So, it’s the week before finals and as you look through your schedule, you realize how much work you have to do to prepare for finals and as the list grows, so does the turning in your stomach from all the stress.  Well, the good news is you’ll survive and hopefully you’ll pass all your classes, too.  Need some help, though?  Check out some tips I’ve come up with to help you survive the next week without becoming a total wreck.

1. There’s a lot coming up in only a short period of time, so just take it one day at a time.  It’s good to study ahead for your hardest final, but if that final is on the last day, try focusing on the tough ones that come before it.  Then, when you aren’t stressing over those because you already took them, it’ll be easier to focus on that last one.
2.  Focus on your problem chapters.  The good thing about PIV is that you can check to see what chapters you struggled with in a class.  Let’s say you got a D on the chapter 3 test for your math class?  Hmm, maybe you should spend some extra time reviewing that chapter instead of studying what you already know.  The same goes for your lowest test score; make sure to dedicate some extra time studying for that final.
3. No focus?  No benefit.  If you feel like you’ve reread the same exact page of your science textbook about six times, you probably have.  It’s easy to get burnt out from studying especially the week before finals, so…
4. Take study breaks!  Believe it or not, breaks actually help.  That is, if you aren’t taking one every five minutes of studying for an hour of watching TV.  Girls, I recommend painting your nails if you enjoy that type of thing.  It’s something I find helpful even when I’m studying for a normal history test.  The break helps for when you go back to studying, and the activity actually requires a bit of focus, that is, unless you want nail polish all over your hands.  Not into that?  Whether you’re a girl or a guy, try taking a break to work out!  The endorphins from working out will boost your mood, maybe even enough to make studying bearable.  Even grabbing a quick snack; getting “brain food” might actually help a bit.
5. Set study goals.  Studying definitely gets monotonous, so before you take a break, set a goal for yourself.  For example, say you really need to finish reviewing the last three chapters of your math textbook, but you really want a break.  Make a goal to finish the chapter you’re already working on before rewarding yourself with a break to watch an episode of Family Guy.  Then, when the episode’s over, you can finish up the final two chapters.
6. Do your review packets!  Considering your teacher knows what is actually on the final seeing as many of our teachers write their own, if they make a review packet for your class, it’s a great idea to dedicate some time to it.  Some teachers even allow you to use it on the test!  Whatever you do though, don’t just copy someone else’s because you honestly won’t learn the material by copying answers.
7. Swap notes (NOT answers) with friends.  Considering some of us have more finals than we have time to study for, check with friends to see if they have notes you can borrow and review.  I remember swapping Biology notes for Western Civilization notes with one of my friends Freshman year.  I had my Western Civilizations final on the last day, but she had it on first day and vice versa for Biology.  We swapped notes, and it made a great study tool for us when we were reviewing.
8. Unless you need tutoring, AVOID study groups.  No matter how great it sounds to study for finals and hang out with your friends at the same time, it won’t work out that way.  Normally, it isn’t the hanging out being cut out; it’s the studying.  Having your friends with you when you’re studying will end up distracting you, so study groups the week before finals are probably a bad idea unless you really need the peer tutoring.
9. Meet with your teachers.  Do you have borderline grades in some of your classes?  Talk to your teacher to see if there’s any last minute extra credit or help to offer you.  Believe it or not, they actually want you to do well, so they’ll help you figure something out.
10. Turn off your phone and log off Facebook.  There isn’t much room for distractions the week before finals,.  If you’re studying and your phone goes off with another text or you see you have a notification on your Facebook, you’ll end up wasting time being distracted when you should be studying.  Do yourself a favor; just turn them off while you’re studying.
11. Start now!  Procrastinating is probably the worst thing you could do to yourself because it’ll stress you out even more when you run out of time.  Try to dedicate a little time everyday to studying so you aren’t swamped the day before.
12. Sleep, sleep, sleep.  Pulling all-nighters does not work.  Instead of magically learning everything by studying all night, you’ll probably waste your energy staying up all night and be extremely tired the next day.  If you’re too tired, you might not be able to focus on your test the next day, so staying up all night would probably be worthless if you can’t even keep yourself awake and focused.

 Well, good luck on finals next week, everyone! Especially to those who need it!