Warm-Up Routine?

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  sebastian-1 Core Member

  October 12 3 karma

  I have always been pretty good at standardized tests so hopefully this will give you some inspiration. Other than extensive studying, this is what I do to get a good score. While some of them may seem like superstition I have a reasoning for all of them.

  At least once a week I treat my day like i would the actual exam and take a full practice exam in the exact same conditions i plan to take my real exam. That means following a strict schedule.
  - I wake up 4 hours before my exam start time.
  + If I am scheduled to take the real exam at noon, i wake up for my practice exam at
  8 AM.
  - I eat the same thing for breakfast that i plan to eat on the day of the exam
  + two eggs, two slices of bacon, and some oatmeal. I do this because it's quick and the
  oatmeal means i wont get too hungry, and i like bacon.
  + During this time, i allow myself to scroll tik tok or do any other mindless activities
  - It is now usually 3 hours before my exam start time
  + i then travel to my exam site (i like to take my exam somewhere other than at home. i do
  it at my office)
  - Once i am at my "exam site", i will usually play some games that are brain stimulating but not exhausting. For example, I'll play a few 5 min chess games, the wordle and the nyt mini crossword, i dont stress about getting it quickly or winning my games.
  + this usually lasts about 30 min - 45 min
  - I will then allow myself about 10 minutes to set up any last minute things in my work station including my paper, water, and 6 ticonderoga pencils (my fav pencils), and one pen (in case all my pencils break)
  - Once everything is set up, i usually have about an hour and a half before my exam is set to start.
  - I will spend about an hour reviewing my notes and just jogging my memory. This is not the time to try to remember new information. If i feel like i forgot a topic, I review it but i do not stress over it. I have a cheat sheet that condenses all of my notes to about 4 pages of info. i usually read that.
  - After that, i have about 30 minutes before my exam. I will then walk outside into nature (not just outside the room) for 10-15 minutes
  - During this time, i dont look at my phone/social media. I dont look at my notes. I just reset a little bit. I try not to think about anything except maybe the trees im looking at or the birds that i hear.
  - I then go back into my testing environment. I do a few jumping jacks and wave my arms around (1-2 min) nothing too strenuous. This gets my blood pumping right before the exam. I then sit down, pretend like i am showing my room to the proctor, etc. just like i would during the real exam. I allot myself 10-15 minutes for all of this.
  - I then take my exam as normal including my break. During my break I do exactly what i would during the real break. I use the bathroom, drink a quick energy drink, eat a protein bar, and then spend 3 minutes laying/sitting down on the floor/couch with my eyes closed.
  - Then i finish my exam

  I am sure that what i gave you was a much more long winded answer than you were looking. But the main things i want to point out is that having an extremely regimented pre-test schedule is important because it decreases your anxiety on the day of the exam. The reason is because when you get to the exam, it will feel like just another practice day. It wont feel particularly special. The reason i warm up with some mental games is to get my brain stimulated before i sit down to review things rather than reviewing the second i wake up in the morning. When I review my notes I am switching my brain into test mode. I then go outside to relax a little bit and get out of my head. But its important that during this time Im not using social media/doing other things so that I don't get out of test mode. And finally, i do a super quick workout just to get the blood pumping in my brain.

  I hope this helps!