It’s finally time for finals! As a current sophomore, I can understand how stressful this time can be for most students. Final exams can determine our final grade for a required class or our eligibility for an internship during the summer. It is important to try our best on every final we take, but it is more important to avoid feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. These negative emotions can lead to self-doubt that impacts our performance on finals. If you feel stressed or anxious by studying right now, here are some ways you can approach your final exams with confidence and a positive mindset.
- Design a realistic study schedule
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Having a set plan and schedule can help you approach finals week with confidence. By planning out your time for studying, relaxing, eating, and spending time with your friends, you can give yourself less stress. It is important to spend time studying, but you want to make sure you are taking enough time for breaks and for yourself in order to avoid burnout. You might not be able to study for 12 hours straight the night before an exam, but you can handle 6 to 8 hours every day over the next couple of days if you pace yourself.
- Form a study group
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Studying with your friends can be a great way to reduce your stress. By studying with friends, you can quiz yourself and each other on the material that will be covered. Staying connected to your friends will also help you feel more motivated to study and less overwhelmed by exams. Every student has their strengths and weaknesses. By studying together, you can help each other out by going over concepts and explaining them to each other. Every person deals with exams in their own way, so remember to encourage your friends to try their best.
- Avoid social media and other distractions
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While studying, you may feel like taking a break. So you unlock your phone to open Instagram. Suddenly, you’ve been scrolling through Insta reels for the past three hours. While it may feel tempting, social media can add more stress rather than help people. A study found that social media users are 14 percent more likely than non-users to characterize their lives as “somewhat stressful”. If you’re already feeling stressed, it would be a good idea to remove stress-inducing distractions. You can try to set a rule on opening those apps for a set time during the day, so you avoid losing focus and increasing your stress.
- Believe in yourself
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During finals week, you may feel a lack of confidence in yourself and your ability to do well on exams. Just remember how far you have come from the beginning of the semester, and how well you’ve done in your courses so far! Try to replace the negative mindset you have with a positive attitude, and walk into your exams with confidence. Try not to think of your final as something to be threatened by. Instead, try to think of it as a Jeopardy quiz show, and that you’re trying to win all the money. By making the process of studying for finals fun, you will be better prepared for your exams. Prepare yourself by studying well and diligently for finals, and you will do amazingly well!
Let’s finish the semester strong! We just have a few more days until summer break begins. Good luck to everyone for finals!