5 Tips for Finals Week

Designed by Shae Leitz

This post is for all of my college friends. Finals are drawing near and with the all the hype of graduation and summer fun, it may be difficult to get yourself into a good studying habit to end the year right.

Here are some tips that I hope will be as helpful to you as they are/were to me over the years. 

1. Study at a desk. It has been proven that if you study at your desk, then you are more likely to remember what you read if you take your exam at a desk as well. Your brain will be able to remember this without you even realizing it, and pick up little things that you studied at your desk that it wouldn't be able to elsewhere. Of course if your exam is online, then feel free to study AND take your test in bed!

2. Reward yourself. Open up your text book and at the end of every paragraph in the text, place a treat (gummy bear, skittle, m&m). Every time you get to that treat in your reading, eat it! Incentive is always beneficial when it comes to getting things done. And what better incentive then getting a snack after each paragraph?!

3. Take breaks. Give yourself time to process everything that you just learned. Take a walk, go for a quick jog, do whatever you need to. It is best to take brakes after 50 minutes of studying. Take a 10-15 minute break then get back to it. Be careful not to take rest any longer then 15 minutes or you will be less likely to start studying again. 

4. Turn off your phone. It is hard to concentrate on your work when you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all of your friends texting you at once. By turning it off you can get up to 15 extra minutes of studying done in a 50 minute period! If you rather not turn it off for whatever reason, I suggest turning your phone on airplane mode. This will block any texts from coming in or going out. Your service will be completely gone-no internet!

5. Don't study the day before. This one may be hard for some people, but if you get a head start on your studies, then you should try and save the day before the test for eating healthy and getting plenty of rest. (Try and avoid caffeine for this will effect sleeping habits.) Research shows that the information you study the day before the test will actually be more likely to harm you than help you. 

Question

What helps you study for finals?