After Thanksgiving, finals start to creep up on college students. Whether it's the last paper or studying for final exams, students tend to procrastinate until the last minute, which leads to everyone staying up all hours of the night and not getting enough sleep. Below are some tricks to help stay focused and on-track for the last few weeks of school:
1. Study at the library instead of your dorm or bedroom.
Sometimes being around your bed will make it too tempting to take a nap. This also may help if you have distractions in your dorm. In the library, you will want to focus because everyone around you is doing homework as well.
2. Don’t overwork yourself.
Take regular naps and breaks for food and relaxation. Sometimes rewarding your mind and body is the best way to get back into study mode.
3. Plan ahead with a daily planner.
A planner is a great way to keep yourself organized and on track with assignments, test dates, and all of your other responsibilities.
4. Utilize office hours and tutoring services on campus.
If you feel like you need the extra help, tutoring services are available to help you with assignments and study methods. I know a lot of people hate going to office hours, but sometimes going to them can help you out because your professor can give you additional ideas and explain things one-on-one in a way that you can understand them. Also, sometimes even just showing up at office hours will show the professor that you care about their class, and this can sometimes help your grade.
5. Have some caffeine.
Whether it’s coffee, tea, soda, or even chocolate, you can give yourself some extra energy, but know your limit. Be careful not to drink too much, or else you will get the jitters and have a harder time focusing than before.
6. Turn your wifi off.
If it’s possible for you to do your work without Internet, you can turn it off and keep yourself from getting distracted by social media.
7. Figure out how you work best.
Some people work better doing all of their assignments at once, and others work better working for multiple short periods of time throughout the day. Figure out how you are most productive and plan your schedule out to work in that way.
8. Find a work buddy.
If you have a friend studying with you, sometimes it can help you focus if you see someone else doing the same thing. Something that my friends and I do when we can’t focus is to play “The Quiet Game.” The rules are simple: We pick a time and we aren’t allowed to talk to each other until our time is up. It helps us from getting distracted and more focused (even though the first half hour is usually us laughing the entire time).
