Even though I study diligently, my test anxiety causes me to perform poorly. I freeze up and can't access the knowledge I have. It's frustrating and demoralizing.

Regularly acknowledge your strengths, accomplishments, and positive qualities to counteract negative self-beliefs.

Engage in small, successful tasks to build confidence in your abilities. Gradually increase the challenge as your self-belief grows.

Shift your focus from the final result to the effort and process involved. This can reduce the perceived impact of external judgment.

Identify and dispute negative thoughts about what others might think. Focus on your own intrinsic motivation and values.

Engage in activities or seek out people who offer encouragement and constructive feedback, rather than judgment, when mistakes occur.

Analyze past failures as learning opportunities. Identify what was learned and how it can inform future actions, rather than dwelling on the negative outcome.

Break down large, daunting tasks into smaller, manageable steps with achievable milestones. This reduces the perceived risk of failure.

Practice self-compassion and acknowledge that mistakes are a natural part of learning and growth. Focus on progress, not just perfect outcomes.

Suggest developing a preliminary outline or concept map of the paper's structure and key arguments before extensive source gathering to provide direction.

Guide the user in narrowing down their research question to be more specific and manageable, which will help focus their source search.