Because we're in the middle of finals week, I decided to procrastinate on studying and actually write an article. Ironically, I'm writing about how to deal with finals week and neglecting my responsibility towards my school work as a result. If you're reading this article instead of studying for finals, you're kinda in the same boat as me. Let's get started.
1. Procrastinate early
I cannot stress this enough.
As a heavy procrastinator, I know I need time to procrastinate. For some reason I feel like it helps me get into a working mode by allowing me to not focus on something for a while. I know, it seems like an excuse to get away from starting my work as early as possible, but its true, at least for me. So, if you're like me and you have a whole bunch of essays to write, take a day (or two) and do absolutely nothing. Get all of that procrastination out of your system early, because if you don't, it will come back to haunt you at the most opportune moment.
2. Schedule out your work
Again, procrastination is a killer, and if you don't create a time frame for how you're gonna do your work, you might as well grab a seat on the I-Have-Way-Too-Much-Work Bus, Destination: Stressville, Population: You. Personally, I like to schedule my work so that I dedicate a whole day for one subject, with the most assignments due in the least amount of time taking precedent
3. Get Comfortable
I think it's really important to get comfortable before you start working. This can mean making sure you're in a clean room, a room with a specific temperature, a room with a specific noise level, or a room that has a specific something that seems so specific that it shouldn't matter. Trust me, you want to get comfortable, but not so comfortable that you can fall asleep. This is because, if you aren't comfortable, something is gonna be nagging at you until you do get comfortable, even if you're running low won time to study.
4. Don't go at it alone
A lot of the time I find myself losing focus on the work that I'm supposed to be doing. That's where having friends can be a positive thing while studying. Most of the time people think that studying should be a solitary thing because study groups can easily turn into hangouts. This is true, however, if you have a group of friends that have to study anyway, you can all keep each other on task and help each other out with work. It's a win-win really; You get to stay on task and not feel alone, and they receive the same benefits.
5. Take breaks
Powering through all of your assignments, and studying for everything all at once will burn you out. Finish half of an assignment and take a break. Finish the rest of the assignment, take another break. Take a walk around your house and stretch. Give yourself time to relax so that you don't stress out too much about the work you have to do. Sometimes you just have to take a break to breathe, and then you can dive back into your work.
6. Don't worry about it too much
Finals are just that. Finals. They're one assignment that doesn't define your entire grade. You've worked your hardest on so many assignments so far, and put in so much effort into your classes. One final shouldn't wreck your GPA, so take a deep breath and remember that your grades don't define who you are
