WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The fall semester is coming to a close, and finals week is upon us. Don’t fall prey to all nigh cram sessions and exam induced panic attacks. Minimize your stress this week and ready yourself for finals with these quick and easy tips.
Prioritize and Plan
Plan out what they need to do for all of you classes in order of importance. Allocate specific times to study certain topics that way you stay on track and don’t have to cram. Listing all of your classes, exams, or projects is a great way to stay organized and make sure you don’t miss anything. Also, stay on top of your professor and make sure you have all the tools available to succeed. If your professor hasn’t given you a study guide, it is more than okay to ask for one. They want you to succeed and more often than not they are happy to help.
Exercise
Exercise is known to minimize stress, boost your energy, and heighten your mood. In between study sessions, take a jog around campus, do some squats, or dance to your favorite song. Get your body moving and shake off that stress!
Eat Healthy Meals/Snacks & Stay Hydrated
Students often make extremely unhealthy food choices. Whether it be a time crunch or stress eating, healthy meals are often at the bottom of the priority list during finals week. While fast food may seem like a quick fix, nuggets and fries are not meal choices that set you up for success. Nutritious and healthy choices will keep you attentive and able to study for long periods of time.
Sleep
Lack of sleep is one of the biggest problems students face in finals week. According to an article from the Huffington Post, everyone has different sleep habits, but it is never healthy to pull an all-nighter. If you do, make sure you have time to take a nap so you get the sleep your body needs. Sleep will improve the quality and retention of studying, even though you may have less study time. Less is more.
Take Study Breaks
Studying for long periods of time is not helpful to memorizing information. You need to take breaks in order to give your brain enough time to process and absorb the material. Not only is the focus lost when looking at the same thing over and over again, but you are wasting precious time because your mind is on overload. Break up your study session for optimal retention.
Ask For Help
If you are unsure about anything you have to do for finals always ask for help, whether it is a classmate or professor someone is always willing to assist. Everyone around you in the school environment wants you to be successful. Both teachers and students will most likely do whatever they can to make sure you understand anything you are confused about.
Utilize Study Groups
Not enough people utilize study groups, however if you learn the material on your own time and can review it with classmates it offers a fun learning environment, where you can be constantly refreshed on the information given in class.
Stop Procrastinating
The most important of all of these steps is to stop wasting time. Get off of social media, and place yourself in an environment where there will be no interruptions. This way you can get all of your work done early and even get a head start on studying for final exams!
This week, make an effort to reduce your stress and you will be sure to tackle your finals with confidence and a clear mind.
