We all strive for straight A’s, but during the most stressful times of the semester, it seems nearly impossible to achieve perfection. Here are a few tips to get the grades you deserve:

1. Organization!

Staying organized is the most important aspect of dealing with stress. Make lists; prioritize all of your obligations. Schedule your life in order to avoid unknown deadlines. Being well organized helps you feel accomplished, even when you didn’t get anything done.

2. Think Positive

Avoid negative thoughts when it comes to grades. Do not assume the worst: that you don’t know the material on the test that you studied hours for; you know for a fact your project won’t be done on time; that the one quiz in which you scored a 40 buried your GPA. It is hard to steer clear of the negative thoughts during the most stressful times of the year; just keep in mind that the negativity is not helping you succeed, it is only giving you excuses to stop trying so hard.

3. Exercise

Whether you enjoy working out or not, exercise is a great way to relieve the every day stress. Get your blood pumping! Exercising makes you feel better about yourself and helps you to continue doing things to benefit your life. Get on that good streak!

4. Take Breaks

This is college and we are here to make memories. Constant studying is not the way to spend the best years of our lives. Make sure you schedule a night out, or a gathering with friends in the midst of studying. Do not go overboard with your break times. Be reasonable with the tasks that you need to accomplish, while also giving yourself some time to recover. Again, be organized and set realistic tasks to accomplish throughout the day and make it happen!

5. Be Prepared

Aim to sleep between 8-9 hours each night. Your body and mind will thank you!

7. Take a step back

Do not get so sucked into your work that you overwhelm yourself when it isn’t necessary. I tend to over think the tasks I need to get done and stress myself out, when I had no reason to be stressed out to begin with. One test won’t kill you. Always keep that in mind.

8. Never give up

Remind yourself every day of the reasons you are in college. You are putting yourself through all of this stress to build a comfortable life where you are able to pursue all of your dreams. Be aware that the work you put in is going to come back someday. The stress isn’t for nothing.

9. Reward Yourself

Give yourself incentives to get things done. If you get all of your work done during the day, you will allow yourself a night out. Get creative and give yourself even more of a reason to do your work and get great grades. It’s a win-win situation; take advantage of it.

10. Find your perfect study time

We all work our best at different times of the day. I am not a morning person in any way, shape or form so I never plan on studying any time while the sun is still rising. Try to plan each semester’s schedule based on the times that you find yourself the most focused. If you are a morning person, try your best to find morning classes. Night person? Schedule your classes a little later in the day to give yourself more time to sleep. Don’t schedule a class early in the morning in the hopes that it will make you become a morning person. It will only make you miserable and inefficient in your classes. Be mindful of who you are by nature.