If you are like me, you end up doing all of your assignments and obligations at the very last second. I understand – there are many other things that you would rather be doing like sleeping or hanging out with friends, but I promise you there is nothing worse than going into finals week and realizing that you have to study an entire semester's worth of material in one night. If you are a procrastinator, this guide is for you.

Try to break studying up into small sections. Don't spend 5 hours at a time studying for finals. Your brain won't be able to fully comprehend all of the information that you are throwing at it. Instead, break it up to where you are doing a little bit at a time and then taking a small 5-10 minute break and then resuming studying. This way your brain gets a chance to take a break before absorbing more information.

Secondly – reward yourself! If you are studying give yourself an incentive so that way you have something to look forward to. Tell yourself that you will allow yourself to take a short nap or go get ice cream if you study for 2 hours. It worked when you were a kid, and I promise you it will work now.

Study with friends – if you have friends in the class who are taking the final the same time that you are, make a study group. Sometimes this gives you the best of both worlds – you get to hang out with your friends and you get some studying done in the meantime. Make sure that you are selective about who you grab to join your study group because some people may not be totally committed to studying and may end up just distracting you more than helping you.

Look at what is going to be on the final. Most professors put out a final exam review so look at that and really study what is on there. The professor would not have put it on there if it wasn't on the exam. It gives you a good basis on where to start studying. If you have time to study other things that were covered in the class, then great. But if not, then don't worry about it – the main parts of the exam will be covered. Trust that you have learned something in the class.

Overall, finals are stressful for everyone. Just remember to do little things for yourself as a reward. Finals are the ending of the semester, and you should celebrate that you survived another semester. Good luck with your finals!