Stress Free Finals Week!

Photo Credit: Flickr: scubasteveo

It's almost finals week and I know lots of people are stressing! Soon everyone will have their heads stuck in books or writing they're 30th page for a final paper. Just remember to not overdue it, get stressed and end up having a bad day! But here are some tips to help you relax. I'm not saying completely stop studying to relive some stress, but take a break and relax!

♥Movie Night: Invite a couple of friends over and have a movie night in your dorm or at home! Pick something scary, funny or romantic to get your mind off finals for a little while. Don't get carried away and spend the next few days having movie night. You and your friends can do a little studying before or after the movie too.

♥Game Night: Host a game night. Weather it be on your X-Box 360 or go old school with board games and card games like Monopoly and Goldfish. You can even try hosting a game that helps you study in a fun way! Many people find studying games like a Jeopardy styled game helpful.

♥Hit the Gym: Exercising is the perfect way to relieve stress. If you haven't worked out in a while it will make you sore, so go light. Scientist say that exercising clears some hormones and triggers the body's relaxation response as well as increase blood flow. Join a free yoga or piliates group on campus or create a playlist of your favorite upbeat dance songs and head to the gym, or dance around your room!

♥Go to bed Early: Believe it or not sleeping can really make a difference in your day. We all know what it's like to run on three or four hours of sleep in one day. We get moody, anxious, easily aggravated and irritated and well... sleepy. Getting enough sleep each night, which is about eight hours, will help you stay awake and focused while studying and taking tests. If you're studying and you feel sleepy, the best thing to do is to go to sleep!

♥Shop: Treat yourself to to a few nice things! Buy yourself a new sweater or a pair of shoes. Shopping helps me relieve stress most of the time. Thinking about something other than what's stressing you can help take your mind off of it, help you relax and go back to it later with a fresh mind! Don't go and blow all of your money. Set a 2ang limit at $50 or less and buy whatever you want!

 

Study Tips

Oddly a lot of people don't know how to study, even after 13 years of schooling. Studying all depends on the person. Some people study with music and the TV on while others need to study in complete silence. Make sure you choose a place and a technique that helps you study and learn the best.

♥Use Online Help for the Course: Some of your classes have online help or CD-Rom programs to go along with your text book. Use them! If they give chapter outlines, practice tests or essay questions use it to study chapters you aren't so sure about. Your teachers probably get questions for tests their too! If you're not sure if your book has this Google it or another version of the book which shouldn't be that much different.

♥Use Old Tests, Quizzes, Notes and Papers: Those old tests and papers aren't just for decoration or lining your trash can. Many teachers use questions from old tests and quizzes on midterms and finals. Those tests and papers can also help you know the important things to study. Try to remember if your teacher stayed on a topic longer than usual or included in more than one tests.

♥Review Sheets: Almost every teacher gives you a review sheet and will say, "You don't have to do it, but I suggest you do." Even in high school teachers say this. Use it! Review sheets often come from teachers to look at the test and tell you what to study. It may not be worth any points, but it's a great way to study and will probably require you to read your text book, quizzes, notes and papers. Review sheets can also save you time from having to read straight from the text book on things that probably aren't even on the test.

♥Eat Healthy: Eating healthy foods is important. Over the years you've probably heard that taking long tests and exams is mentally equivalent to running a marathon. Before you run a marathon or take a test the number one suggestion is to eat right! Eating "brain food" before studying can help. These 'brain foods' include bananas, cheese, potatoes, oatmeal and vegetables just to name a few. I also found oddly that gum stimulates brain power too!

♥Use the Free Tutoring: Tutoring can be expensive (I've seen rates as high as $50/hr). Almost every school offers some form of free tutoring. Take advantage of it! Maybe your teacher didn't explain it in a way that you understand and maybe another student can. Choose a tutor who won't distract you! Make sure if your tutor is a cutie, you can still concentrate your work and not his smile!

Good luck on your finals!

 

What are some ways that you relieve stress during finals week or even at work?