This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St Edward's chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
It’s that time of the semester, yet again: midterms. In a way, they might be worse than finals, because at least with finals you have the promise of a warm summer after finishing. After midterms, all you have is more school. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make these stressful weeks more relaxing and more rewarding.
Have a clean space
If you like to clean while you procrastinate, that’s okay. Having a clean room or apartment could actually make your studying easier and less distracting. So take some time before studying to spruce up your space.
Step away from it all
As much fun as it is to study with friends, you might be the kind of studier that does best when studying alone. So for your most challenging midterms, find a quiet spot on campus and be alone for a couple hours. You’ll be more productive and less distracted.
Reward yourself
Facing a big block of study time? Don’t forget to take a 10 minute study break every hour to rest your body and brain. During those 10 minutes, get up and stretch your legs, chug a glass of water or just look at something other than your computer screen. You’ll thank yourself later.
Don’t forget to sleep
As much as you’re tempted to pull an all-nighter memorizing the material, give your brain a rest and go to sleep at a normal time. The decent amount of sleep will help your brain absorb information better and will keep you refreshed and not in zombie mode. If you want extra time studying, you could wake up an hour earlier to review before your midterm.
Look at the big picture
Focusing on one midterm too much can cause you to lose focus of the big picture that is college. Don’t forget that these tests consist of just a couple weeks in an otherwise good semester. Before you stress out too much, think of all the good things that have happened or will happen, and use those thoughts to balance out your stress.