Reduce Stress During Finals Week

While college stress is constant throughout the semester, college stress during finals week takes it to a whole new level. These 6 easy ways to rest and relax during finals week can help you make it through the madness.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Minimal

Here's How:

1. Get time away/alone. Chances are, everyone you know at school is stressed during finals week, too. Take a few minutes to take a walk off campus, treat yourself to a coffee in a place not full of stressed students, or find some other way/place that you can get yourself out of the finals-week environment, if even just for a few minutes.
2. Spend 3-5 minutes not doing anything. This is often more challenging than it sounds. But take a few minutes to turn off all of your technology and sit and relax -- even meditate, if you can. Those few minutes can calm your mind and your spirit while helping your refocus and recharge.
3. Spend 15-20 minutes doing something purely for fun. The break for your brain will do wonders for its productivity later. Watch silly YouTube videos, read a trashy magazine, play a video game, or Skype with a friend far away.
4. Get exercise in a low-stress situation. Translation: practice with your basketball team doesn't count. Go for a relaxing walk, ride your bike without knowing where you'll end up, or go for a quick jog. And if it's too cold outside, try something new in the gym. You might be surprised by how relaxed -- and energized! -- you feel afterward.
5. Attend a sporting event. If you're studying for finals at the end of the fall semester, chances are you can attend a football or basketball game during finals week. Leave your books in your room and really let yourself relax and enjoy, knowing that the time spent away will help your studying later.
6. Make a list -- and write down everything. For some people, making a list can really help reduce stress because it helps put things in perspective. The best way to get things organized, and to get a feeling of satisfaction, is to write down every single thing you need to do -- like eating breakfast/lunch/dinner, doing laundry, getting some sleep, and going to class. Getting things written down -- and then crossed off! -- can do wonders for your sense of control and accomplishment during a very busy time.

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Surviving College Finals

College finals is often the most difficult time of the semester. Knowing how to prepare before, handle the stress during, and celebrate afterward can therefore become key elements to your success. Because who wants to blow an entire semester worth of work with a bad performance during college finals?

Preparing for and Managing the Stress of College Finals

How you prepare yourself -- intellectually and otherwise -- for finals week can have a major impact on your performance on exams and papers. So what can you do to make sure you're in tip-top shape?

• How to Reduce Stress During Finals Week
• 5 Ways to Relax for Under $5
• How to Reduce General College Stress
• 7 Quick Ways to Get Energy When You Need It Most in College

Finding Help with Final Papers

Final papers may seem less stressful because you can do them in your room and (often) on your own schedule, but they sometimes take up a lot more work and time than an in-class exam. Learn the best ways to make sure your paper adequately reflects your mastery -- if not your sheer dominance! -- over the course material.

• How to Write a Major Paper or Project
• How to Make Your College Paper Longer
• College Paper Citation Sources
• What Exactly Is Plagiarism?

Finding Help with Final Exams

Ah, the infamous college exam: days (weeks? months?) worth of studying for a test that only takes a few hours. How can you make sure you walk out feeling proud instead of panicked?

• How to Prepare for Final Exams in College
• What to Eat Before a College Final
• What -- and What Not -- to Bring with You Into a Final Exam
• 10 Good Places to Study on Campus

Dealing with the Aftermath -- Both Good and Bad

No matter how you prepare for finals week, something unexpected inevitably happens -- either for the better or for the worse. Learn what to do in any post-finals situation.

• What to Do If You Think You Just Failed an Exam
• What to Do If You Fail a Class in College
• 6 Ways to Celebrate the End of the Semester

Perhaps the most important thing to remember during finals week is, of course, to take care of your precious brain. Sure, you can study all semester, know the material, be ready to write a rock-star final paper ... but if you're sleep deprived, hungry, stressed, or distracted, finals week will get the better of you. Good luck!

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