How to Improve Mental Health for FE and PE Exam
Wasim Asghar 
January 20, 2023If you find yourself on this page, you should be aware that you are not the only one who experiences stress when examinations are approaching. Many students find the test time intimidating. Even those who are well-prepared and ready for the tests experience pressure.
It’s time to let go of the notion that tests are supposed to be stressful if you’ve held them since you were little. You won’t need to worry if you study well for a test. Take this write-up as the first step towards improve mental health for FE and PE exam.
People take exams primarily to determine areas they need to improve or clear a stage. Even if your performance is essential, your mental health is more important than your performance on tests. Maintaining your mental health should be your ultimate concern.
For any student worth their salt who is preparing for the FE or PE exams, we present some tried and tested tips not only to help improve their mental health for the exam but also to help them in overcoming mental health challenges.
8 Tips to Improve Mental Health for FE and PE Exam
We shall now dive right into the ultimate strategies and methods to help you improve and maintain mental health during examinations, mainly when appearing for the FE and PE exam.
Do note that these tips will help you improve your mental state for appearing in these exams and leave a positive outlook and impact on your personal life. You will feel refreshed and more coherent in thoughts and experience improved health.
- Make exercise a part of your daily routine
- Participate in extracurricular activities
- Make a schedule for preparation
- Develop and connect to a strong social network
- Keep track of good things in life
- Find time for yourself
- Eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep
- Mindfulness
1. Make Exercise A Part of Your Daily Routine
Stress hinders the brain’s capacity to absorb information, making it harder for us to focus and concentrate, negatively affecting our exam performance. The positive news is that a remedy exists!
The feel-good brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine, which contribute to a happier and healthier mood, are produced more significantly by exercise. So even a brief 20-minute workout may dramatically alter your emotional and physical state, mainly if you’ve spent the whole day sitting in a library.
So always remember to take in your daily dose of exercise to help you tackle mental health issues during exam prep and also to help you heal your mind and body.
2. Participate in Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities like athletics, music, dance, art lessons, or debate groups can improve your mental health during exam preparation. These hobbies make you feel accomplished because they push you and promote creativity.
By participating in these events, you connect with others who have similar interests. It boosts creativity and develops social skills, improving your exam performance. It raises your sense of self-worth by enabling you to display your skills and capabilities. You can learn vital abilities like teamwork, communication, problem-solving, etc.
Hence, it positively impacts your mental health and acts as a cushioning agent between the exam pressure and your exam day performance for the FE exam or PE exam.
3. Make a Schedule for Preparation
Are you concerned about finding enough time to study, complete your office work, and have a social life? Make a schedule by taking a deep breath and gathering a pen and paper. Your level of tension will decrease if you feel proactive and in charge of the issue.
It’s distressing to feel helpless and powerless over your destiny! Please choose a time slot for studying and commit to it. Then, you may let some of that tension and worry go knowing you are giving your best effort.
Additionally, it’s crucial to give yourself time to recover and avoid overworking yourself. To know when you need to do what, make timetables from the start of the preparation process. Finally, we recommend following study techniques, especially for the preparation for the FE and PE exams.
4. Develop and Connect to a Strong Social Network
Creating a robust social network is crucial for anyone on their way to taking a licensing exam. Students and professionals with extensive social networks are less prone to experience stress and anxiety.
Students will learn how to form and sustain long-lasting friendships and overcome emotions of loneliness, isolation, and poor self-esteem by developing a solid network of friends. And the same adds to the profile of seasoned individuals.
Additionally, it aids in discovering shared interests among friends and the growth of practical abilities like effective communication, tolerance for opposing opinions, enhanced group dynamics, etc. A group of buddies studying for the PE or FE exam who can connect to your troubles and concerns is a must.
5. Keep Track of Good Things in Life
Sometimes, due to the pressures of life, both professional and personal, humans tend to lose track of the positives we experience daily. These pressures then add to the deterioration of our mental health, and thus we start focusing on the not-so-good bits of life and begin ignoring the good ones.
Keeping a journal of ordinary occurrences, recollections, and preferences might aid mental health. Then, you’ll have something to think back on when things are difficult.
Maintaining a notebook can let you reflect on your experiences rather than just forgetting them or focusing on the bad, which will improve your mental health. Your ability to recall beneficial lessons from experiences will prevent you from feeling despair or anxiety.
Therefore, whenever you feel down and do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, always go through the list of the good and best you have in your life.
6. Find Time for Yourself
While studying for exams is your priority during this hectic time of year, it’s crucial to remember to look after yourself. Make sure to carve aside time for your favorite pastimes in your study plan.
Making time for yourself will help your brain relax and better comprehend the knowledge you’re learning, whether taking 15 minutes out of your day to meditate, read a blog, or go for a run.
Always remember to put your needs first before attempting to do anything else. There will always be something else to do; there will never be a “perfect” time of day to unwind. So, regardless of how hectic life becomes, it’s up to you to find time for yourself.
Having some downtime may seem like a luxury when you have so much to do, but it’s an investment in your well-being. In addition, regular breaks from your commitments, social and professional, might increase your productivity in the long run.
7. Eat a Healthy Diet and Get Enough Sleep
You can never stress enough the link between good mental health and a healthy diet with enough sleep.
Having nutritious snacks on hand can help you stay on track with maintaining your physical health, even if you’d toss a pizza slice in the oven rather than prepare a healthy meal.
Nevertheless, your physical and emotional wellness are equally crucial throughout the test time. Your nutrition has a significant role in how you feel. The relationship between food and mood illustrates how unhealthful eating patterns can cause mood changes.
Additionally, more studies are being published to explain how diet might cause, avoid, and treat mental health issues. Even though it’s simpler to consume unhealthy, oily food when you’re under stress, try to have accessible meals like fruit or fresh juices close at hand to prevent this.
It might be tempting to stay up late to squeeze in a few additional hours of studying but doing so can make your life more stressful for exams. Instead, prioritize getting enough sleep and rest. Your body gets the ability to repair and rejuvenate itself from all the events of the day while you sleep. Lack of sleep is a sure way to stress out during test week. Sleep for a minimum of eight hours each night. Take a power sleep for 40 minutes during the day if you’re feeling fatigued to refresh your body and mind.
8. Mindfulness
You can employ the mindfulness method to enhance your mental health. Being conscious of the current moment is the key to this approach. In addition, it would be best to learn to take care of yourself by practicing mindfulness because examinations and expectations can be stressful.
Being mindful is being compassionate and curious while paying attention. It entails concentrating your thoughts on the here and now while accepting them without condemnation or judgment.
This meditation can activate several brain regions, including those involved in memory, emotional, and cognitive control. Practicing this kind of meditation may manage pressures like monotony, anxiety, fear of public speaking, etc.
Conclusion
How to improve mental health for FE and PE exams might have been the question on your mind when you had started even thinking about preparing for the FE or the PE exam. But now, this question has been answered with these best and tested tips for improving mental health, especially for an examination.
Consider incorporating these strategies into your daily life on a once-a-day basis before practicing all of them as part of your daily routine. This will give you time to adjust to your new schedule and ease the transition into a more mindful and peaceful mental and bodily state.
So, what are you waiting for? Start enhancing your mental focus on health and take the next step towards preparing for your exam.
Licensed Professional Engineer in Texas (PE), Florida (PE) and Ontario (P. Eng) with consulting experience in design, commissioning and plant engineering for clients in Energy, Mining and Infrastructure.