The best time to decide you won’t cheat is before you see the answer key.

Decisions made in front of the thing are not really decisions, they are reactions. Once the key is open on the desk, you are negotiating with a number of marks, a question you cannot do, and a clock. Beforehand, when it is all abstract, you can be the version of yourself you actually like.

Settle yours now, out of the moment, in plain words you can repeat to yourself. Then do the practical thing that protects it: sit where you cannot see anybody’s paper and keep your phone out of reach. A decision plus a bit of distance beats willpower every time.