Finals week is nigh, which could only mean three things: 1. Hardcore procrastination, 2. Stress eating, 3. Caffeine overdose. Oh, and of course, snapping at everyone around you, especially your best friends and boyfriend. The obvious solution to not offending your mates is just to hold it all in and be a rational person at all times, but let’s be honest, if that worked, problems one, two and three wouldn’t exist either. Besides, you tend to lash out at the people closest to you, because you know they’ll love you no matter what. However flattering this notion is, it probably wouldn’t hurt to lessen the damage, so here are a few tips on how to do just that:
1. Prevention: If you know you’re someone who’d blow up if anyone made a peep while you’re working, let them know you need your work place to be absolutely silent beforehand. Then you don’t bite their head off and don’t have to apologize later. Have them tell you what their studying pet peeves are too and you’ll be less likely to step on each others’ toes.
2. Action: It’s the middle of finals week and you’re up to your neck in papers. Make an effort to set aside time for your friends and boyfriend and do not bring work during that time. If you promised to have dinner with them, don’t even talk about all those papers you have to do and just focus on spending time with them. That way your body will have a chance to relax AND you’ll be less likely to snap while you’re with them.
3. Damage Control: So you spent the last two hours trying to solve one problem and you earned yourself a coffee break, only to have your boyfriend spill your fresh coffee over all your work. You flip out on him even though he’s apologized profusely and now you’re at a stalemate. Nothing he says will help at this moment so just excuse yourself and assess the real damage. If this means you’ll have to copy out your work again, allow him to help you so that he can feel less guilty and you know he’s trying to make amends. If you just remain silent and try to fix the problem yourself, you’ll just end up harboring more anger towards him.
Though I trust all you ladies have much more self-control than I do, if you ever do get into a rut, the key to getting out of it is understanding. Understanding yourself and your stress as well as understanding that others might be just as stressed as you are would help you and those around you refrain from lashing out during the impending horror that is finals week. Good luck!