Are you one of the many folks who enjoy school but get nervous about exam day? It’s all right, we’ll be the first to admit that exams are nerve-wracking.

However, there are some mistakes that students often make that cause exam day to be worse than it needs to be. Check out these 8 pitfalls to avoid in an exam.

1. Skipping Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it’s even more important on exam day. You might think that getting a few extra minutes of sleep or taking the time to study a bit more would be a positive move. However, your brain needs fuel to function correctly. Take the time to eat a healthy breakfast on exam day and you’ll be amazed at the difference.

2. Pulling an All-Nighter

Another thing your brain needs for proper function is enough sleep. In fact, just 16 minutes of sleep loss can drastically affect your performance the next day. Imagine what staying up all night will do to you!

3. Procrastinating

This is easy to do with big projects or concepts to study. It doesn’t seem like you have that much to do because there are only a couple of tasks on your list. But if those tasks will take a long time and you keep putting them off, you’ll end up feeling like you have to pull that all-nighter and destroying your hopes of a stress-free exam experience.

4. Putting Off Confusing Concepts

Another big mistake that people often make while studying for an English exam (or any exam, really) is to ignore the most confusing concepts. They might stick with the easy ones in hopes that the confusing ones will work themselves out.

More often than not, if you let this go on too long, you’ll just be overwhelmed. You won’t be able to follow the new material that is building on the concepts that you skipped.

5. Losing Track of Time

Keeping an eye on the time during your exam is important. Don’t get so hung up on one section that you run out of time for the others. Save the hard parts for the end. That way you won’t use up all your time on one section and leave several others untouched.

6. Not Answering Everything

That being said, it’s important not to leave anything blank. Always try to put something. You 100% won’t get credit for a blank answer but you might get at least partial credit for your attempt to answer.

7. Not Being Prepared

Too often you might be in a flurry on exam morning and end up leaving the house without something important. Lay out everything you need or pack it in your bag the night before so you can quickly grab it in the morning.

8. Panicking

Breathe in. Breathe out. It’s okay. Exams are a little nerve-wracking for some of us, but passing your English exam isn’t a life or death situation. Just relax and do your best!

Ready for Your Exam?

Are you feeling a little more prepared for your next exam? Avoid these pitfalls to make exam day a breeze.