Managing Stress During Finals

The time has come: final exams are here again! Instead of stressing out and giving yourself a heart attack, follow these simple steps and pass your finals with ease.

Plan your days to meet your needs. Schedule your time so that you can get everything done at a reasonable hour.

Say no to things you want to do, and yes to things you need to do. Although this may seem hard at first, you will thank yourself in the long run.

Get enough sleep. A 24 hour cram session does nothing but put bags under your eyes.

Take a break every once in a while. We’ve all hit the point in the quiet room in Dimond where we start to get delusional. When you feel yourself losing focus, take a ten minute break. Walk outside, call your mom, or go get something from Zeke’s. You will find that after you fully take your mind off things it will be much easier to focus.

Meditate. While some stress is healthy, the amount of stress most of us experience during finals weeks is not healthy. Meditation provides a perfect mental break. Taking the time to focus on something other than your exams can help ease your worries and rejuvenate your mind. A great perk of meditation is that, by nature, it forces you to work on your concentration. It takes great will power to clear out your mind and allow yourself to only concentrate on the present.  If you are unsure where to start when looking to meditate, the UNH office of Health Education and Promotion (OHEP) has some resources available for students. There are also tons of online resources and books that do wonders for concentration through meditation.

Walk slow enough to enjoy the little things that are happening all around you. Although it may be painful to see people without a care in the world lounging on T-hall, appreciate the fact that it is finally warm enough outside to do that.

Lastly, a great motivator is a reward. Praise yourself when you finally survive finishing that paper, or completing that study guide. Maybe plan a bigger reward for when you are done with finals, like a new dress or sunglasses. Finals are without a doubt the worst week of college, but when all hope appears to be gone, remind yourself that after just one week they will be finally over, and summer can officially begin!