As finals week approaches, life can undoubtedly get hectic. It’s easy to fall into the fruitless routine of all-nighters, cramming and wanting to literally pull our hair out in frustration. But we all know that endless hours of over-frying our brain is completely hellish, and sadly, probably not going to land us that A. However, we can all avoid going mad by following these 10 easy and straightforward tips and tricks leading up to the big day:
1. Make a plan
So… your schedule probably is not going to be as cute (do you see the little smiling suns with the daily temperatures beneath them?) as this one. Mine ended up looking something along the lines of a crumpled paper you’d find in the garbage, but it did the trick nonetheless. The point is, make yourself a plan. A realistic plan that involves practicing, reading and conquering chapter sections on a day to day basis until the exam. The hardest part is, obviously, sticking to the plan, but if you do it I can guarantee your life will be a hell of a lot easier when it’s game time.
2. Don’t Procrastinate
This sort of goes with the last point, but I’m reiterating it because it’s just that important. Procrastinate now… Panic later! Memory is a fragile thing; you can’t just throw a bunch of ideas on top of it and expect it to hold. Distributing your learning over a planned period of time is the best way to approach this slow descent into all that is finals hell. Don’t tell yourself ‘Oh, whatever, tomorrow.’ TODAY, PEOPLE!
3. Study the right way
In Psychology class last year, I did an entire paper on this. Basically, a metacognitive approach to studying is how you’ll be most successful. This approach involves testing oneself, creating your own examples and relating ideas to past experiences. By doing this, you are practicing something called ‘elaborative rehearsal’, which can pretty much reprogram the brain. To put it simply, this way of studying ‘attaches’ your study material to things already stored in your long-term memory. After some exercises, both sets of information will be readily available for a long time. When you can think of the memory, the study material will come stringing along with it!
For all you ladies who go through college with the highlighter practically attached to their hand, I’m sorry to break it to you: things like highlighting or rereading is scientifically proven to be mostly useless. However, I’m sure we can all agree that having the TV on or talking to your friends while studying is definitely not the way to do it either. The brain has a limited extent to what it can focus on, so shut your phone off and get to work!
4. Take Breaks
You can’t be all work and no play. It’ll drive you nuts! After completing a goal, don’t feel hesitant to reward yourself. Maybe it’s in the form of a night out, or a Grande Starbucks, or a pitifully long binge of Gilmore Girls, but if you deserve it, you deserve it. Taking a break and giving yourself a moment of separation to step back from studying can actually be surprisingly beneficial!
5. Listen to studious music
Don’t you just feel smart when you’re answering some super long math problem while listening to Beethoven or Pachelbel? There’s loads of evidence that listening to classical music can enhance memory and relieve stress. This equals better grades on the final exam. Play on, Canon in D major!
6.Study with Friends
Although I’ve had plenty experiences of study sesh’s with friends go awry, they are usually a tremendous help. Don’t get that problem? Ask a friend or two, they can probably help you. Need someone to quiz you? Scoot your chair over. Plus, getting a fresh perspective on a topic could be the one thing you really need to get over your mental study-block.
7. Get in Contact with the Teacher
They’re the ones creating the final exam, after all. Don’t be afraid to email or approach them in person to ask them what to focus on or if they have any study tips for the class. A teacher of mine last year was glad to share with me places where I could find extra practice, and it was tremendously helpful.
8. Review the Most Important Material
This may seem blatantly obvious, but it actually isn’t. If your finals are anything like mine, they are only partially cumulative and the majority is only on the last few chapters that we’ve learned. However, you may be tempted to focus a lot of time on all the old stuff you may have forgotten about. I’m telling you- don’t do that! You might unluckily find yourself in the unwelcome situation of sitting at the exam knowing only 25 percent of the material. Focus on the things you don’t know first and foremost. I suggest studying all the important chapters every chance you get, while each time throwing in a quick half hour of review of previous, long gone chapters. You’ll more than likely find that all the old stuff, which you already had exams on, is now suddenly easy! Don’t worry, it’ll come back to you quickly too.
9. Stay healthy
‘Hygiene- what’s that? I have finals to worry about.’ I get it. It can quickly go from slight finals stress to complete and utter, all-consuming anxiety in the blink of an eye. Still, this doesn’t mean you should dismiss your health in the process. It’ll be nothing but detrimental to your exam grades. Firstly, do not give in to the temptation of stress eating. Staying nutritious and hydrated will prevent headaches and improve concentration during study time, no matter how tempting it is. Second, exercise breaks are more important than ever now: it’ll give you an energy boost, release feel-good endorphins, and make you far more productive overall. There’s nothing worse than feeling like your brain hurts while also feeling insatiably sluggish!
10. Sleep
Forget all-nighters. They are useless and painful. The real key is to hit the hay early on any night possible, especially right before the exam. It’s proven that memory recall is dramatically improved when you are well-rested, and the brain can organize information while it sleeps. Plus, who doesn’t love sleeping? I will gladly get my 8-10 hours, and I will most certainly not complain. Hey, it’s science.
If you follow all these rules, I can almost guarantee success on your part. Good luck on finals, collegiates, and may the odds be ever in your favor!