When you feel as though you are at then end of your rope, on your third cup of black tea, and day three of staying up until 3am, here are some tips on how to stay motivated during finals week.
1. Take breaks! Studying can be great but what’s better than giving you brain a rest and allowing yourself some me time. Give yourself a quick snack break, or go on a run, anything to help you stay motivated and in the game when it’s time place your nose back on the grindstone.
2. Listen to your favourite music! What better way to study than with your favourite tunes. Whether you like Betoven or Ke$ha, you can turn on your favourite Spotify playlist and jam to your studies.
3. Find a new place to study! Tired of your room, feeling cooped up? Take your books outside or to your favourite coffee shop. A change of scenery can do wonders for your mind and body. It will refresh you and ready you for your next study sesh.
4. Study with friends! The best way to get through finals is to do it with people who know what you’re going though. Studying with friends can help motivate everyone, breaking up the monotony and allowing everyone a good time to both hang out and cheer each other on.
5. Choose a good time of day to study! Eyes itching from fatigue? Ready to take your third nap of the day? How about getting some sleep tonight and getting up earlier to study? Or have you been getting up at daybreak each morning to study? Try changing it up and study at 9 or 10. Studies show that the worst times for brain activity are between the hours of 2-4 in the afternoon, so try to work around those times and give your brain ample time to learn what it needs to learn.
6. Self encouragement! It’s important to stay positive when finals roll around and know that if you get a bad grade on the final, IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. You will survive and you will get through this. Positive motivation is far better than letting yourself beleive that you can’t. Instead, motivate yourself with pep talks on how great you are and how well you’re doing.
7. Know that it will all be over soon! We can all smell summer in the air and nearly taste it on our tongues. So this is our final push. Tell yourself that you’re almost done! Because you’ve nearly made it! Now go out there and get it done!