It's no secret that in life there are always things that us humans try to avoid. From doing taxes (which you should do), to cleaning the house, to doing your projects before the night they are due, there will always be the dread of studying for final exams. It’s no secret that finals week is a stressful time for every student whether they are studying art history, engineering, or even if a student is still undecided. Finals are a time where the students aren’t only being tested on the courses they are taking but they are also being tested on their time management.
We all know those students who don’t need to study for that one exam, but they may have to study for the other exams they have besides that class. Everyone understands courses differently — it's just the way we humans are. For example myself, being arguably the absolute worse student when it comes to math of all time, but I can easily count money and do sports stats in my head in the blink of an eye while my girlfriend can solve equations I could never dream of possibly learning.
Unfortunately, in the world we live in today there are more that ever things that can easily affect our studying habits. While we may say we won’t do something odds are we are going to because it is just human nature. Here is my list of the top five things to avoid while studying for finals.
5. Soda or energy drinks
This one is a given. We all hear the stories of how someone drinks a very high caffeinated drink with too much sugar, which ends up making that person crash. While you may feel alive, your body is trying to do what it can to break it all down, which then leads to you crashing. Once you crash, you are not going to be studying. Instead, you will be deciding how long of a nap you are going to take.
4. Studying on a bed
Every person is different when it comes to study habits, but studies have shown that when you study in a environment similar to the one you will take a test at you are more likely to perform better on your exam. All studying on your bed is going to do is make you want to take a break every hour, which then leads to a five-hour nap.
3. Avoid the "let's go out" phone call
The thing that especially makes studying for second semester finals hard is that this is the time when the weather starts to improve, and you’re finally able to put your winter coat away. We all have that one friend that will call us to try to make plans to go out to the beach or a baseball game for a day and will use the famous line, “Give your brain a rest for one day.” Finals are what we prepare for all semester. It is the one thing that can make a difference between you passing the class or failing because you didn’t prepare hard enough.
2. Avoid Junk Food
Yes, it is the most stressful time of year. Take it from a former offensive lineman’s point of view, nothing would be better than to bite down on a greasy burger while enjoying some fries with a shake to satisfy my hunger from studying for two days straight. As amazing as that sounds just writing it, the bottom line is that our bodies need proper nutrition to keep going. Finals week is where we are forcing our bodies to test their limits of being able to stay awake and possibly even miss some time exercising due to tiredness. Be smart with your food during finals week, and maybe don’t get the side order of fries (as much as it hurts to say).
1. Avoid Netflix at all cost
We live in an age where our patience levels, in my opinion, are at an all-time low. The main reason being Netflix, where you can watch a whole season of one show in a day. Then, once it's over, you find out via Google you have to wait a whole year just for the production company to release the next season to stores and then Netflix. Netflix has something for everyone to watch depending on what kind of programming they like. The problem is the very famous catchphrase: “one more episode." We all have heard it, and it has become a curse on people who are trying to study for exams. This leads to students saying they will finish the project or assignment on the day it is due. Let's end the one more episode curse this year.
