Now that Thanksgiving break has past students are preparing for finals week. With only five more weeks until December break school can seem overwhelming. Never fear, everything has its hacks and cheats, even life. Here are some ideas to take some of the stress off of studying and taking your final exams.

1. Sleep

Getting well rested is one of the best ways to prepare for finals. The more tiered you are the more irritable you'll be. Save yourself the unneeded emotional breakdown, and get some sleep.

2. Reward yo' self.

Finish a chapter of your text book? Have some candy. Did you spend the whole day reviewing vocab? Make yourself your favorite dinner. And when all the hard work pays off and you pass all your finals with flying colors dedicate a day just to yourself.

3. Laugh Out Loud

Nothing like scrolling through memes about school to remind yourself that you are not alone. Everyone is stressing, but we can get out all that loathing through gifs and jokes. I recommend apps like ifunny and funny or die.

4. Do not procrastinate!

Yes, memes will take the stress off, but not studying will put it all back. Alternate between work and play with breaks. Get a good hour of revisions in before you jump on that phone of laptop.

5. Get in shape!

Exercising does not only help your body, but it gets the blood pumping to your brain. Whether you do full out cardio or some beginners yoga the exertion will be an outlet for the anger and pressure that comes with the testing season.

6. Organization and Planning

Keeping a planner or calendar updated can help you stay ahead of the game. If you wait to do everything at once it will be overwhelming, but if you have a visual of what you need to accomplish you can plan accordingly.

7. Creative Study Space

Make sure you have a comfortable place to study. Sitting at a desk is not the only way. If you prefer standing or sitting in a pillow fort do that. As long as it doesn't distract you.

8. Be confident!

You have prepared for this. You bought the practice books, went to every lecture and kept up with your home work. Your mindset is half the battle, so don't psych yourself out. You. Will. Ace. This!

9. Study Groups

Another way to make studying a blast is to do it with friends! Get some classmates together and quiz each other. Nothing sharpens iron better than iron, and it can make work seem more like a hang out session.

10. Make it a game.

May sound elementary, but that vocabulary memory game can really help, plus it's fun. Turning a board game like Sorry into a questionnaire, where every question you get right is a space moved is an easy way to make study more tolerable,

11. Sing it to the world!

To piggy-back off of games, how about songs? I changed the words to a Supremes song and now I'll never forget when to use sat or sit. Having a game of academic karaoke is the perfect way to start a study party and make topics less daunting.

12. The Beauty In The Breakdown

You will mess up, you will get nervous and you won't get every question right when you quiz yourself. Do not let that stress you out. Crying has no scientific purpose but, I'd be lying if I said it did not release built up anxiety. Allow yourself to decompress and accept your situation. That is the only way to move on and bet better.

Finals do not have to be nerve-wrecking. There is not escaping the horrors of finals week, so jump into it head first ready to blow it out of the water. No one is more ready for this than you, and now that you've read these tips, you'll be ready and stress free.