Today I take a chemistry midterm, and I have made a resolution associated with that: I will not drink any caffeine before, during, or after the test. I usually feel like my regular speed of thinking is just not good enough for test taking, that my brain operates at too leisurely pace. So I load up on caffeine beforehand, to give me that extra edge. The result? I tend to get really agitated, stressed-out, and panicky during tests. I tend to overlook small details, and make obvious mistakes, that don't reflect how much I understand the material or the process, but just my ability to do things thoroughly and properly. After the test I am strongly in the grips of insania, which leads to staying up too late, and usually to copious acting-out. The next day I tend to feel really worn out, and even slower than before. It's not worth it to feel that bad, just to do well on a test, especially when my test performance doesn't seem to go up at all anyway.

Wish me luck!