Student Life

With finals right around the corner, studying is in order, and lots of it at that. Although studying is so necessary in order to do well during finals, sometimes it can be exceedingly difficult to focus. In addition, with all the different methods out there to choose from, it can quickly become an overall very confusing process. However, contrary to what most people would tell you, studying doesn’t have to be this way. In the end, it comes all down to the different methods of studying, and which is best suited for you and your studying strengths. That’s where this article comes in; we, at the Musketeer Post, have prepared for you an all out guide for how to survive finals. 

It’s human nature to procrastinate, but this is what sets most people back drastically during their preparation for finals. The act of procrastinating can take a 15-minute task and turn it into a 2 hour long project. It’s so easy to just pick up your phone and spend hours scrolling aimlessly away, almost entirely forgetting about the looming deadline on your homework. However, an easy way to minimize that is to just add in regular breaks throughout your study schedule. For example, studying for 30 minutes on and 10 minutes off allows you to get your work done, while also limiting the burnout you feel. This method also works because the breaks can act as an incentive to keep you studying without it feeling too much like a chore. In addition, a good way to think about it is that the more work that gets done now, the less work there is that needs to be done later. 

Another peril of studying can be the endless distractions, a way to minimize this is to try studying with a group of people you trust to keep you in check and on task. Groups can also make studying an overall more fun process. Having company can make your study sessions feel less like a chore and more like a social event or a hang out with friends. In addition, having people nearby can be a good way of giving yourself a break every now and then in between your studies. Talking to people is a good way to relieve tension and stress, which we all know that finals season comes with a lot of, so it’s good to have people around to help take the edge off. After a while, holing up in your room with nothing but the company of your books and your computer can become quite a lonely affair, which is another reason why it’s nice to have people around, because it makes the whole thing easier to endure. 

A common thing for people to do during the lead up to finals week is to stay up nearly all night studying, just to make sure that they’ve left no topic uncovered. However, this is pretty counterintuitive. Although more time spent studying seems like a good thing on the surface, never underestimate the benefits of plenty of rest and a good meal before finals. No amount of studying can make up for an unhealthy, sleep deprived body and mind. On top of this, there is such a thing as over-studying. Sometimes it’s so easy to get lost in all the stress of studying for finals that we begin to just scramble to cram information into our brains, although we are not truly retaining anything anymore. This is when you know it’s time to take a break and get some rest. After a certain point, your brain can’t handle any more studying in one night and some rest would do you more good than studying ever will. 

There are tons of other things that can be done to make studying more enjoyable and less of a chore. To name a few: creating a playlist to help you focus, writing out practice test questions, finding the right space to study, but most of all, it’s very important to just stay calm and try your best not to stress about it too much. When things become stressful, they begin to feel mountainous and impossible to complete. Adding onto that, when things are both too difficult to complete and also unenjoyable, it becomes all too easy to just not do them all together, which is your one way ticket to failing your finals. In the end, remembering to stay calm and collected is the ground floor of any successful study habit.