Summer is just around the corner. It’s almost time to experience that new internship you landed, frequent day trips to the beach, and enjoy those cool summer nights with your friends. But first, finals.
It’s hard for many to stay focused as the weather starts to get nicer and all of the above start to distract us from our last hoorah concluding yet another long year of the school grind.
However, you are sure to do well on your finals if you follow these 10 tips:
1. Get a head start.
Finals week is filled with cramming study sessions on every subject that has a final. People, unfortunately, can get swamped with five finals scheduled in the span of two or three days sometimes, which can be more than overwhelming. My one tip for those faced with this unfortunate circumstance is to start studying BEFORE finals week even starts to ensure that you have enough time to actually focus and retain the information necessary to do well.
2. Ride solo if necessary.
If you are one of those people who gets easily distracted, sometimes it is better to separate yourself from the big study sesh going on with all of your friends and find yourself your own space on your own time. This can allow you to narrow in on your responsibilities and also can lessen the likelihood of you stopping every five minutes to complain to your best friends.
3. Or find a study squad.
Everybody studies differently. If you work better when you are surrounded by people, then definitely try to organize a time and place to meet up with your friends or classmates to start the finals grind together. I know when I hit the point during a long day of studying when I just want to give up, I look around at my friends who are focused and it seriously does push me to continue. There’s nothing like a little moral support.
4. Health is wealth.
Finals equal stress. Stress equals stress eating. While finals week can surely make one want to sit and cry with a tub of ice cream in their lap, one trick that I found to be extremely helpful was to avoid eating crap during finals week. Switching the wings order you usually get with your friends for a salad can really help fuel your brain to focus while also avoiding making yourself feel like crap. This is essential for those long nights of studying.
5. Coffee is your best friend.
I specifically try to avoid drinking Starbucks or Dunkin on a daily basis when I'm at school simply because I am the typical broke college student. However, I say finals week is an exception to splurge any extra money (if that exists) from the year on endless cups of coffee. When it is 2 A.M. and your eyes can’t stay open, you will thank me.
6. Sleep is key.
While you might feel the pressure of staying up as late as possible to study those last few chapters, it is certainly more beneficial to call it a night, sleep on it, and continue the next day rather than pull an all-nighter. Pushing yourself too hard and not getting enough sleep will only catch up to you the next day when trying to study more or even take one of your finals. Your performance will increase with the more sleep you have.
7. Eat breakfast.
If you are like me and roll out of bed at 12 p.m on the daily, you probably aren’t hungry for breakfast and skip right to lunch after an hour or two of being awake. While this can be acceptable most days, it is not the smartest way to start the day during finals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you are an ignorant oversleeper like me, at least try to change your habits for finals week only.
8. Plan, plan, plan.
Being organized during finals is one of the most essential pieces of advice I can offer. If you are usually not an organized person, I advise you to buy a notebook or planner and map out all of the things you need to do that week. Make a study schedule, outline chapters, or even make a to-do list. Visually seeing what you have to do eases the stress and allows you to keep track of what needs to be done.
9. Use all of your resources.
A lot of classes hold free review sessions run by either the professor or teaching assistants that go over all of the material on the exams. Definitely use all of the resources being provided during finals because it is easy to get extremely overwhelmed when trying to figure everything out on your own.
10. Don’t forget to breathe!
Yes, finals week might as well be hell week. However it is the final stretch of a long year filled with hard work and accomplishments you have achieved. So relax and don’t forget to take a few minutes out of the day if needed to sit and breathe. You can do it!
