The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of The University of Scranton.
It’s here. The last, miserable, merry week before we close out the semester and all go home to be as lazy as we possibly can be before going back in a month or so. Finals week. And here, you’ll find my best advice on how to survive this last week of exams with your grades and sanity intact.
1) Know Your Finals Schedule: Make sure you know what Finals are when and what format they’ll be in. This way, you can study strategically, focusing on finals that are earlier in the week before worrying about later exams.
2) Game-ify studying: “Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins was not lying, a little bit of fun can go a long way to make studying and packing bearable. One thing I like to do is make a to-do list with a set deadline, whether it’s within the week, the day, or even a few hours. Then, decide on a reward to give yourself when you do “X” amount of things off your list.
More ways to make studying a little more fun:
A) Dance breaks, you need Dance Breaks. Whenever you’re feeling stumped, go
onto Spotify (or Apple Music) and put on your most fun, dance-y playlist (I
recommend Shake It Off by Taylor Swift as an addition) and just let loose! One
downside: I do not recommend doing this in a public setting.
B) Timelapse: Make sure you stay off your phone by filming a time lapse of you
studying,
C) Get Creative with study locations: Maybe the library, or your desk, just isn’t
cutting it anymore. Try studying on the floor, or even in your bathroom.
3) Study with Friends: This one is tricky because if you’re anything like me you get easily sidetracked, but studying with other people around can really help. This is called body doubling. It’s a strategy used most often to help people with ADHD, but it works for everyone. The idea is simple, if you’re with someone else who’s doing work, you can effectively harness the power of peer pressure for good, making you more inclined to study. So long as you can keep each other accountable, I recommend it4) Relax when you Relax: One problem I have with productivity is that whenever I’m feeling burnt out, I’ll take a break, but the whole time I’m taking a break, all I think about is all the things I need to be doing instead. But then I’m still burnt out when my “break” is over. So, try to shut off your brain when you’re on your break.
5) Sleep: Make sure you get enough of it!
6) Don’t push yourself too hard: Your value does not come from a paper or a final grade, it comes from you just existing. And ultimately, so long as you do the best you can, that’s all that matters.