With the last week of classes around the corner or already happening, stressing about finals while your last classes are happening is almost guaranteed. Stress from finals is going to happen whether you like it or not and being more prepared and knowing how to study will help you more than you think. Hopefully these ten tips can help you out!
Clear your work space.
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Before you can even think about studying, you have to clear your work space. Clearing the space gives you more room to work and to set the things you need out. It also helps you to focus more on what you are studying instead of the mess around you.
Clean your room or office.
Just like clearing your work space can help you focus more on studying for your tests or finals, cleaning the room you work in too can help. This way everything is organized and if you end up needing to get up to get something, you know where it is.
Take out only what you need to study with.
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Setting out the things you need to study with before you actually start will help to limit distraction. If you are going to the library or somewhere else to study, only bring the materials that you need. These materials are things like your notes for the class, pens, pencils, and highlighters. Bringing your laptop is also something you can do, just make sure that when you are on it, you are using it to study and not play games or scroll through social media. Your phone can be a distraction but you can also use it to listen to music while you study or set a timer on it. Setting out a snack and some water and/or coffee or tea before you start studying so that you limit the excuses to stop studying after five minutes is also something that I recommend.
Plan how long you are going to study.
One of the most stressful things about studying is that you have to make time to actually do it. Planning how long you spend on each subject or class can help you stay focused, especially when studying for a class that you do not like. This tip is also important in college because finals can be comprehensive, some professors stop holding office hours after the last class, or some professors do not return tests so you have to meet with them if you want to see your past tests. When you know when you are studying what and how long you will be spending on a subject the hardest part, for me anyways, is staying focused.
Set a timer.
By now, I'm sure you've heard of the Pomodoro technique or method. If not, the Pomodoro method is a studying technique where you set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a task for that amount of time and take a short break when the 25 minutes are over. After three repeats, you get a longer break. There are apps you can download (most of them are free) that use this technique. I use two different ones on my phone for different types of studying. Most of the time I will use the app Tide. Tide lets you set how long you want to work for and will set how long your break is. You can also go in and change how long your break is too. I usually set the timer for 45 minutes and take a 15 minute break when the timer goes off. Tide also has other timers, backgrounds and background noises that you can turn on and off, and different "settings" for the noises as well as quotes. The other app I use is called Forest. Forest has a little bit of a guilt factor built into the app so I only really use this one when I know I need to study. Depending on how long you set the timer for, the app will give you a different virtual plant. If you exit the app before the timer goes off, the app kills your plant. It also uses your study time to make you a virtual garden where you can see your plants, including the ones you killed.
Listen to music.
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I cannot study in silence so having music playing in the background helps me a lot. I know that some people cannot listen to music and study at the same time and that's still okay. I have a playlist that I listen to when I study and only when I study. Some people listen to classical music, music without lyrics, or just music by someone they do not normally listen to because the lack of lyrics gives them something to focus on without being a distraction. Personally, I listen to music with lyrics and by artists that I know because it's familiar and I already know what will be said but sometimes I'll turn on classical music instead.
Do not study in bed.
We all say that studying in bed just this once won't hurt...and then we end up studying for 20 minutes and taking a nap. Just avoid this by not studying in bed. You can study almost anywhere else. Study at your desk, in the kitchen, the library, the coffee shop across the street or downtown, just not your bed. As a college student, sleep is important and once your brain starts associating your bed with work and studying, it will be harder for you to go to sleep at night. Just don't study in your bed, it's not worth it.
Take a break.
Breaking up your studying with breaks can help you get more done. Knowing that you have a break in five or ten minutes after working for 30 minutes motivates you to focus and get more work done. Sitting and staring at notes and things you need to remember or do can be overwhelming to do all at once and breaks help keep you a little more calm and sane during the process.
That said, spend your breaks wisely.
Spending your breaks wisely will also help you to stay focused and productive. Stretch, sit outside for a while if it's nice out, go get a snack, make your favorite drink, read part of a book, just do something away from your desk and that gets you moving a little bit. Also make sure that what you are doing fits around how long your break is. If it is a normal break, keep it to a 15-20 minute max. If you've had three short breaks, take a longer one.
Use Quizlet.
Quizlet can be a very useful study tool. If you are struggling with a topic or a subject, Quizlet can help you figure out what other students thought. Quizlet is filled with study topics and different sets of flashcards and games to help you study. You can also take a test over the flashcards and see how well you do on a sample test.
I hope these tips help you with studying for your finals! Good luck!
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