Things that helped with my test anxiety

ilovemydog17

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share some things that I think might be helpful. This is just my opinion by no means am I an expert, take it as you wish.

I took the test for the first time in august and basically lost it. My nerves totally got the best of me and completely took over, I could barely read. I bombed the first section. I truly thought all was lost for me and that this would happen with every test I took.

I worked really hard to get my anxiety and nerves in check for the September test and it definitely worked, I felt like a completely different person taking it and cruised through the test like it was a practice test. Here are some of the things I did that I think helped a lot with the anxiety.

1) I started meditating. I was very skeptical that meditation would actually help me and used to think it was dumb. But because I basically trust 7sage with my life at this point, I was willing to try anything they suggested for me. There is a page here from 7sage that talks about strategies to combat LSAT anxiety - https://7sage.com/five-strategies-for-combating-lsat-anxiety/ I would highly recommend everyone read this, but one of the things they mentioned was meditation.
I started doing 5-15 minute mediations sessions about every other day, just by searching mediation on youtube and google. Here's one that I liked doing. This really helped me get used to calming myself by breathing, which is really helpful for the test.

My proctor was extremely slow for this sept test and the whole process took a really long time, I know that if that happened during august test I would've been sitting there freaking out, but because I had practiced meditation, I was able to do a sort of semi mediation during that time which really helped. I also mediated for like 10 minutes about an hour before the test.

2) This may not be something that will work for everyone, but something else that really helped me was doing a few warm up questions about 45 minutes before the test. I feel most comfortable doing games and need the most help with LR, so I did two games, that I had already done before and then like 5-6 LR questions from the beginning of a random practice section. Doing this helped warm my brain up and prepare me without making myself overtired or anything like that.

Another way that you can warm up your mind is by reading a few pages of a book in the morning before the test. Just a fun easy read or maybe one of your favorite books. This helped to calm/distract me the morning of the test and helped just get in the reading groove for RC.

3) food wise, I think food is really important to prepare for the test. Just as an athlete would focus on the way they eat a week before a big event, you should think about what you eat for the days leading up to the test. By no means am I an expert in this but I have done a lot of research and I really think this helped me but feel free to ignore this, we all know what makes us feel best.
I made sure the few days leading up to the test to eat a lot of whole grains (whole grain pasta, whole grain rice, quinoa, oats, corn) as well as carbs I consider healthy and like (bananas, sweet potato, oranges, apples, beans) and that I had enough protein and was drinking enough water.
The night before the test I had whole grain brown rice and whole wheat pasta. The morning of the test I had whole grain cereal (natures path brand) and blueberries with a protein drink. During the break, I had a few blackberries that I set out for myself outside of my room.

4) I also tried my best not to over hype the test this time. They say to treat it like a practice test, which is true but hard to do. I think the best thing to do is to get into this mindset like a week before the test, not the day of. The week before the test I kept my normal study routine, do not overdue it the week of the test! I also didn't tell many people I was taking it so I didn't get too many "good luck" texts, because sometimes I think when you know that people are waiting to see how you did and stuff this can make you more anxious.

5) Last little thing, the week of the test I did still hangout with my friends up until like Tuesday or Wednesday. It is still good to go to bed early and take it easy, but if you lock yourself away for like a week and a half before the test you are going to make yourself crazy.

(I also will note that I do think taking the test more than once can help a lot just because the second time around you will be more used to the proctor situation and as much as it is like a practice test, it always feels different on the day of the test so it's a good experience to have. But I get this is not an option for everyone.)

Hope this helps anyone struggling with test anxiety, it can get easy to get into a life or death mindset with this test, getting rid of these types of mindsets can go a long way for controlling your testing anxiety!

blanklaw

Thank you for sharing!

agarcia01

Thank you for sharing, I will implement these for my October test! Definitely did not perform as well as I could of in August because of the anxiety.

clear227

I wrote down what I wanted to do as a lawyer, and my personal goals for the future. It helped me see the LSAT as one of many tests (law school exams, the bar, being in trial), rather than a singular "make or break" moment.

Determined_-1

Thank you for sharing!!! Love this post

ogshaw4

Thank you for sharing this!!! Really good to hear meditation worked for you (I'm also trying to implement this into my study routine), and love the tips on warming up before exam day

raleighkmet

Thank you so much for this! My anxiety has been going crazy & I'm trying to think of anything possible to calm myself down so I can relax & treat the actual test like a practice test. I will definitely be using these methods!