Get prepared

The night before your lessons, get ready. Work out what you need to take and pack your bag. Charge your phone and laptop if you take one. Think about pens, paper, notebooks, handouts and worksheets. Maybe work out what you’ll wear.

The aim is to make tomorrow as easy as possible.

On the day, reduce any source of stress or anxiety that you can. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and to get there so that you are not stressed about running late.

Work out your sources of stress and eliminate them.

Take a moment

Before you walk in to a class or lesson, take a moment to tell yourself that it is ok to leave if you need to. You made it this far, and you should give it a try, but if you have to leave before it’s finished, that’s ok.

You have still accomplished something and should feel happy about that - you could have stayed at home. You didn’t.

Take control

Take control of your environment. If you can, pick a seat in the classroom or lecture theatre that is right for you. Do you need to be at the back of the room, in the middle or at the front?

Next, look at where your exits are. Give yourself permission to leave at any time and imagine yourself walking in and out of the room freely.

If you have to wait for the session to start, think about how you can fill the time and stop your mind from racing. Can you focus on some music or a podcast, or do a breathing exercise? Maybe you can get your notepad or laptop out, and write the session title and date, or just focus your attention on a few single points in the room.

Think about your notes

Once the lesson starts, you may begin to feel anxious about keeping up with what is being said, and with getting it all down into your notes.

If that happens, firstly remind yourself that the average writing speed is around 20-30 words per minute, while we talk at over 100 words per minute. Writing everything that is said down is therefore impossible, so its ok to make fewer notes.

Now focus back on what is being said and just try to make sense of it. Then jot down key facts only - a name, a date, a place.

If you can’t make sense of something, just write some key words that you hear and make a note to look them up afterwards.

Breathe

If your anxiety levels increase, your ‘fight or flight’ response can kick in. Your heart rate will then go up, adrenaline gets released and you start to feel panicky.

To manage this response, try this simple breathing exercise:

1. Breathe in for four seconds

2. Hold your breath for four seconds

3. Exhale for four seconds

4. Hold your breath for four seconds

5. Repeat three or four times

This can help your body settle down to a more natural, resting state and reduce feelings of panic.

Break things down

Breaking things down into smaller chunks often helps with making things feel more manageable. So, if you are struggling to stay in a lesson, break down the time you have left to make it feel more manageable.

For example, if you have 30 minutes left, break it down into 6 x 5 minute chunks. Write them out in a list:

Now focus on staying for the first chunk. When the five minutes are up, tick it off. Now, can you stay for one more? If not, fine, but it’s only five minutes…

Take a break

If things start to spiral and you feel like you have to leave, maybe you can just take a break rather than leave completely.

Get some fresh air or have something to drink. Or just sit and focus on breathing slowly until you feel yourself settle down.

If you are worried about what your teacher or the tutor may think, have a word with them afterwards to explain that you can get overwhelmed and need to take breaks.