Written by: Lauren Eisele-Yocum
Edited by: Lorissa Olson
1. Study Tips
Cramming for exams can work for some, but can also greatly increase your stress levels. Studying at least a week in advance can help you retain more information and process more difficult concepts so that you are prepared.
Annotating your notes can help you engage more thoroughly with the material that will be on an exam. Red ink, in particular, can help your brain retain information. If your professor provides a study guide, use that to help you review concepts and notice the concepts that you struggle with. If you are taking any kind of math course, make sure to do plenty of practice problems so that you can recognize the setup of problems and where you tend to make mistakes.
2. Find New Study Spaces
Feel free to mix up the spaces that you study in! It’s important to know which spaces help you focus and which can be distracting, but it’s also important to get a change of scenery every once in a while. Some of my favorite places to study are in the Health and Learning Center, the Flagstaff Public Library, Steep, and Late for the Train!
3. Get Plenty of Sleep and Rest
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of taking care of your body. Reading Week and Finals week can be extremely stressful and taxing on your body, so taking time to rest and allow your body to relax is extremely important. Rest and plenty of sleep lead to better memory, greater motivation, and can help mitigate end of semester burnout.
4. Move Your Body
Movement is crucial for your health and wellbeing, especially during stressful times like finals. Any type of movement, whether it be walking, running, swimming, lifting weights etc. can be a great outlet to release some stress, and create some healthy happy hormones such as endorphins!
5. Meditation, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Meditation can be difficult to start, but is a great way to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness can also look like going on a walk and listening to your surroundings, or cooking a good meal without any distractions. Mindfulness is important because it allows you to get in tune with your body and focus on being present. This is important because during finals, we often neglect our mental and physical health for the sake of studying. However, it is crucial that in stressful times, our mental and physical health are taken care of.
Self-Compassion is also incredibly important. We can be extremely hard on ourselves and put immense pressure on academics. Self-compassion is important because it helps us take care of our mental health, and acknowledges the parts of us that need grace and compassion.
Here are some great self-compassion exercises to try:
https://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/#guided-meditations
6. Eat Good Food and Eat Regularly
Make sure that you are eating enough, and eating at regular intervals. Our brains rely on food in order to function – food is fuel! If you want to perform well on finals, make sure you are properly fueling your brain and your body!
7. Hydrate
Here in Flagstaff, water is incredibly important. During these winter months, it gets drier and colder, which makes drinking water even more crucial. Like I’ve said before, the first thing to be neglected during Finals season is our mental and physical health, so drinking plenty of water is part of taking care of our bodies.
Don’t forget, you are doing amazing! Winter break is just around the corner, we are almost there, you’ve got this!