Does the mere thought of studying for finals make you feel stressed and overwhelmed? Oftentimes, we don’t even know how to approach studying everything we have learned over the past few months in several different subject areas. It often seems like an insurmountable task and puts a weight on our shoulders before we even begin. Here are some tips I am implementing this finals week(s) to try to make studying more manageable and decrease stress. I hope you find them helpful too!
- Fifty-ten rule
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This is quite a simple rule. For every fifty minutes of uninterrupted studying (this is a big one, I often get distracted if I don’t put my phone away!) I give myself a ten minute break. I learned this study tip elsewhere, and it honestly does make a difference. When I try to cram too much in my head at once, I find I cannot retain as much information. Giving myself a little breather allows me to relax and collect my thoughts.
- group study
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I have heard that learning the same information in different ways allows us to remember it better. For example, I tend to hand-write my notes for one of my classes, because I feel this helps make everything stick in my head. Then, to study, I read over my handwritten notes. The best thing I did, though, was implement group study with two friends. We all study beforehand, and usually the night before the test, we meet together to discuss the topics. Honestly, it helps us build off of our own knowledge and expand it. For me personally, this helps tie together everything I have studied on my own in other ways and solidifies things a bit more!
- Prioritize rest and nourishment
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In college, it is so common to pull all-nighters studying and fuel the majority of our energy through caffeine. I am a firm believer that this does more harm than good. Caffeine masks your tiredness, and our bodies and minds need to rest at night for a reason! Resting at night also allows our brains to process the information we studied and commit it to memory–don’t ask me too much about this because I’m surely no neuroscientist, but I do remember learning this in psychology. Also, something I have struggled with is making sure I am not only eating regularly, but eating nourishing food. A tip a friend shared with me is to pack snacks for your day in your backpack. A nourished body is a nourished mind!