Cheetah Project Manager – Reducing Test Anxiety

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, CAC, PMI-ACP, CCPM, RYT

Reducing test anxiety starts well before you take the PMP exam.

A recent Cheetah Exam Prep student, who passed PMI’s PMP exam “Above Target” in every area, posted this on Trust Pilot:

“Cheetah Learning is EXCELLENT! The instructors in this program did an amazing job teaching course material in a way that was easy to understand, follow and absorb quickly. They did a phenomenal job teaching test strategies and methods to taking exams that help to reduce anxiety, improve focus and transform your mind to operate at “peak performance”! Thank you again to the wonderful team at Cheetah Learning. I am super grateful for this learning experience and would highly recommend this program to anyone – but especially to those who suffer from test anxiety!”

Cheetah Learning has been helping students pass PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) exam after only four days of prep since September 2001.  Over the past twenty years, I have seen people’s test anxiety increasing to paralyzing levels. While a little bit of stress can focus your attention, too much  creates difficulties with retention and instant recall – two critical skills for passing the PMP exam.  Stress is also cumulative – people need safety valves.  If you have one very stressful part of your life, you need other ways to ameliorate this. It’s not just one approach that will reduce anxiety.

Anxiety is a physiological condition and can be reduced with physiological remedies. The good news is, that with effective guidance and coaching, it is possible to reduce test anxiety in ways that provide long term relief.  For twenty years, we’ve taken a wholistic approach to reducing student’s test anxiety by addressing effective diet, exercise and lifestyle practices:

Diet – Cheetah students practice following a high protein, complex carbohydrate diet limiting sugar and caffeine for six weeks prior to the start of their program and through the duration of their class until they pass the PMP exam.  They learn simple ways to eat to fuel their brain for learning.

Exercise – Not too much, not too little is our mantra.  Cheetah students learn a series of simple stretches and breathing exercises that helps them stay in a state of relaxed focus. They practice these stretching and breathing exercises before every practice exam.  Memory is improved with just a half an hour of exercise a day so we encourage Cheetah students to take out time for their self – care with a half hour walk, bike, run, dance, or swim.  Get moving and a grooving moves the stress out of the body. A little goes a long way here – there is no need to get into marathon ready shape.  It’s more about adopting a consistent daily practice of moving your body in gentle supportive ways that can help keep your stress in check.

Lifestyle – Prioritizing sleep is a critical memory boosting and anxiety reducing hack. Burning the midnight oil is not required nor productive for being successful in life – it’s actually a self-sabotaging behavior. The “must have coffee” requirement to start the day because of sleeping difficulties perpetuates those sleeping difficulties. This is one of the reasons we have Cheetah Exam Prep students start making these lifestyle changes six weeks before their class.  Some students even report back they are now “that guy” who drinks herbal tea.  While we have nothing against a cup of coffee or tea here and there, the issue comes in with a reliance on it to function because it’s creating the very problem it’s purporting to solve.  Supporting the body with adequate rest reduces anxiety whereas amping up a tired body with caffeine increases anxiety.  The increased alertness buzz from caffeine makes it more likely during times of stress (like taking a test) – your fight or flight brain will be activated making it more difficult for doing the instant recall needed for passing exams.

Most of us know the right way to execute on our lives to produce the results we’d prefer.  The key is having a supportive framework making follow through the natural chain of events.  It does take time to wean off caffeine and make some adjustments to fit more movement and sleep into a packed schedule.  The rewards though are immense as we see in every Cheetah Exam Prep class with students easily passing the PMP exam after only four days of prep (most people take two years to feel ready to take this exam).

Learn more about reducing exam anxiety to become PMP certified “Cheetah FAST”  using Cheetah Exam Prep’s four day program (done virtually these days).