As Doomsday inches closer and closer, I find myself scrambling to organize my notes and rushing to finish up all of my assignments. Like many, I love leaving my work till the last minute, then loathe myself for not doing it earlier. Usually a week before finals, I am overcome with the urge to deep clean my room, or to do some holiday shopping for friends and family back home. I will do anything and everything under the sun to avoid actually sitting down and studying. How do I fight that urge? Here are five of my favorite tips to actually get going and get my work done.
- NEVER pull an all-nighter
There is no way any of us are cramming an entire semester’s worth of information into our brains over the course of one night. Your body needs to be well rested before the exam, and cramming is going to tire you out more and no information will be retained.
- Plan and schedule
I use a planner to map out what I’m going to study for the day, and how much time I plan to assign to a task. It allows me to break down huge, daunting tasks into smaller, digestible chunks. Instead of assigning myself particular hours during the day to study something, I only assign myself the total duration. “Study physics from 2PM to 4PM” is far less effective than “study physics for two hours today.”
This allows me to study at my own pace without having to worry about being able to study within a given timeframe.Â
- Know WHEN and WHERE your exam is
My exams are often held in areas of campus I haven’t even heard of before. I usually walk to those buildings over the weekend to familiarize myself with the area and ensure that I don’t get lost 30 minutes before the exam. Knowing where to go without the added stress of getting lost or being late is helpful, especially before an equally stress-inducing exam.Â
- Take breaks and eat
I often forget to eat when I’m studying or rushing to complete an assignment. My sleep schedule goes for a toss, and I feel weaker. Setting goals for myself like, “I will watch one episode of New Girl once I finish this worksheet” gives me something to look forward to, and also gives me a sense of accomplishment because I now have motivation to finish the task. Within these breaks, I will eat an apple or a banana and make sure that I’m eating full meals everyday. It gives me energy and makes me feel less lethargic and unmotivated.
- Acknowledge that doing your best is good enough
A lot of us write exams with the fear of either getting bad grades or failing. Going into an exam with preconceived notions of what our final results will look like will stress you out. For me, it leads to avoidance. If I don’t look at what I don’t know, I won’t have to face the reality of knowing that I’m going to fail.
This fear of failure led to me avoiding a lot of work that was important to my GPA. Today, I know better. I know that if I put in the effort, the results will reflect them and I will be satisfied knowing that I did the best I could.
At the end of the day, everyone studies differently and prepares in different ways. What is important is that you take care of yourself and make sure that you are well rested and prepared. Taking Netflix breaks, going for walks or getting boba with friends are all valid ways to de-stress after a long day of studying or working. Don’t think that you need to slave away over your textbooks to deserve a break.
Do what is best for you and the results will show.Â