Finals week can be misery, but it doesn’t have to be! Instead of staying up all night with a cup of coffee cramming for five exams at once, here are a few helpful tips to get you through finals week healthily!
- Don’t Procrastinate
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Look, I know how wonderful procrastination feels in the moment, but trust me, at 4 a.m. on Sunday night, the day before your 8 a.m. final, it won’t be feeling so great. How can you avoid this pain, you ask? You’ve come to the right place! One way to avoid procrastination is to break your assignment into small tasks. For example, if you have a final project due in a week, divide it into one small part every day. Make sure you hang up your task list somewhere that you will see it frequently, and don’t allow yourself to skip a day! This way, you don’t end up staying up for hours trying to finish it at the last minute. This also works for studying. If you know that chapters 5-10 will be on your final, study one or two chapters a day. By the day of your test, you should have been able to study each chapter without getting overwhelmed. Procrastination is the silent killer, but you don’t have to be a victim!
- Get Enough Sleep
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I can’t stress this one enough. Sleep is so important for tons of reasons, but the most prevalent in this situation is the fact that you’ll have a clearer mind for your exam. If you go into a test sleep deprived, there is a much higher chance of forgetting important info, making silly mistakes and just giving up because you are too tired to care. Don’t risk it by staying up too late and getting up too early. It’s unhealthy and it just plain sucks.
- Make Sure You Are Making Time For Food
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Grabbing a bag of Cheetos and a Dr. Pepper for dinner before you go to the library to pull an all-nighter may sound like a good idea at the time, but you will regret it. Junk food won’t fill you up properly, which means you will eat more junk food and end up in a vicious cycle. It’s not worth it. If you are worried about wasting time, take your laptop or textbook with you to Shafer or wherever you decide to eat dinner, so that you don’t have to stop working. Having a good meal will also help you to focus better with studying and then on the test itself. Never take a test on an empty stomach, you won’t be able to concentrate as well and you ultimately risk the chance of doing poorly. Like I said, it’s not worth it!
Okay, let’s be honest, most of us will read this and think “what a great idea!” and then continue to be unhealthy. But, I truly believe that it’s possible for anyone to change their bad habits for the better! It may take practice, but take it one step at a time and I have faith that you will succeed. This article is just as much for myself as it is for anyone else, so you know we are all in this together! *cue the Highschool Musical cast*