It’s that time of year again. The last few months of school are upon us, and midterms have just been completed, which can only mean one thing — time to prepare for final exams, the one week in the whole school year that students dread the most. Even though it is months away, it will be here before you know it, and it is never too early to begin preparing.
The time of year students think “pulling all-nighters is part of college” and they stay up all hours of the night to finish projects, papers or to study.
The time of year some students skip eating because they are glued to their computers working or shut themselves up in their rooms.
The time of year students just want to pull their hair out and have anxiety attacks.
Well, I’m here to tell you that none of those things are healthy. Yes, pulling all-nighters can be nice as far as feeling accomplished and getting things done, but it can cause more harm than good. Don’t worry because there are many ways to cope with exam stress, and you will learn seven by the time you’re done reading this article.
The Huffington Post gives college students 10 ways to cope with exam stress and you will find that you are familiar with some of these ways already.
The first way to help cope with exam stress is interacting/spending time with an animal for at least 15 minutes, preferably a cat or dog. Studies have shown that after petting a dog or cat for 15 seconds, your heart rate and blood pressure automatically decrease. Interacting with animals is good for your health and fun at the same time.
The second way to cope with exam stress is taking a nice 20-minute run — outside if you can. Endorphins are released throughout your body when you run, and it’s also a great way to clear your mind. It also helps you feel energized and wide awake, which helps with concentration and gives you a little more motivation to do work.
Eating a healthy breakfast is another way to cope with stress because it will get your brain going and ready to work. Eating something like oatmeal, a muffin, eggs, bacon or fruit is suggested because those aren’t sugary and won’t make you feel tired.
Talking to a friend or family member is another great way to help cope with stress. Expressing your feelings to someone who will listen and/or give advice is a therapeutic way of coping. It feels good to let someone else know what you’re feeling instead of keeping it bottled up inside until it explodes.
Cleaning your work area and making a detailed calendar will help you in dealing with exam stress. Having papers and supplies cluttered everywhere in your work area is distracting and also makes it hard to find things.
Also, seeing everything you have too cluttered together will make you feel more stressed and anxious. Having a system of where supplies and papers for each class should help immensely.
Having a calendar with everything you need to get done will help you set goals and feel less stressed. Knowing what you need to do day-to-day instead of trying to do everything at once will help your concentration so you can give your best effort on everything.
The final and most common way of de-stressing is listening to music. The type of music to help calm you depends on what you prefer to listen to, but studies have shown that listening to classical music and music that specifically helps your brain get going are the best types.
Classical music or “brain” music is calming because they don’t contain any words or inconsistent rhythms that make you think more about the music. Songs that have words can sometimes take your attention away from your work because you have an emotional connection with the music.
Some music brings back memories, whether they are painful or happy, and that interferes with your focus. Music is a great way to cope with stress because it is soothing and calming to many people.
So when it comes time to study for exams and take them, make sure you eat a good, healthy breakfast, pet an animal, take a run, get organized and listen to music. These may seem like small steps to take to cope with stress but many small steps lead to bigger ones.
