If you’re reading this article right now, that means that you have only a few days left of finals. With so little time left to prepare, it’s really important to make your studying count. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you hit the books. (I’ll keep it short, I promise. I have to study too, ya know!)
Professor knows best. If your professor posts class notes, makes a study guide or suggests practice problems, for Ollie’s sake, look at them! Better yet, do that first. These resources are your professor’s way of pointing you in the right direction. So, if your final’s tomorrow and you haven’t prepared yet, head on over to LATTE and start downloading!
Be honest with yourself about not studying. Studying is a bore, but resist the temptation to multitask; most likely, you aren’t really capable of watching How I Met Your Mother and memorizing your biology notes. You’ll work slower when distracted, making studying take even longer! Admit your limitations and close that Hulu page.
Be honest with yourself about studying. You’re not a machine. You’re not going to survive a 12-hour cram session in Goldfarb 3. Without breaks, by hour 4 you’ll be reading and re-reading the same sentence without retaining anything. So shut your bio textbook and give your brain a break every hour or half hour. Get up and walk around (especially if you’re looking like a hunchback from leaning over your laptop!), doodle, tell jokes to a friend or have a snack. Do anything as long as it’s not study-related and doesn’t keep you away from your bio book for too long. You’ll be more productive when you take breaks. Who knows, studying might take less time then you thought, giving you a real chance to watch that episode of How I Met Your Mother (bio textbook not invited)!
Nothing good happens after 2 a.m. It is possible to write a fairly decent paper or to finish a problem set late at night, since those kinds of activities and tasks keep you focused. But more passive studying tasks, like reading and memorizing your notes, become increasingly difficult as your brain wears out. If you can postpone your studying till tomorrow and go to sleep, do it—you’ll get it done much quicker during the daytime. Even if your calculus final is at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning, make sure you still get some good sleep. The few formulas that you domanage to retain during an all-nighter won’t help much if you’re so tired that you can’t remember how to work your calculator.
Food and water are still necessary during finals week. When you’re pressed for time, it can be easy to study straight through meals. If you’re very busy and closing the books for a whole meal seems like too much pressure, keep a water bottle and a few snacks with you. Water, a granola bar and a piece of fruit are a much better alternative to nothing at all. You’ll keep your energy, your mood, and your focus up if you eat.
Don’t become a hermit. If you seriously isolate yourself while you’re studying, you might be putting yourself in a bad mood without even realizing it. The truth is that people needhuman contact to feel good. So while you might not have time to watch a movie with your friends or go to a party this weekend, try your best to get a little bit of social activity every day. That could mean knocking on your suitemate’s door to show her something funny you found online (during one of your study breaks, of course!) or grabbing coffee with a classmate after you give your term papers to your professor. At the very least, studying in the library as opposed to alone in your room can keep you from feeling alone.
I hope some of these things will help your week go smoothly. When it all comes to it, though, this is finals; you’ve covered all this already and have probably been tested on it before, too. You’re not starting from scratch. Keep this in mind if you find yourself downloading and printing all 200 pages of lecture notes in a moment of panic. Good luck!