De-Stressing During Finals Week

College can be a slightly stressful time. However, two of the most stressful times during college can be registration time and finals week. You may even spend a few weeks up until finals simply dreading finals week. When you're studying for finals, there are things you want to do and things you should avoid.

When you think of college, you may think of all nighters where you cram all night for an upcoming exam. The truth is, this isn't the best way to study. You don't want to spend one night all night studying for an upcoming exam - it is best to split the time up over a few days. First of all, you would be cramming a lot of information into one night - all of the information you need for the exam, in fact. When you're processing that much information, it is going to be easy to get things mixed up and completely forget some things. Just because you're not studying for 8 plus hours straight the night before doesn't mean you can drastically cut your study time, however. You're going to need to start your studying a days in advance. One of the most important reasons why pulling an all nighter is bad? You need your sleep! You need a proper night's sleep and a good breakfast before your exam - not an all night study session and then straight to the exam. You could end up being so tired that you don't properly answer questions or you could even fall asleep during the exam. You don't want to do either of those things. Study smart and break up your studying time. You'll be glad you did.

You need to relax during your study time. You don't want to go to class all day then come back to your dorm room and study until you sleep. Break up your time. Allow yourself to relax. You're hurting yourself if you don't allow yourself to take a break during studying. Watch a TV Show, play video games, do some free reading or writing. Build in some time in between study sessions to give your brain a break. You may be thinking that you need to cram the most information into the time that you have, but you really need to allow yourself breaks in order for you to stay sharp and make the most of the time that you do have. Again, allowing yourself breaks won't make you more stressed because you're losing a little bit of study time - allowing yourself breaks will cut down on stress.

Your friends will be studying a lot too, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make time to get together. Walk around the mall for a little bit, get coffee together - do something. Hanging out with your friends for a little bit will allow each of you to talk through your stress and relax.

If you normally go to the school gym or pool, don't stop just because of finals week. Going to the gym or pool can be therapeutic and relaxing, allowing you to have better study sessions once you do sit down again and study.

Most importantly, don't skip out on meals just because you need to study. You're going to be very stressed from finals and studying - cutting a meal will make it a lot worse and possibly even make you sick. Make sure you're eating a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner so you can keep up with your much busier schedule.