If your past week has been anything like mine, you know that exams in all your classes will clump up at least once. This basically meaning that you have five major tests in less than a week. As I’m currently in the middle of it, I feel it’s only appropriate to write out some coping methods of studying not only for others, but for myself to remember.
1. Take it one at a time
Hopefully, your exams are spread out so you don’t have more than two in a day. In this case, take studying day by day. Study first for that first test because it’s the soonest and you’ll need a couple days for that information to sink in. However, don’t try and cram it all at once. Take breaks from the material by reading over notes for your other exams briefly. This will ensure that you have at least some studying under your belt for your other exams and it helps to keep studying from feeling too monotonous.
2. Pace yourself
Based on how well you’re doing in the class, you should be able to identify the classes you really need to study for and the classes you kind of catch onto quickly. Don’t try to cram everything in one night if it’s a large amount of material to cover. Don’t fill out the study guide once a week before the exam and then not look at it again. Develop some sort of study schedule, even if it’s mental.
3. Relaxation breaks are important
Even though you have a butt ton of material to study for 5 different classes, you deserve breaks other than food and sleep. If you want to play cards one night, do it. If you want to visit home the weekend before all those tests, go visit home. Stress is at its worst when you don’t take time to step back from it. If you’re tired, take a 25 minute nap or mess around on Facebook for a little while. As long as you can get back to studying shortly, it’s fine.
4. Call out your own procrastination
I understand I can’t tell you not to procrastinate. It doesn’t work. You’d be like “Pfft, yea of course I won’t procrastinate! I’m going to do so much stuff.” Instead, tell yourself that you’re procrastinating as much as possible. Play the guilt card. Pile your homework in a spot that you can see it from your spot of shame. Hopefully, by pointing it out your brain will eventually switch over to dread-mode and you’ll have enough motivation to get back to it.
5. Eat snacks while you study
If you’re doing something physically while studying, it can help keep you focused. Although I may be a bit wrong, it supposedly keeps different parts of your brain occupied so the necessary parts for studying can focus. On top of this, studying is a lot harder when you keep thinking about food. The solution: just bring the food beforehand.
6. Don’t sacrifice sleep
As a college student, sleep is even more precious than usual. Therefore, DO NOT sacrifice your sleep to study. Sleep is the process that resets your mind. If you lose that, all mental processes will become compromised (which, by the way, includes everything you do, say, feel, think, or experience). Especially the night before the exam, sleep is important to help convert all that information you worked so hard to learn over into long-term memory.
I hope all this helps you decrease the number of mental breakdowns you have. It seems to be helping me a bit even though it’s 1am right now and I have an 8am and 4 more tests to go by Wednesday. Good luck in your classes everyone, and please try to take it easy on yourselves. I know your professors won’t.
