Finals week has arrived and we are all stressing and pulling our hair out!
But is it possible to have a stress free finals week? While this ideal may be impossible to reach, we can try our best to relieve as much stress as we can; here are some tips on doing that:
1. Meditation is a great way to release the loads of anxiety that we have and often allows the brain to relax and re-focus. All you have to do is close your eyes, with both feet on the floor and slowly breathe in and out. This simple technique will allow you to clear your mind and relieve a lot of the tension that is built up inside.
2. Listening to soothing music is another great way to relax, music can lower one's blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Turn on Pandora or Spotify and play some relaxing music during your study break, this will allow you to rejuvenate yourself and be ready for your next study session.
3. Start Laughing! Laughing is a great way to help you feel better and relieve that cranky feeling the stress brought. Laughter makes you feel lighter, and cools the stress response in your body; so during your study break, watch an episode of Friends or a comedian and laugh until you can't laugh anymore!
4. One of the largest things we lose when we're stressed is sleep; but sleep is vital in destressing. Getting enough sleep will increase the quality of your mood, energy level and the ability to get even more work done. Try to have a consistent sleep schedule, while this is close to impossible for college students, it will allow your body to fall into a sleeping habit.
5. Something that we all forget to do during finals week, is to take a break! Taking a five to ten minute break around every thirty minutes allows our minds to soak in the information we just crammed in and to prepare for new information. Mindlessly reading information won't help help to retain that information and apply it in the future.
6. Talk to a friend! When you're stressed, one of the best things you can do is to talk to a friend, talking to a friend will help you too relieve anxiety and give you that break that you need. Being social is a great method of loosing stress, at lets be honest, you're looking for a distraction anyways.
7. Eating healthy is a great way to avoid stress. Eating healthy is not only good for your body, it also gives you the energy and mental ability you need to study! Binging on unhealthy foods will make you lazy and prevent you from wanting to continue to study, healthy foods are always the right options, whether we want to accept that fact or not.
8. Study for one test at a time. Don't try to study across the board or flip flop every few minutes between subjects. Focusing on one class at a time will help you to better retain the information and recall it when you take your final.
9. Try tea instead of coffee; while coffee and energy drinks will give you a temporary energy boost, tea provides a much more long lasting energy boost. Long lasting energy will keep you going for those long study sessions in the library.
10. Finally, DON'T CRAM! Cramming for a final is never the solution! Spread your studying over a few days, by doing a few hours a day, rather than a 24 hours studying marathon.
Finals week is a stressful time for all students, so utilize these tips and try to reduce as much stress as you can. You don't want to be stressed while taking your final, you want to be completely relaxed and confident!
