Finals season is here and whether you’re a seasoned senior or a fearful freshman, it’s not the best time of the year. Hours of library time, staring at your computer screen for days, shoving bags and bags of potato chips in your mouth, and dripping gallons of saline solution into your eyes to get rid of the redness takes a lot of energy. If you get to the point of going through boxes of tissues and enough tears to refill your water bottle, you need to take a study break. Here’s a list of brain breaks that aren’t watching Netflix. Use these to avoid getting sucked into distracting hours of The Great British Baking Show.
Stand up and go to the bathroom.
Even if you don’t have to go. The simple act of getting up, stretching your legs, and stepping away from your physics calculations or your close-reading of Antigone will give your brain the necessary two minutes it needs to reset and prepare to absorb.
Change your look.
Switch to a new pair of sweatpants. Throw on your favorite sweater. Do your makeup for the day. You don’t have to get all dolled up, but changing your clothes or your situation when you start to get antsy will distract your brain for long enough so that you can get back to studying without the jitters.
Go for a run.
This one takes a little longer, but even a ten-minute jog outside will do you some good. Sitting at a desk all day looking at screens and papers can bottle your energy until you can’t focus anymore. Going for a run will release that pent up feeling and allow you to focus in on the information.
Grab lunch with your friends.
Finals may make you need a good laugh. Or a good cry. Or a good laugh-cry. Who better to do that with than with your friends? If you isolate yourself in your dark dorm-cave without any social interaction besides saying “good morning” to your roommate, you’ll drive yourself up the wall. Go out with your girls, even for 30 minutes. Cry it out together.
Cook or bake something.
Doing a focused task will keep your mind occupied on something besides the past tense form of Spanish verbs or the anatomy of the brain. It’s a fun, directed, and rewarding break that will not only give you a breather, but also satisfy your study sweet tooth.
Do some yoga.
Active stretching is sooo important for your body, and even more important during finals season. Even if there isn’t a yoga class (there are some at Hofstra University’s Fitness Center), look up a Youtube video (I like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyFNz8zJSdw) and get some energy in your bones! You’ll feel much readier to focus if you release the extra energy.
No matter what happens during finals week, you have to remember that you studied the best you could and no one can ask more of you than what you’re capable of. Think positive, aim positive, and you’ll achieve positive results! You can do it!
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