Finals season has officially arrived, and without a reading week, this finals season is going to be a little more arduous than it has been in the past. To combat some of the unwanted feelings that accompany finals near the holidays, the Student Life Editorial Board members share their tips and ideas on how to get through this finals season.

Watch the clock and close your laptop

Working with online school has certainly added its own set of challenges, and the biggest one (at least for me) is the ability to work around the clock. Working in the same location can make it easy to work all day and night. So, as you approach finals, time yourself. Only work within certain hours of the day and afterwards, close the laptop and put it away. Out of sight, out of mind.

-Kya Vaughn, Managing Editor and Senior Forum Editor

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Honestly, this advice is for myself as well as for all of you students out there. When I don’t drink enough water, I feel so much more uncomfortable and unwilling to sit down to study or to write a paper or to take a final. Hydrating your brain and body is a small but noticeable change that is easy to make. So, if you know that you’ll be spending lots of time and brain power on a final this season, start drinking that water, one, two or three days before—seriously! I promise you it will make a difference.

-Christine Watridge, Multimedia Editor

Take breaks

As I write this, I am stressing over my own finals, which take place this week. As they approached, I have felt myself getting increasingly more anxious—how do I function when I have so much work to do? The answer: Don’t do it all. I’m not advocating for you to skip an entire assignment or final project, but remember that building time into your schedule to relax—whether that means to see friends, watch some TV or just take a nap—is the best way to keep your brain on track. If that means your grade on that paper or exam drops three or four points because you took a moment to yourself instead of cramming 24/7, that’s fine. Stretching yourself too thin to perform on these exams at the expense of your wellbeing is never the answer.

-Isabella Neubauer, Senior Cadenza Editor and Copy Chief

Make it an event

The loss of Reading Week is upsetting for many reasons, including missing out on one of my favorite parts of the semester—Campus Life’s Reading Week Events. This probably sounds lame, but I loved all the free food and activities Campus Life offered to help us get through finals. Without those events to look forward to as you study, try planning your own fun activities, whether it be baking Ibby’s-inspired treats, going out for an ice cream break or hosting a virtual game night. Having something you’re excited about is the best way to get through the dreaded finals crunch.

-Jaden Satenstein, Multimedia Editor

Play Wii (or at least learn from your childhood self)

I have never been the world’s biggest player of video games—as a kid I preferred watching the Food Network and suffering through the New York Mets—but I still remember the glee that filled me when my sister and I received a Wii for Hanukkah. Now, probably eight years since I last touched a Wii, it has undergone a renaissance in my apartment after my roommate and I purchased one for our third roommate’s 21st birthday. It sounds silly, and maybe it’s just a reflection of the pandemic, but generating whiff after whiff on my killer splitter in Wii baseball and slamming aces in Wii tennis has provided truly fantastic rushes of dopamine. Given that it’s been 14 years since Nintendo released the Wii, it would not surprise me if very few of you have a Wii readily available. That is okay, though, as the principle still holds. Don’t be afraid to go back to something from your childhood that might seem silly. You might just find that young you knew exactly what was up.

-Matthew Friedman, Associate Editor

Denial

My approach to finals has been to tell myself I’m fine regardless of how much work i’m confronted with. After all, it’s just 7 essays, 2 presentations and an exam in a week. That’s light work! I could do that in my sleep. In fact, I think I’ll try that!

-Dorian DeBose, Senior Sports Editor

Make a list and congratulate yourself for crossing things off

If you’re like me and don’t tend to keep a strict planner, finals season is a mini-hell, full of floating and overlapping online deadlines. It can feel like you have everything to do, all the time. What helps me sometimes is to make a list of things I have to do in order of importance. When I manage to cross something off the list, I make sure to celebrate, whether that’s by taking a nap or eating ice cream or indulging in an episode of a dramatic cooking show. And don’t delete the things you’ve completed off the list–use them to remind yourself that you are making progress and inching closer to freedom.

-Jamila Dawkins, Forum Editor

Don’t feel guilty

It’s important to finish your projects and prepare for your finals, but do not feel guilty for not studying 24/7. It’s impossible to sustain endless productivity—you need to take a break every once in a while. And when you’re taking that break, don’t you dare think about all the work you should be doing. Don’t tell yourself that you should be doing more or working even harder. If you’re constantly berating yourself, you’re not really giving your mind the rest that it needs. So when you find yourself stressed and unable to focus, close your books and go take a nap or watch a movie or do anything that increases your serotonin levels. Finals are hard. Finals during a pandemic are even harder. So be kind and cut yourself some slack.

-Kathleen White, Director of Engagement

Set mini goals for yourself

Being intentional with your study time can help keep you from feeling like you’re lost in a void of endless essay outlines and PowerPoint slides, which is even more important as we enter a finals period that is much longer than usual. I find it helpful to start my day by listing the 3 most important assignments that I need to complete by the end of the day. If those action items seem too daunting, I break them up into smaller, more manageable tasks. This gives me more frequent bursts of accomplishment as I check items off my to-do list and motivates me to keep going. Separating the most important tasks of the day from things that I just need to get a head start on also prevents me from feeling behind just because I didn’t manage to cross every last assignment off my list. Allow yourself to celebrate the small victories!

-Jayla Butler, Managing Editor

Try exercising, even it seems like a pain

I remember sputtering through Zoom finals in the spring. Without a library or classroom to study in, I felt very overwhelmed working in the same space over and over again. For the first few days, I didn’t take a break. And if I was going to take a break, it wasn’t going to include a needlessly exhausting workout. But one day, somewhere in the middle of finals, I felt all of the food starting to pile up in my stomach and decided to exercise. It was the best decision I made. I felt recharged. I felt like I had actually accomplished something.

-Benjamin Simon, Senior Scene Editor

Eat! Treat yourself!

Sometimes when you have two exams and three 10-page papers due all in the span of a week, it can be easy to become consumed by all of your work. You’re ensconced in a paper that you’re determined to finish, and suddenly it’s 10:00 p.m. and you haven’t eaten. To combat this—and nourish yourself!—schedule alarms to go off during set meal times so you remember to eat. And given the stress of finals, you should definitely treat yourself to your favorite comfort foods.

-JJ Coley, Copy Chief

Go to bed

The semester tends to get pretty hectic towards the end. If you’re like me, you stop prioritizing yourself and end up pulling more all-nighters than you thought humanly possible. This time around, get some fuzzy blankets, some herbal tea and go to bed. Go to bed early. Go to bed when you want to. Go to bed when you think you’re going to catch your second wind and write the second half of that paper you procrastinated on—you’ll wake up with fresh ideas, trust me. You’ll sound so much smarter than you would if you were running on a mini power-nap that you took at 3 a.m. But, if getting a full eight hours of sleep isn’t in the cards for you, at least take a nap. Block off an hour and a half and go to sleep. It’ll be worth it.

-Sabrina Spence, Senior Cadenza Editor