12 Study Hacks To Help You Survive Finals Week
Study hacks are meant to help you prepare for finals week. It might feel like everything is piling up during this time, but you can manage your studying with these tips. Here are some study hacks to keep in mind and help you ace all your tests!
1. Start Early
Keeping a planner of some sort can be extremely useful during finals week especially. Take an in-depth look at your schedule a few weeks or a month before your exams. Giving yourself more time to study will help make sure you are not rushing through the material or missing important information. Scheduling in a small amount of study time will add up as your tests get closer. The same applies to papers and projects. Typing a few paragraphs will make sure you finish before the due date.
2. Do your homework
Homework might seem like just another task to get done before your next class, but its purpose is to actually help you. By doing your assigned homework every night, the material you are reading will be more likely to stay fresh in your mind before you start studying for finals. The questions you answer will most likely be similar to the ones your professor will be asking on the exam, so this will help you become more familiar with what they might ask you.
3. Location matters
When it comes to actually getting down to study for your exams, you need to know what kind of location would be good for you to focus on your studying. A good study hack would be to go somewhere where there are few distractions, meaning calm and quiet. This might be describing your dorm room, but try to go outside of your home environment and away from the temptation to crawl back into bed. Find somewhere on campus or nearby where you live to be your study space.
4. Change up your environment
Just because you found a good spot to study doesn’t mean you have to stick to it. Keep a few good study spaces in mind where you know you will be productive. After you spent some time studying at one spot, pack up and move to a different room or an entirely new location. This study hack will make sure you are not stagnant and gives you a chance to walk around a bit to take a short break. Another study hack is to dedicate one subject to each location so you give the same amount of time to each subject.
5. Take breaks
As important as studying is, going overboard can be detrimental to retaining information and can cause more stress than necessary. This is why taking breaks are an important part of studying. However, how you take breaks matter as well as how long they are. Save what you have been working on and close your laptop to give your eyes a rest from the screen. Get up and stretch your arms and legs for a little bit. Check social media for a bit, but keep it to a minimum. Ten to fifteen minutes is the ideal amount of time to take a break. Anything longer could slow the studying momentum you had going before your break.
6. Stay Nourished
Sometimes when you are studying for long periods of time, you can forget to take care of yourself like eating. Keep a bottle of water with you while studying. You can have any other beverage of choice with you, but water is ideal to keep yourself hydrated. A healthy snack is also good to take with you. You can even reward yourself for reading a chapter with your snack. Food usually works as a great motivator.
7. FlashCards
You might remember flashcards from your past, but the truth is they are one of the greatest study hacks. The process of making physical flashcards can be beneficial since writing down the information on each card will help you retain it before you start studying. If you’re feeling creative, make your flashcards visually appealing with colors or printed pictures. You can also make online flashcards on Quizlet.com and even share them. Your classmates will thank you. This works more if you want to memorize information for a final exam.
8. Surround yourself with good company
Studying doesn’t always have to be done alone. If you can get a study group together with some friends or classmates, it can make the idea of studying slightly more appealing. As long as you can agree to be productive during the time that you are together with them. If you see your friends also studying, you are more likely to also start studying. A study group with classmates gives you the chance to answer each other’s questions and help each other prepare for the upcoming exam.
9. Mnemonic devices
If you’re looking to make studying a bit more fun, think of ways to remember the knowledge that you are studying. Mnemonic devices are meant to creatively retain information while you are studying. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s weird or an inside joke only you would understand. As long as they make sense to you, mnemonic devices are one of the most effective study hacks.
10. Stay Comfortable
Studying for your final exams can be a long process. The least you can do is be comfortable while doing so. Dressing comfortably gives you one less thing to worry about and is helpful if you are staying in one spot for a long period of time. Get comfy with loose-fitting clothes or even pajamas and a blanket. It’s college, so people won’t judge.
11. Don’t over-study
This is why it’s crucial to plan your studying in advance. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you have to cram a lot of information with little time. Pulling an all-nighter might be counterproductive contrary to popular belief. If you are studying when you are tired and unmotivated, the information will be less likely to be retained. Get started in the morning, continue in the afternoon then take the evening to relax alone or hang out with friends.
12. Tune Out the World
What better way to focus on what you are studying then listening to your favorite music. What you listen to actually matters, however. The purpose of study music is to keep your focus on what you’re working on instead of the music itself. Instrumentals are best since there are no lyrics to listen to. In addition to music, you can listen to the sounds of nature like rain or ocean waves to keep you relaxed and focused.
