1. Do Missing Work on Monday
So, this doesn't seem too helpful if your finals are this week, like mine are, because Monday was yesterday, but it is. If you have the ability to turn in work still, you need to step away. At this point, you're just going to stress yourself out, and the final is the priority. You need to be thinking clearly to do these tests, okay?
In the case your finals aren't this week, though, then make sure that your missing work is done by that Monday. Why? Because after Monday, you want to be able to focus only on your finals. Also, it's easier on your teachers, who are already grading a ton of assignments, and believe it or not, the end of the year is hella stressful for them too.
The point of this being, you should focus the rest of your week on studying, and also resting. Most people don't focus well on no sleep, right? So get your sleep, and don't cram your schedule to the point of not being able to function.
2. Caffeinate
Completely contrary to what I just said, no matter how much you try to sleep, realistically, you're probably going to feel like a zombie from the lack thereof. You're at least going to be mentally exhausted from exerting yourself with testing and such. Whether it be coffee or tea, or you eat chocolate, or apples (apples are super high in energy), or anything that is caffeinated (if you're not going to drink something, I definitely recommend chocolate covered espresso beans, from like Starbucks or wherever).
Coffee in the morning, something to keep you awake while you study after school, anything like that can help.
3. Make a Study Playlist
Or, find one that someone else made! Music is so good for studying if you know what works for you. I have friends who listen to the same song on repeat, and what I like to do is instrumental music or just music that I don't know the words to. This not only blocks out background noise, but might help you to stay focused and associate certain facts with certain tunes.
Some of my favorite YouTube playlists are:
As well as so many more by the channel Just Instrumental Music.
Some of my favorite 8tracks playlists are:
But of course, you can search or make your own. These are just my personal recommendations.
4. Do Reviews in Order of Finals
This basically means, do the study guide for your first final first, ESPECIALLY if it's for a grade. If your easiest final isn't your first one, it might get tempting to not do this, but generally, that comes with regret. Trust me, you want to do these in order.
If anything, do it in chunks of time. For me, that means one hour at a time. For you, though, it might mean fifteen minutes. The point is, review guides are pretty helpful when it comes to study tools, so make use of them!
Now, let's say you have a super long review guide and then a bunch of short ones, and the long one is in the middle. You might want to do that one in chunks rather than in order.
Of course, ideally, you started on all your review guides a month ago or so when you first got them, but- Oh, what's that? You didn't? It's okay, me neither. But that doesn't make them any less important to do! Especially if they're for a grade. I'm telling you, graded study guides just might be the push you need to land in a certain grade range, you do not want those as incompletes, my friend.
5. Take Naps
Again, sleep is only a maybe this week, so if you need to crash on the couch for half an hour after getting home from school, do it, man. As for getting to sleep on time, though, a super helpful tool I've found is a Sleep Calculator, which gives you four different times you could go to sleep, and then at those times, you'll be getting enough sleep cycles. It might not seem like it'll work, but trust me, it does! After working until almost midnight last night and having to wake up at 6.15, I followed the instructions and went to sleep at 12.15, and it worked.
But naps are a glorious thing. They're a quick boost of energy, and when paired with caffeine, you just might be awake enough to make it through your studying, as well as the next day's finals, right?
Bonus: Pinterest
I'm telling you, there are some great tips and tricks for study and test taking on Pinterest, and if you're interested, I've been pinning away on my Finals Board these past few days. If anything, there's some good advice and methods to try if you need something new that might actually work, and I love it.
Anyways, I wish you all the best on all of your finals! I'm about to go and take mine for AP Lang and World History, but I'll see you here on Saturday for another weekly newsletter.
~Liz
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