Actuarial Exams aren’t just about how much you know.
They’re about how well you can apply that knowledge on one given day.
It comes down to a single performance, and your routine leading up to that performance plays a large part in your level of energy and focus.
If you search for exam-day routines, the advice that you’ll find on Actuarial Outpost is something like:
- Sleep well
- Eat a good breakfast
- Drink a cup of coffee
I don’t disagree, but I like details. How do you optimize sleep? What does a “good breakfast” look like?
In this article, we’ll dig into the specifics for your exam-day routine.
Sleep
What do people mean when they say, “get a good night’s sleep”?
One component is quantity – shooting for a full 8 hours (or whatever your individual need is).
But the less obvious component is quality. Here are a few simple things to improve your sleep quality the night before your exam:
- Stop looking at screens (TV, laptop, phone) 1-2 hours before bed. This limits your blue light exposure and promotes the natural release of melatonin to induce sleep. Instead, read a book or listen to music to relax.
- Go to sleep at a consistent time each night. If you need to wake up early for your exam, start shifting your sleep schedule a week beforehand to adjust.
- No caffeine in the afternoon. Caffeine has a half-life of about 6 hours. If you have 100 mg of caffeine in your coffee, about 25 mg will still be in your system 12 hours later.
- Sleep in a cool bedroom (~65-68 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Take melatonin (5 mg) if you have trouble getting to sleep, or an herbal tea like Sleepytime
Ideally, you would follow these practices every night to improve your sleep. But they become especially important the night before your exam.
If you’re interested in a more in-depth treatment of optimal sleep habits, check out Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD.
Morning Routine
You don’t need to do all of these, but I found them useful to clear my head and start the day off on the right note:
- Hydrate – drink an 8 oz glass of water after waking up. Most people are chronically dehydrated. Especially if you’re going to consume caffeine (diuretic) before the exam, make sure you hydrate early in the day.
- Avoid distractions – put your phone on airplane mode and ignore/disable notifications. You don’t want your attention and mood thrown off by a work email or social media notification.
- Light exercise – incorporate some form of movement to get your blood flowing. I usually went for a jog to improve circulation and release endorphins.
- Breakfast – avoid simple carbs and go for high protein/fat. Simple carbs (sugar, bread, cereal) lead to swings in blood sugar that can make your energy plummet during the exam. Instead, opt for protein and fat (e.g. eggs, bacon, avocados) to provide sustained energy without the crash. (See how Roy manipulates his nutrition during exam week.)
- Stress management/relaxation – practice yoga, meditation, or stretching. Cortisol (stress hormone) will be high on exam day, so do something that involves deep breathing to activate your parasympathetic nervous system and blunt the stress.
- Supplementation – drink your coffee (or favorite caffeine source). We’ve talked about nutritional supplements in detail. The top 3 to help you on exam day are:
- Caffeine – increased focus from adrenal response
- L-theanine – counteract the jitteriness/anxiety from caffeine for a clean focus
- L-tyrosine – improved cognition under acute stress
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Sure, all of this isn’t necessary to pass. But when one question can make the difference between passing or failing (hundreds of dollars and study hours to retake), I do everything in my control to maximize performance.
Pre-game rituals have long been an important part of athletics, for a good reason. Books like The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance suggest that creating a ritual/routine is key to triggering the flow state that underlies peak performance.
As you go through the actuarial exams, experiment to find your exam-day routine. What activities put you in a good mental state? How can you combat stress on exam day? View exam-taking as a performance and develop your own pre-game ritual.
If you don’t respond well to pressure on exam day, check out Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting it Right When You Have To. One of our readers recommended this after it helped him pass Exam FM. Chapter 5 is dedicated to “Bombing the Test: Why We Choke Under Pressure in the Classroom.”
Study Smart, Pass Fast, Live Life
Mike & Roy