How to Mentally Survive Finals Season
How to Mentally Survive Finals Season
You’re trying to enjoy the end of your semester, but how can you with finals looming over your head? Your mind is racing with all of the questions: Am I studying enough? How do I know when I’m prepared? What’s going to be on the final? How am I going to find the time to get all of this work done? What happens if I don’t do well? These are normal questions that many college students experience as finals approach. Keep reading to get some tips on surviving finals season.
Here are 5 Tips for Surviving Finals:
1. Breathe
Are you breathing? In the midst of the stress that can accompany finals, many of us can find ourselves stuck in a head spinning mess. If this sounds like you, take one minute to take some deep breaths in and out to help center yourself and get back to reality.
2. Write everything down
Next, get out your planner, calendar, or whatever you use to remember dates. Take out your syllabi and write down every single thing that is due plus the dates of all of your tests. Having everything laid out in front of you will not only help you to remember everything, it will also help you to stay on track and be more productive.
3. Make a plan
Looking at your written down assignments, figure out the following:
Which assignment/test comes first?
What is going to take the most time to complete or study for?
Which assignment/test do I typically struggle with the most? The least?
Are there any group assignments that I have to plan for?
Once you have a better idea of this information, make a plan for what you want to get done and when. Write down your own deadlines. Having your own internal deadlines will keep you more accountable for getting your work done on time and will prevent you from the all-nighters and last minute scrambling that accompany procrastination.
4. Prioritize
Yes you have a paper to write and a test to study for, but you also have plans with your friends that you really don’t want to miss, plus work, plus a club meeting, plus a party to go to. How can you fit all of that in? That’s reality--most college students have far more priorities and things going on than just school. If you are finding yourself torn between how to spend your time, take a minute to write what it is you have to do and what it is you want to do, plus how much time you think you need for each thing. Once you have that done, figure out where to fit in the “have to do's” and which of the “want to do’s” you are going to keep in your schedule and which you are going to take a rain check for.
5. Study Study Study
Now that you have everything written out, planned, and allocated in your schedule, the only thing you have left to do is study. Open up your book and get reading, you’re almost through another semester!