Some of us have long forgotten how stressful it is to be a middle- or high-school student taking exams. However, we can relate to being under pressure to meet a deadline and perform. Likewise, this is a high anxiety time for our teenagers as the end of the school semester comes around, and they take exams to test their comprehension of months of learning. They need parental support and guidance to combat feeling overcome by stress and exhaustion. Here are a few tips that can help them maintain a healthy and positive focus.
Tips for Maintaining a Healthy and Positive Focus:
- Encourage your teens to take study breaks and do something they enjoy! All too often we can feel pressured to “just keep pushing” and to “cram” for exams or end-of-semester projects. Everyone loses focus and performance slips when we push ourselves beyond our limits. According to research summarized in Cal Newport’s “Deep Work,” the average person can only focus/ concentrate at a high level for 45 minutes to an hour. Encourage your teen to work hard for 45 minutes, then take a 10-15 min break to do whatever it is they enjoy. This can be connecting with friends, exercising, doing creative activities, reading, listening to or playing music. Whatever gets them to stop stressing for a few minutes and focus on other parts of life. They’ll feel refreshed and ready to study more, and they’ll absorb more of the material too.
- Sleep is very important during times of stress to help the body recover. It is suggested that teens get 9 hours of sleep per night, though most are getting much less on average. This allows fatigue and stress to build up. Talk to your teen about bedtime habits to help them relax after a busy day. Suggest rituals like bathing or brushing teeth, calming activities like reading, guided imagery, or easy stretching, and shut off screens an hour or more before heading to bed. Implementing these habits will allow them to fall asleep quickly and sleep more soundly to be ready for the next day.
- Similarly, what your teen eats affects their ability to focus and learn. Encourage them to avoid caffeine, processed foods, and sugar-heavy foods and to drink lots of water so your body feels energized too.
- Remind your teen to stay positive! If you keep focusing on the negative aspects of a situation, you will be burdened by mental stress. Instead, try to look at the glass half full, and stay optimistic through tough times, even tough exams. For example, if an exam is particularly hard and your teen thinks they didn’t do well, remind them to look forward because the exam is behind them now.
- Celebrate the end of the exam season! Recognize the effort it took for your teen to take all those exams. Do something to revel in the fact that there’s a long break to recover from that stress.
Written by: Paige Santmyer, MA LAPC
paige@restorationcounselingatl.com x 157
Roswell Location Only
[trx_image url=”https://restorationcounselingatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Paige-280×300.jpg” align=”left” shape=”square” top=”inherit” bottom=”inherit” left=”inherit” right=”inherit”]Paige completed her undergraduate work at the University of Virginia, earning her BA in Psychology. She is committed to providing a safe and comfortable atmosphere, where clients can explore the challenges they are facing. She also believes in addressing the individual’s entire person hood, assessing needs in all domains of life instead of focusing solely on mental health needs. Paige works with adults and teens around issues of depression, anxiety, mood disorders, relationship issues, trauma, PTSD, and life transitions.