Most of the time, when my friends and I start talking about finals week, we talk about the pressures of studying. There’s the stress from wondering what questions will be on there, what material to study, and how well you’ll do despite all the preparation.
Exams aren’t the only boss fight students take on, though; for many, projects provide the final battle of the semester.
So, how do you prepare for many projects cropping up together, all with the ability to hurt your final grade? Here are some techniques that have worked for my friends and me.
- Timelines: Your Finals Week GPS
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Timelines are super important for this part of the semester. They can help with time management and prevent you from missing an assignment or two as all the last-minute events take over your life.
One thing that’s worked very well for me is creating a list of every assignment and deadline I have coming up, with the date and day of the week next to each. I then put the list in my notes app so that I can always access it.
The goal is to put it in an obvious place you check often. For some, that may be the notes app; for others, that might be a calendar, a physical notebook, or a basic to-do list on your door. By keeping it in your face as much as possible, you’ll be aware enough of what you have to do and when to avoid mistakes or forgetfulness that can lead to last-minute stress.
A timeline also helps with planning ahead. You know what’s going on the rest of the week and what you have due, so you can work your assignments into your schedule in a way that won’t be stressful or overwhelming.
Splitting up your workload across the week keeps things doable and helps you avoid the dreaded last-minute scramble.
- Don’t Procrastinate
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Despite how much you want to, procrastinating is a bad idea with point-heavy projects. Leaving them to the last minute means your work probably won’t be as good as if you’d taken the time to ensure each piece of your assignment is well-crafted.
Also, it can be damaging to your mental health to let it weigh on you and then stressfully speed through the project, with the potential you won’t finish it before the midnight deadline.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m a procrastinator through and through. After too many mistakes during my freshman year, I learned my lesson. When it comes to finals week, I need to take things one bit at a time.
This also brings us back to splitting up your assignments into bite-sized tasks. Usually, I start with an outline and give myself two to four tasks per day, depending on how much time I have and the sections I’ve split my projects into.
If I have work and class, I’ll give myself a couple of things to do. One piece of harder homework will go before work, and then I’ll give myself something light for after my shift because I’m usually too tired to do anything too mentally taxing.
The goal is to make your assignments fit your schedule and limits, not the other way around.
Getting things done ahead of time is generally not a bad idea, either. That way, you have time to get some feedback. It’s a great way to grow and learn, and there are plenty of places to get it right here on campus.
- Feedback: Don’t Be Afraid to Get Kindly Roasted
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The first and probably easiest source of feedback is your friends, especially those in the same major as you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just thrown a paper in front of my friends and asked them to read through it and tell me things to improve.
There are also plenty of resources through FSU itself. One that I’ve used is the Reading-Writing Center, which has staff who can review your paper with you and give feedback on your concepts.
Within the center, there’s also the Digital Studio, a section specifically dedicated to helping with creative digital projects. If you’re worried about not having the right apps for these assignments, FSU provides Adobe software on their computers, and all students now have access to Canva Pro for free.
Something simple like Grammarly is also extremely helpful in catching mistakes and improving your grammar so you don’t miss points for small or basic errors.
Feedback is essential because it’s easy to miss things, especially when you’ve reviewed a project repeatedly. Organization also helps with this issue.
- Your New Best Friend: Outlines
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I didn’t see how useful outlines were until I had to write my first big paper for ENC 2135. I hadn’t written anything longer than four to five pages, so a 10-page paper was terrifying.
When I used an outline for the daunting assignment, it became much more manageable, and I had half the research paper done way before it was due. I’m now a huge fan of outlines and recommend them to anyone doing some writing.
Depending on my mood, my outlines can range from extremely basic to incredibly detailed, but either way, they help me organize my thoughts and provide sections for me to work on one at a time.
Sometimes, I’ll even include my sources or two to three quotes for each bullet point to stay rooted in my research while forming my argument later. That could also be in the form of a quote bank with in-text citations to save you some of the hassle of scanning articles in between paragraphs.
Organizing your thoughts and planning are important, and outlines are a great way to do both.
- The Big One: Take Care of Yourself
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You’ve probably heard this a million times, but it’s true. You need to take care of yourself during finals week.
Exams and projects are stressful because they can determine the final grade you get in your classes despite all the hard work you’ve put in earlier in the semester. However, you don’t provide your best product when you’re overwhelmed or out of your mind.
Lightening your mental load by breaking up your assignments into chunks or doing self-care things like lighting your favorite candle or wearing your fuzziest socks can do much in the long run. They can minimize distractions, help you stay focused on the task, and provide comfort.
Finals week can feel like a whirlwind, especially when juggling everything left in the semester, but with the proper preparation, it doesn’t have to be complete chaos. At the end of the day, these projects showcase everything you’ve learned, so give yourself the time, structure, and care to do them justice. You’ve got this!
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