5 Little Known Tips to Survive Finals Week

Finals week is so stressful. But, why is that? First we need to understand why finals are so stressful. Obviously, they’re important to your college career but there’s tons of critically important things we do that don’t stress us out nearly as much. It’s sort of super important to drive, skate, bike (or whatever mode of transportation you prefer) safely to class, but we don’t stress about that.

However, finals often crush us with stress. Here’s why: it’s an unknown. We don’t do it everyday. It’s not a routine act like safe driving, which is arguably more important to our lives. We now know it lacks the comfort we get from everyday tasks. So, how do we master the act of surviving and thriving finals? We treat the stress battle by looking at our everyday routines and habits and changing them up.

Your Phone

Turn it off for last minute studying. Whoa, whoa, not now, after this post. If you plan a study session and you actually turn the phone off, you’ll get this immediate sense of relief, peace and freedom. Read on, then turn off.

New scene

Remember, finals are not a mundane routine task. So, let’s match that vibe and go study in a new place. Being in a new environment often triggers some excitement.  Find a new coffee spot, a new nook on campus or even some random spot that just looks peaceful.

Calendar

On your phone’s home screen and on a piece of paper, post your schedule of finals. There’s a huge amount of stress that pops up whenever you have that moment of panic and think “Wtf, when’s my Calc final again?” If your final schedule is prominent, it’ll sink in and you’ll have the peace of mind.

Take a nap

If you were able to muster the discipline to turn your phone off, then you can do this too. Why study for three hours and only get about an hour of quality study time in? Go nap. Even if you’re a bit groggy, when you wake back up, the benefit the stress reduction will kick in shortly and your remaining hours will be much more productive.

Simplify

Don’t study every subject. Don’t even study everything you need in a single subject. Simplify and break it down in chunks. Take a quick and realistic evaluation of your time and needs and say “K, I can do this in this much time.” Then do just that. Just like the rationale for a nap, why waste study time when you’re not getting much out of it? Make this effort to achieve more effective study time!

Go ace your finals and turn your phone back on.

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