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How to reduce stress during finals week
11 Dec 2018
It’s that time of the year again, where the end of the semester is wrapping up and students all around the world are gearing up for their final exams and/or completing assignments and projects.
Mood for finals week pic.twitter.com/Zv4FS22gBD
— 🐐 (@RahmaanKR) December 6, 2018
We know it can be a stressful and overwhelming time, so we’ve put together some helpful tips that will help you keep your cool when faced with so much to do in such little time.
Stay organised
Organisation is key! It can be daunting when you have a long list of assignments, due dates, exams and tests, plus you might need to allocate time to personal commitments or jobs. Making a schedule to include study times, study group sessions, due dates, etc will also help you feel more in control of your plans and time. Just make sure you stick to it!
Also, keep your notes, books, and assignments organised by subject so you aren’t scrambling and wasting precious time looking for your stuff during revision time. Keep your desk organised too, as keeping your study space neat will help you concentrate.
Sleep
You’re probably thinking, who’s got time for that?! But studies show that a good night’s sleep is linked to better academic performance than pulling an all-nighter to study, no matter whether you’re a straight A student or not. Lack of sleep also affects you physically as you might put on weight, be more prone to falling sick, experience fatigue, have dull skin, and have memory impairment.
So how can you avoid pulling all-nighters? Tip 1 above will help, as the more organised you are with your study schedule, the less likely you will need to stay up all night to get your work done. Another good tip is to set a bedtime and wake-up time. So if you make it a point to go to bed at 11pm, you’ll be less likely to start studying at 10.30pm and be more motivated to start earlier.
Also, reduce your caffeine intake throughout the day and avoid it altogether at night to avoid problems falling asleep. If stress is keeping you up, try doing some light yoga to help you relax and fall asleep.
Source: Giphy
Take care of your health
If you’ve noticed that your peers are all falling ill around exam period, it’s probably because stress reduces immune levels. It’s the most inconvenient time to fall sick as you can’t afford to lay in bed with the flu when you have so much work to do, and you’ll end up feeling even more miserable.
Take care of yourself by eating healthy food, exercising regularly, and cutting back on alcohol near finals week. Remember to wash your hands often, or keep a little bottle of hand sanitizer with you. And if you do happen to fall sick, stay home and rest rather than pushing yourself and spreading the illness to others.
Being sick during finals is fun bc it’s like what’s gonna kill me first, this virus or stress?? Stay tuned.
— Abby (@abbyepetersen) December 6, 2018
Avoid distractions
Students everywhere struggle with this, and it happens in the workplace too. Distractions are everywhere and can be impossible to remove, so the only way is to be strong enough to avoid giving in to temptation when you need to buckle down and study.
Choose a place to study where you’re less likely to be distracted. This is different for everyone as we all get distracted by different things, but generally, places like the library or a quiet study area are better options compared to cafes or common areas where you’re more likely to bump into friends or be distracted by what’s going on around you.
If you tend to get distracted by websites such as Facebook, try Strict Pomodoro, a Chrome browser extension that allows you to block certain sites for a set period of time. You can’t turn it off once it’s set, so you’ll have to stick to it until the time period is up. There’s also SelfControl, a free app for Mac users, that offers the same features. If it’s your phone that’s distracting you, turn it off or at least put it on silent.
