Surviving finals is tough…especially when your university does not offer an actual dead week. Back to back exams were something students went through last semester. This time, however, there is that end of the year stress where you must line up a summer job, get packed and ready to move back home, and other factors that are not necessarily that important during the finals week before winter break. Without further ado, here are three survival tips for getting through second semester finals week.

1. Keep a to-do list/planner for all your responsibilities, not just school.

Every semester, I tell myself that I am going to keep up with a planner and routinely write done my homework assignments, exams, and meetings. By the third week of classes, my notebook sits at the bottom of the backpack, empty, and unused. I realized that I use my laptop on a daily basis, and I started to track my job shifts, assignments, meetings, exams etc. through the notes application on my MacBook. This allowed me to stay on top of my responsibilities, whether they were school related or not, with minimal effort.

My personal way of organization is writing out the week, write down all of your classes, and fill in what you must do for that week for each class. Then, keep a list titled “Other” or “Non-School Related” that serves more as a bulleted list in order as the days go by.

2. Do not take off days.

As bad as it sounds, the end of the year calls for no off days. When it gets to the final two week time crunch, it isn’t productive to let days go by without getting anything done. No matter what your major or year is, chances are, you also have a long list of things to do, so instead of piling everything into a short amount of time, gradually get your responsibilities checked off little by little for a less stressful finals week.

3. Keep up with your personal health.

One of the biggest issues I have seen in college students is allowing school to completely dominate their lives as they prepare for final exams and other tasks. Trust me, I know the struggle.

As a junior preparing for finals week, I understand how crazy this time of the year can get, and it may seem like you have no time to sleep, eat, or keep up with your personal health whatsoever. This is not true. By correctly prioritizing your time, setting deadlines for yourself and sticking by them, then you can get a full eight hours of sleep per night, keep up with your three meals a day, keep your spaces clean, and keep up with your hygiene as well. Not having your personal health in order can really add onto the stress of finals week, so by getting these things taken care of, it can make the process of finals preparation less complex and stressful.