Speaking as a college student in the midst of preparing for her final exams, the time leading up to them can be rough! Most of us are stressed about upcoming deadlines, papers that need to get done, and tests that must be studied for. Though we all will inevitably experience this stress, there are many ways to deal with it in a positive and healthy way so that your exams can be aced without a hitch. Below are a few tips to make your final exam week as relaxing as possible (if at all possible).
- Make a Game Plan
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Figure out when and where all of your exams will be in advance. This will help you to not only be in the right place at the right time, but it is essential for creating a study schedule. Knowing which of your exams are coming up first can help you determine when you should be studying for them and how much time you should dedicate to preparing for each of them. Intelligent has a great guide for creating a study plan that will work the best for you if you need some help getting started.Â
- Meet With the Professor and/or Other Students
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No matter what you may think, your professors are here to help you succeed. If you’re struggling with understanding some concepts, take advantage of their office hours to go and get one-on-one help with them. You can also ask them for some direction on what exactly you should study for the upcoming exam. They may even give you some pointers that they didn’t give the rest of the class. If meeting with your professor seems too intimidating, try and get together with other students in your class. You can study together in a group, or you can just get perspective on how they’re preparing for finals week. Remember, you’re not going through this alone!
- Limit Distractions
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If you’re like me, your phone is the biggest distraction in getting your work done. Whenever you get bored with homework or studying, you’re tempted to grab your phone and start scrolling through Instagram or respond to a few texts. Maybe it’s not your phone distracting you, but the big TV in the room just calling you to turn on your favorite Netflix show. Whatever your biggest distractor is, find it and limit it. Put your phone in another room so you’re not tempted to grab it, go to a room without a TV, ask your family to give you some time alone to study, etc. Change up your environment so it’s free of any everyday distractions that keep you from grinding out your work.
- Try Different Study Methods
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You don’t need to torture yourself to create and memorize a ten-page study guide for every one of your exams. Switch it up! Create a mind map, make tables and diagrams or conduct a presentation out loud as if you were teaching the information to someone else. Mixing up your methods will make studying more fun and may also help you to remember the information.
- Eat Well and Sleep Enough
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Ultimately, your health is the most important thing to keep in mind during finals week. When you feel too exhausted to keep studying, take a 20-minute power nap and plan to get around 7/8 hours of sleep the next night. Sleeping will give your brain the time it needs to refresh and process all the information you’ve been learning, and it will make you feel so much better. In addition to getting good sleep, try your best to eat well. Get a serving of fruits and veggies into your day, keep healthy snacks like granola bars around you. Take your vitamins and drink your water, they are more important now than ever.
Moral of this article: don’t freak out; you got this! Take a deep breath, and ask for help if you need it. You have all the power in the world to do your best, so believe in yourself. I hope these tips helped you to get ready to ace those finals!