep breath and close your eyes for a few seconds and skip to a different question that you are confident in doing. Then, go back to the hard question. Remind yourself that you can do the question and try not to panic or worry, because that can make you blank out even more (this is easier said than done). Try employing a few relaxation techniques - not anything over complicated, but something you can reproduce in a sac or exam that will help focus your mind and alleviate some stres. Practise using these techniques at home so you get used to it and it will hopefully help out in the sac. In the end, if you can control your stress to an extent, then it will be helpful in the sac. Of course, certain amounts of stress are good because it shows that you care about the outcome of the sac and want to do well, but you don’t want to reach a level that impairs your ability to answer the questions. Hope this helps!!!

[fun_jirachi]

Another thing I'd like to point out is using any reading time you have effectively - using a little to suss out questions at the back end of an exam is often a good idea. Something I used to do and I know for a fact many people do is use reading time to do a mental bash of earlier questions (which may be efficient - whatever floats your metaphorical boat, I'm not one to judge) - I find causes a lot of this sort of struggle. Some recency is better than none, and I've found that this sort of pressure usually materialises when the only time you've seen a tough question is right before you're about to tackle it.

Different syllabus, but these questions tended to be ones that combined different areas of maths/formulas, or more abstract questions that asked you to prove a known result. Often, knowing what you have to do isn't the issue, it's usually knowing the correct order. Pressure interferes with this and probably makes a lot of people baulk at those separator questions - look to eliminate it with familiarity or the super handy techniques whys suggested above!

Hope this helps