*UGH* Finals. Talk about a stress overload! Time for all-nighters, crash courses, and lots and lots of caffeine. We get your overwhelmed, but we got your back. HC Lasell here to provide you with all of our tried and true advice to stay healthy- mentally, physically, and emotionally this semester. Get ready to absolutely CRUSH those exams!
It is that time of the semester, finals are rolling in and everyone is panicking. You are probably catching up on last-minute work and trying to find the best way to study a semester worth of material. If you value your sleep and sanity, these tips can save you from cramming and pulling all-nighters.
1. Start early and stop procrastinating
It is better to plan ahead, maybe it’s to late this time but this is a great tip to keep in mind for next time starts. You should be working on studying a few weeks before the exam and should actively compile key terms and information. It can be helpful to create a page or two study guide of what you think will be on the test or write down the answers if you are lucky enough to get the topics ahead of time. It will be so worth it to avoid procrastinating, hand those assignments in on time and actually know the material on the test.
2. Plan and Time Chunk
Grab your planner or mobile planning app and start putting downtimes you want to study. You should plan ahead of time to make sure that your assignments are done in a timely manner and that you have time to study. It can be valuable to chunk out a few hours every week before a final to help you study and prepare for the test. This can help save you time in the long run and helps you regain more information than sitting down to study with 5 hours until the test. Do not try to study for a large amount of time because this will cause mental fatigue.
3. Use active study methods more than passive
This can not be said enough, it is more effective to do passive studying methods than passive. Passive studying methods are like notecards, reading or rewriting notes, while active study methods include creating a study guide, doing mock problems/tests or paraphrasing the content. It is also important that you focus on studying what you do not know by just looking through the terms and topics on the test. A lot of people feel they need to study everything, but prioritize things that you don’t know in a that you think will be on the test.
4. Get sleep and don’t overwork yourself
You matter, it is important that you take care of yourself. It is simply not effective to avoid eating and staying up all night. This will highly affect your performance and you should aim to eat all three meals and get at least 8 hours of sleep at night. Make self care a priority during this study season, so you can have unlimited success on your exams.