This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Montclair chapter.
Now that we’re all back from visiting family and eating more turkey and mashed potatoes than any normal human being should consume, it’s time to focus on finals! This is the most stressful week for every college student in the country, but following these tips will make it as painless as possible. Here are five tips to help you get through these last few weeks of the semester.
- Organize. The very first (and probably most important) thing to do is to have a plan before you even start studying. Make lists of everything you need to accomplish, have all of your books together, and get that stack of post-it notes and colorful highlighters ready before you even crack a book open. Then, start with the most daunting task—I know, it seems like torture, but getting the most terrible thing out of the way first will make everything else seem like a piece of cake. And it’s always a great feeling being able to cross something off of a crazy long list of things to study for.
- Don’t do everything at the last minute. Your brain will literally go into overwhelm-mode and you’ll just want to keep putting everything off. It’s best to get the smaller things done way ahead of time, so that when it gets down to the wire, you can focus on those terrifying tasks that make you just hate your professor(s).
- Sleep. You may think you’re invincible and coffee is the only thing you need to stay sane, but that’s just not true. At some point during that all-nighter, your brain will just stop retaining information. Ever read the same sentence ten times just to realize that you still have no idea what it says? Yeah… That means it’s time to hit the hay for a while.
- Take breaks at least once every hour. It seems excessive, but getting up to stretch and giving your mind a break is pretty important. Go move your legs and give your poor brain a rest from trying to learn everything about calculus for just a minute. Chances are you’ll come back to your work with a go-getter attitude and be ready to tackle even the hardest of finals studying.
- Have confidence. When all is said and done and you’ve studied as much as you possibly could, just fake it til ya make it, my friend. Whether you think you know the material or not, having a good mindset while taking a test or writing a paper is a huge part of succeeding.
Good luck to all of our fellow collegiettes!
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