The time has come….finals week! It’s a super stressful time for everyone and often seems like we’ll never make it through to the end. But don’t fret, because we all do, just in different ways. Below are 5 tips to get you through those dreaded finals and into the break that we all deserve!
- Make a To-Do List (seriously!)
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Get out your cute TJ Maxx planner, Target notebook, or even a plain piece of scratch paper and get to organizing all your due dates for final papers, projects, and exams. Writing all that down and organizing by class will immediately take some of that anxiety off your shoulders. It’s important to have a concrete list of things you need to accomplish so that you can keep track and check them off as you go. And hey, color-coding it might even be fun!
- Make Your Study Schedule Realistic
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Now that you have your list going, it’s time to plan out when and how you’re getting it all done. But the most important thing is that you’re realistic. Trying to get a project done and reading 4 chapters with notes all in one day is only going to stress you out more when you don’t finish it all by the end of the day. Set yourself up for successes by being realistic with your time and energy. You’ll feel much better if you’re able to check everything off your to-do list for the day by the time you get to bed- trust. Finals week is all about your frame of mind!
- TAKE BREAKS.
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You could be staring at your computer screen for 4 hours straight and not absorb a single word if you’re too tired or mentally drained. Take.Those. Breaks. Those hours staring at your textbook or your notes don’t mean a single thing if you’re not mentally present (or half asleep). Again, be realistic. Tell yourself you’ll study for an hour and then take a 10-15 minute break. Literally, set your alarm on your phone. And don’t just spend those 10 minutes on your phone checking Instagram or TikTok. Get up and move around, take a quick power nap, call a friend, do some jumping jacks-anything! Your brain and body will thank you later.
- Give Yourself Incentives
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Don’t dread studying and doing work- get excited for it! Tell yourself you’ll wake up and get your favorite Starbucks drink to kick off your day so that you have something to get you out of bed and motivated to start. Set some goals with each assignment; if you tell yourself that you’ll pick up a chocolate croissant or eat whatever treat you’ve been holding onto at your dorm/apartment if you finish a section of studying or an assignment, you’ll find that you’re much more apt to actually get through it. Even breaks can be incentives! Get your friends involved too if you like studying with other people; for example, say that if you all get whatever you planned to done then you’ll order out dinner from your favorite place all together. It’s the little things that sometimes get us through!
- Remember That Finals are NOT the ‘End-All-Be-All’
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Remember the finals you took last year? That one exam you could’ve done a little better on in high school? Or the project that you didn’t get a 100 on? If you’re reading this, that means you’re still alive and despite what you may have once thought, it didn’t kill you. Finals seem so huge in the moment, but once they’re done and over with, they’re barely a speck in our rearview mirror. Don’t let this week get you down, because it WILL be over and you WILL get through it!
Now go out there, get it done, and let these finals be barely a speck in your rearview mirror.