Hello Finals, goodbye sanity. Finals season is finally upon us and can usually get the best of us. Don't let your exams destroy your health. While under exam stress, we tend to neglect some essential habits that could end up being beneficial to your study routine; here are 5 things to take care of and keep in mind this week.
1. Skin Care
When under stress, our skin can tend to breakout. Long nights at the library will wreak havoc on your skin. Using a face wash or face mask will not only be beneficial for your skin but is a great way to de-stress. On a test day, you're already stressed enough; don't let a break-out stress you out even more.
2. Eating Habits
Just because you may be feeling like crap doesn't mean you should eat like crap. Snacking is important and you're allowed to indulge yourself every once in a while, but don't let that tube of Pringles you bought in the name of treating yourself become a nightly habit. Make conscious eating choices without making drastic changes to your usual diet. Happy snacking.
3. Mental Health Breaks
If you're feeling discouraged or overwhelmed — take a break. If you're feeling distracted — take a break. If you can feel your mind drifting away — take a break. Take. A. Break. Taking breaks regularly helps you stay on schedule and will increase your focus during studying. Without breaks your mind may go numb and all that hard studying will be go in one ear and out the other. Go for a walk, coffee-run, or even take a nap. Just give your brain a break.
4. Sleep
Pulling that all-nighter to cram will do you more harm than good. While we sleep, our short term memory gets converted to our long term memory. Recent studies have shown that late-night cramming instead of sleeping may lead to worse grades. If you're worried about waking up feeling exhausted from not getting enough sleep, try sleeping in increments of one-and-a-half-hour sleep cycles to wake up well rested, while still having time to cram.
5. Your Bank Account
Being a college student is already rough enough on your bank account as it is. When you're in the middle of a session in the library, the last thing you want to do is to take the time to go home, cook, and inevitably clean up. You're more inclined to spend eating out when you're busier and finals preparation is no exception. If you're going to eat out, set a budget; make a meal plan for the week to set where you're going to eat and how much you're going to spend each day. If your main concern is the time it takes to clean up and cook, meal prep! Set aside some free time beforehand to prepare your meals for the upcoming week. Or find an in-between to accommodate your busy schedule.
