12 Dec 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014

Finals Guidance

News

FINALS are here…

One of the biggest stressors this time of the year for many students is FINALS! Here are some tips to help you pre-pare:

  • Deep breathing. This is an easy and quick way to reduce your stress level. Take slow, deliberate, deep breaths. When you do this, you are telling your body that it’s okay to relax. You’ll be more productive in your study time and more at ease when taking your finals.
  • Set aside a few minutes each day to take a break from the craziness. Do something you enjoy or grab a healthy snack; you’ll be refreshed enough to continue. Just remember to set a time limit!
  • Realize that nobody is perfect. Expect to make mistakes. Don’t set your expectations so high for your-self that they can’t be met. This only sets you up for defeat and causes you to feel like giving up.
  • Learn to recognize the differences between things you can and cannot control. Taking on things that you can’t do anything about will only add to your stress level. (You can’t control the fact that you have 3 tests in one day, but you can control how early you begin studying.)
  • Find a quiet place to study. The quieter it is, the easier it is for you to focus and get your work done.
  • Study in the same place every night – NOT YOUR BED! Your body associates your bed with sleep, so if you study in your bed, you will want to go to sleep instead of study.
  • Rewrite your notes and high-light or underline key points or words. Check off information you already know.
  • Use study aids such as flash-cards. This works particularly well for vocabulary, foreign languages, dates, names, and math and science formulas.
  • PREPARE AHEAD! Start going over your notes a few minutes every night between now and finals. You’ll lighten your study load at the end and you’ll be less stressed!

Remember that stress is a normal part of life. But you can do some-thing to help reduce its effects on you!