Five Mistakes Not To Make During Finals Week:
- Don’t Pull All-Nighters
While you may be able to learn a lot in a short amount of time, your brain cannot retain the knowledge unless you enter into REM sleep. It’s better to get a full night sleep than to stay up all night studying, so you won’t be sleepy while actually taking your tests.
- Don’t Try to Fit A Semester into a Weekend
Although finals are right around the corner, attempt to stagger your learning. It is easier to do a little work each day than to try to read 200 pages of your text book in one sitting. If there’s too much to do, read chapter summaries or review your notes. Time management is a crucial skill, especially during finals week.
- Don’t Stress Eat
While pizza and peachy ohs sound like a great snack, they’re not healthy. It’s okay to snack on occasion, but choose options that will help you:
- yogurt instead of ice cream
- popcorn instead of chips
- tea or coffee instead of energy drinks
- chips and salsa instead of pizza
- Don’t Let Study Groups Become Social Groups
Sometimes other people understand a concept you do not, so studying in groups can often be helpful. However, if you’re a social butterfly, study groups can turn into chatting. Nothing makes time pass faster than a good conversation, so keep that in mind when studying with friends.
- Don’t Let Technology Distract You
The internet is a valuable teaching tool, but it’s also home to Facebook, Pinterest, and a multitude of other entertaining but distracting sites. Cell phones can also be problematic. A text is only a short interruption, but if you are having a conversation, its hard to be deeply and continually focused on the task at hand. And stay away from those logo quizzes or whatever new version of angry birds is available.