College is hard. Our professors think we only take their class, when in reality we have like five more classes, extracurricular activities, a social life to maintain, our family to look out for, our health to take care of, grown-up stuff… This all gets in our way and we end up procrastinating when exams are just around the corner. Here are some tips so you can up your performance during midterms and not fall apart.
Establish priorities
Organize your thoughts, responsibilities and determine personal deadlines or goals. Always save up extra time for each task to give room for error; if you finish earlier, you’ll feel better about yourself!
Related: 6 Ways To Stop Procrastinating And Get Shiz Done!
Determine a schedule
Maybe you’re more productive on Mondays than you are on Thursdays. Leave the heavy-duty responsibilities and classes for when you can give them more attention without unnecessary distractions.
Clear up space
I won’t say “don’t study on your bed” because you might fall asleep, but if you insist, try making it busy… ironically. Set out everything around you so you will always have something to look at. It might seem overwhelming but it’s not if you divide and conquer. If you prefer to work on a desk, tackle subjects and classes one by one. It might seem slow but you won’t get your brain confused.
Consume calories
Have some snacks! You won’t be able to process information on an empty stomach and a sleepy brain. Try to choose your snacks before you start your study sessions, so you don’t cheat yourself out of studying and eat your stress away. Remember to stay healthy!
Create a study group
More brains working together are better than one! Although some people get distracted or don’t fully understand the purpose of a study group, these come in handy to relieve stress and to attack concepts that have been confusing for everyone. Usually, this is where the class tends to bond by elaborating the guts to speak up to the professor to clear up doubts and come to happy mediums with the material.
Ask everything
There are no stupid questions. Some questions might be illogical or have an obvious answer, but you always will want to make sure that you understand completely what is going on.
Talk to the professor
Some professors might not be the friendliest human beings ever, but they will remember when a student goes to talk to them. They might not remember what you talked about, but will acknowledge you during class or even when grading.
Take a day to treat yo’ self
Midterms can be stressful. Just like when one prepares for a huge test like the College Board or EXADEP, they recommend you take the day before the big day to relax. So, do! If some material comes across your mind, don’t scratch it off! Acknowledge it and then go back to whatever relaxation you were doing.
Go over everything
Some people do a general summary of the test material, others write songs to relate their learnings to a tune, others make a monologue or help others study. Whichever you do, always review the material before* the test.
*Exactly before, days before, sometime before.
Do you!
Midterm day! Don’t freak out! Consume calories, stay active yet relaxed. Try to stay positive during the time prior to your test. It will all be good because you prepared yourself and tackled everything you set out to do. Perform your best, don’t doubt yourself!* Do you!
*The first letter you pick on multiple choice questions is usually the correct one. Although, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t double check your test.
We hope these tips can be useful to help you get your life together during midterms, and we hope you do good!
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