Finals week frenzy: Do’s and don’ts for surviving the end of the semester

It’s finals week, and we’re all stressed out. But don’t worry! We’re almost done! Here are some tips to help you make it through this last crazy week.

DO manage your time wisely. Block out a study schedule and stick to it. There’s nothing worse than the feeling you get when you realize you may have wasted too much time. Avoid this problem by giving yourself a strict study schedule.

DON’T let distractions get in the way. Turn your phone off, leave it in another room or even download a mobile application that keeps you from accessing it during a certain time frame. Do whatever it takes to keep your eyes on your notes instead of social media!

That being said, DO set aside time to relax. Make sure you give yourself occasional breaks. Reward yourself with a snack, a movie, or a walk outside – anything that will empty your mind and give you a chance to recharge.

DON’T rely on caffeine to get you through the week. It can be helpful, but drinking multiple Red Bulls to pull off an all-night study session is bound to hurt more than it helps.

DO get enough sleep. It’s easy to say that you’ll sleep after you’re through with testing, but if you’re dozing off the morning of your final, you’ll wish you took the time to nap.

DON’T wait until the last minute to go through all of your notes. Start early, get note cards made out, and make sure to talk to other classmates if your notes are lacking. If you wait until the night before the exam and then realize you can’t read your messy handwriting or that you missed that one day where you learned important content, you’ll wind up regretting it.

DO wear sweatpants. I’m going to. If we all do it, it won’t be lazy; it will just be comfy. Let’s form a pact: comfort over style this week!

DON’T stress yourself out too much. I know: easier said than done. But if you’re feeling really overwhelmed, make a list of everything you need to accomplish and cross it off as you go. Personal tip: write down a few things you’ve already accomplished and cross them off immediately. It will help you feel like you’ve gotten a head start.

DO form study groups. Chances are, you’ll find people in your class that totally get that one concept that you can’t understand, and you can help them with that chapter they forgot to read. Studies show that teaching information to someone else can help you better understand it yourself, so get teaching!

DON’T form study groups with your closest friends. We’ve all done it, but the fact is, you’re not going to get much studying done. You’re going to eat a lot of food and complain about how tough your classes are, then watch “Breaking Bad” for four hours and forget to crack open a book. Save the Netflix marathon for the day after finals.

DO cut yourself some slack. OK, so you haven’t cleaned your room in forever and it looks like a disaster area, or maybe you’ve been surviving off of nothing but bread and chocolate for a week. Let it happen. You can get your life back together after you’re done testing.

DON’T blow off exams for classes you don’t care about. There’s always going to be that class you hated that has nothing to do with your major, but was required nonetheless. You may want to say “screw it” and just guess (You might say, “It’s a multiple choice test anyway; that’s, like, 25 percent odds of success on each question”), but stay strong and study! (Besides, that’s also a 75 percent chance of failure, so keep that in mind.)

DO plan an awesome reward for the day you’ve finished testing. If you want to go out with your friends, do that. If you want to bury yourself under your blankets and watch Disney movies, plan on it. Whenever you feel really stressed, remind yourself that you have a fun day coming up, and you can make it through.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2015 and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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