There’s no denying it, folks: finals season is officially upon us. As dreadful as the thought may sound, the best way to deal with it is to actually accept the fact, and from there make a coherent plan on how to best tackle the million things due in the coming weeks. It may seem like a simple game of prioritizing based on how soon an assignment’s due date is, but there are actually a series of other steps that might be even more beneficial for your academic and personal well being.
Start Right Now
If you’ve been waiting for a sign as to when you should start working on your finals, then consider this it. There are things you can do right at this moment (or, as soon as you finish this article), to help you prep for finals season. Get out your planner and block out three hour study blocks for your upcoming exams, develop an outline for one of your research papers, or text a buddy in one of your classes who may want to do this stuff with you.
Stay Awake
This is pretty important, because you will not be able to finish everything if you drain out your energy in too many impromptu naps or gallons of coffee. Make sure to keep to your regular sleeping schedule as much as possible, and remember: finals are about reprioritizing your time, not exhausting it. In order to make the most of your daytime hours, I recommend going to do your work at a library or coffee shop where the energy is all work no play, to ensure you really won’t get tired of it.
Avoid Hangovers
Although it may be tempting to go out during finals season, remember that you came to college to get a degree, and two weekends in is a totally worthwhile compromise for that diploma. Hangovers or over exhaustion due to partying will definitely lead to lack of productivity, and will probably reduce the quality of work you could have produced were you at your best.
F**k Perfection
Try as we might, we will never be perfect. Forget about reaching the perfect point in your outline or the ideal level of comfort with the material, just dive into it. More often than not, we use the idea of perfection as a way to procrastinate, because we’re scared of dealing with unfamiliar material right now. But guess what? The sooner you let go of the idea that there will be a perfect time to deal with finals, the sooner your finals will actually be over with.
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