Stress-Free Studying

So it’s Monday morning, and you’re sitting in your 8 a.m. still groggy from the weekend. You pull out your planner to write down the financial analysis your professor just assigned that’s due at the end of the week. However, you can’t find space – you have two tests on Wednesday, a lab and an exam on Thursday, three quizzes on three different days, and a presentation in French. Yikes! Your first thought is to…

PANIC!!!!

But, don’t…

Here are five simple steps for stress free studying.

1. Use a planner

Break out your planner, agenda, iPhone or Android reminders, a desk calendar, Google Calendar, post-it notes, or whatever will keep everything organized. It’s better to have the same assignment written on your wall calendar, planner, and a post-it on your desk than having to try to dig the due date from the jumbled mess that is your brain.  

2. Plan each day out 

Every day, map out what you want to get done, even the little things. If you need to do laundry, write it down. Need to call your mom? Write it down. Need to finally put away your straightener from the weekend? Write it down! By writing things down, you will be able to see what you need to do, and you will be able to map how much time you should spend on each task.

3. Do a little every day

Think brick by brick. Your six page history research paper probably won’t be written in an hour. Chunk it out. For example, do the introduction one day, the body another, and then pick a day for a conclusion and to polish the paper up. By pacing yourself, you will find finishing assignments feels quicker and easier.  While procrastination is a common practice, make it easier on yourself and work a little on the assignment every day. Then, once you’re done with a certain task, feel the power of striking it off the list.

4. Take Breaks

At first, taking a break sounds counterintuitive when you have an obscene amount of work to do. You are probably thinking, “Breaks? Who has time for that!?” You do. If you have been working your tail off for the past three hours studying for Calc. 3, you can walk away from the books for an hour or two. My personal favorite thing to do is go to the gym, go on a run, or take a walk around campus. Movement and fresh air can do wonders.

5. Focus on the here and now

This may sound cliché, and easier said than done, but worrying about all the other stuff you have to do when trying to write a five page paper on community development isn’t going to help you. Take a deep breath and just focus on what you are doing. Worry about finishing what is right here, not what is due at the end of the week. Take it one step at a time; it will all get done.     

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