As we are reaching the middle of the semester, you are probably experiencing a lot of stress or wondering how you are going to fit in studying for your three midterms without having an anxiety attack. The best advice is to simply stay calm and think positive thoughts. A few productive activities to complete during midterms include journaling, yoga or mediating, listening to music, exercising, and most importantly staying organized.
Keeping a journal will give you a place to keep all of your thoughts during this rough time, instead of keeping them all bottled up. In the morning write down everything you need to accomplish for that day and how you are feeling. Later that evening, turn to your journal to write how your day went and how successful you were. If it does not seem like you were too productive, it is okay. Just set new goals for tomorrow.
Doing yoga and mediating are good for your body as it gets your blood flowing and can release any tension that you have built up. These two activities are great to do if you are looking to clear your mind for a little bit.
Listening to music is something that always keeps me calm and brings me back to where I need to be. Music can energize and motivate you for the day, therefore it is beneficial to listen to in the morning compared to listening to it while you are doing work. Listening to music while doing your work can create a lot of distractions. You can go to change the song on your phone and then find yourself on Instagram or Twitter scrolling up and down your timeline for the next half hour. Also, listening to music at the end of the day is soothing and can help you to de-stress.
It is okay to feel exhausted and like you need to just go take a break. Exercising is always good in this case. Exercising can energize the body and clear the mind as well. If you do not feel like going to run the track for a mile, even a nice calm walk around campus will work! It is extremely important to have a clear mind or else you will be overwhelmed and it will be difficult to concentrate, so take some time off the best thing to do is find another activity to occupy you for at least 30 minutes.
In order to do well on exams or give your best work towards a project it is mandatory to get good rest, eat a healthy breakfast and stay active. Of course when you are trying to cram in studying, projects, and papers the last thing on your to-do list is sleep. But it is never healthy or beneficial to your body to pull an all-nighter; remember that getting some rest will improve the quality of your studying even if it takes away some of your studying time. Taking naps is always a good idea, do not think different. In fact, it is important to take some breaks in between your studying; going non-stop is not beneficial.
Lastly, I want to focus on staying organized and developing a plan. Studying without a plan is basically asking to fail, you may focus on the wrong material and feel overwhelmed. Make sure to stay on top of your due dates and make a to-do list. Do not allow the list to overwhelm you, instead plan out your time. Instead of stressing out (causing things to get worse) you may have to eliminate some fun things off of your list, or turn your phone on airplane mode so there are no distractions. Overall, relax and BREATHE. It will all be over soon and think of the break that is ahead of you. It will all be worth it, trust me. Stay positive!