Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels
Written By Mankirat Atwal
With finals season among us, it can be very easy to lose sight of taking care of yourself and mentally destressing during this time. It is crucial to manage your stress in ways that work for you to avoid burnout and be successful during your exams! Here are some tips that have worked for me and hopefully for you, too:
1. Treat studying like a 9-5: Finals season is usually when the all-nighters are pulled, which is because I am not as productive during the day, so I work at night. However, treating studying like a job, eliminating all distractions, and taking short breaks with a longer lunch break helped me stay productive during the day and relaxed in the evening.
2. Doing self-care: Between catching up on lectures and longer tasks, I find it fun to put on a face mask or leave in a hair treatment for the duration of the task to stay fresh and awake. I usually break out during exams, so this was a good way to combat that problem, which would ultimately make me feel worse and still stay on top of my to-do list.
3. Set reasonable goals: Setting attainable goals for the tasks you need to finish on a specific day will help you feel more accomplished, productive, and motivated rather than chipping away at an impossibly long list. Thinking about how much you have to do and how long it’s going to take you will only make you procrastinate and feel unmotivated. Dividing your day and time-blocking for a few tasks a day, and sticking to that schedule, will help you avoid burnout.
Overall, the stress of finals season is real, but taking care of yourself is one of the best things you can do during this time to maintain productivity and motivation. Good luck to everyone on their finals!