Ah, the holidays. Christmas music, cuddle weather, and peppermint mochas. This has to be my favorite time of the year. I mean who doesn't love the holidays? No matter your heritage, you can't deny that this is a special time of the year to spend with those we care about most, right?

As much as I hate to say it, this has to be one of the most stressful times of the year. Whether you're ready for it or not, finals are coming. The endless nights, the countless stress and tears are all pieces of the puzzle when it comes to finals. Many of us rely on the final to bring us up a grade, secure our grade, or ensure that we pass a class. So as you may have guessed, this article is filled with my best tips that I've learned in college to help manage the stress of finals.

1. Priorities!

One of the most helpful tips I can think of is deciding what you need to do and what you need to do. Already have an A in Spanish? Maybe concentrate more on that math grade you're trying to pull up from a C. Narrowing down your priorities list is a great way to take a load off you and not feel like everything is happening at once.

2. Time Management

This one is so hard but so key to avoiding last-minute stress. Make sure you know when all your final projects, homework, and tests are. No one likes surprises! Decide when you're going to study and where, as well as making sure you have time to yourself to destress because you can't run a car on empty fuel, so if you're over-stressed, tired, or hungry, make sure to manage time for you to take care of yourself.

3. Try to avoid cramming and all-nighters

Okay, I get it, "tis the season for all-nighters", but doing that a lot can seriously hurt your ability to remember and digest information. Note that a part of a phase of sleep is REM. REM is the deep sleep you get from a good nights rest. REM is basically the "save" button in your brain. When you enter REM, your brain is able to store the information you digested and keep it instilled in your memory. So, when you do the math, no sleep = no REM, which can mean that you will have a lot more difficulty recalling important things for your finals. So, if you can, make sure you get AT LEAST 5-6 hours of sleep leading up to the test (8 is ideal) because this may help you far more than an all-nighter.

Overall, remember to take care of yourself. Know what your body needs and don't push yourself too far and stress yourself out even more. Be kind to yourself.

I hope all of you kill your finals and remember my most important quote (especially when you start to get those final grades back, if it won't matter in 5 years, don't spend 5 minutes worrying about it. A bad test grade sucks, but I promise you, it's not the end of the world.

Happy studying!