How to help your teen stay focused during exam time

This week sees the beginning of GCSE mock exams, Neva has an English language and Maths Paper today with lots more scheduled over the next two weeks, before preparing for the actual exams in May/June of this year, this is now the third one of our children to go through the process, but it does seem to be getting harder and more intense with each child!

Check out these 19 ways to motivate a teen to get good grades

Learning how to focus during exam time can be difficult for anyone, especially teenagers. During this stage of childhood, the brain is not only experiencing peer and body changes, but it’s going through some hormonal changes. These changes can make it more difficult for your teen to stay focused during exam time. If you’re looking for tips to get your teen to focus more during exams, then follow my guide with tips on how to help your teen stay focused during exam time.

5 Ways to Help Teen Stay Focused During Exam Time

Get Adequate Sleep
Your first step to ensuring your teen has a better chance to focus during exam time is to try to encourage them to get a good night’s sleep. This can happen by leaving distractions out of their bedroom the night before an exam. Televisions and other electronic devices could distract your teen from going to sleep and getting adequate sleep the night before exams.

Consider a Meditation App
If allowed during exam time, your teen could use earbuds with a meditation app or similar relaxing app playing in the background. Not only do these types of apps help with focus during exam time, but they can encourage your teen to cope with anxiety while taking the exam. Your teen may also try relaxing music if the instructor allows the use of these options during exam time.

Serve a Healthy Breakfast
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so try to serve your teen a healthy breakfast packed with protein so that they won’t be starving come exam time. A healthy breakfast can also encourage their brain to be up to par enough to focus on the exam. Many people say that a healthy breakfast has helped them be more focused throughout their day.

Practice Breathing
This is a particularly useful exercise to help your teen focus during exam time if they find that the exam gets them feeling overwhelmed or anxious. Practice belly breathing techniques with your teen prior to the exam day. This will give your teen a tool to use as they work through their exam without drawing much attention to the fact that they’re struggling to focus during exam time.

Offer an Incentive
Lastly, you could always offer an incentive to your teen for their ability to focus during exam time. Consider a reward or incentive that makes sense for them and allows them to have something to look forward to. This will distract their mind while working on the exam in a way that opens up the doors to focus deeper on doing a good job with their exam.

There you have it, 5 ways to help your teen stay focused during exam time. Each of these options are simple ways you can try to help inspire your teen to do well on their exam and remain focused on getting it done in the best way possible.