Somehow the week before finals is almost always worse than actual finals week which is both a blessing and a curse. For the first time in my 2 1/2 years of college I actually have 4 finals during finals week. I'm slightly in the calm before the storm, I have a
huge campaign plan book and presentation due to a client next week but at this point it's just putting it all together and making it look good. Before I get completely consumed with school I thought I'd share my advice at managing all you need to do before your glorious break.
This time of year it is common for motivation to be low and stress to be high. My first piece of advice for you is to take it a day at a time (really). There is only so much you can do before the quality of your work begins to drop off and it's better to just get some sleep and start again the next morning. In order for this strategy to work effectively you have to schedule and plan accordingly. What are you able to leave until tomorrow night and what absolutely has to be done now. Creating a to-do list is nothing new, but sticking to it is something that is a bit more challenging. I know that I try to do the least important thing first but then I have to remind myself of my deadlines.
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I decorated this Christmas tree over Thanksgiving
Break so that's another motivating factor for me to
rock finals week so I can get home and relax
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My second piece of advice is cut back on the coffee. You heard me right. If I'm not hydrated I feel terrible and I just want to lay in bed. I bought
this water bottle to remind me to drink water. College students tend to use caffeine as a crutch, sometimes I think we think we
have to have coffee to be productive. If this works for you, by all means go for it, but in between those cups of joe reach for your water bottle. I think you'll be pretty impressed with how much better you feel.
Do something for yourself every day. It can be laying in bed for 10 minutes and scrolling through social media, it can be squeezing in a quick work out, or it can be watching the One Direction movie while writing a blog post (me right now). Like I mentioned earlier, you're only going to be productive for so long. Give yourself the break you deserve so that when you come back to your work you're ready to grind it out.
Some people are really great at not sleeping, I am not one of those people. If I don't get 7-8 hours of sleep I, again, feel terrible. I prioritize sleep because I know that if I don't my day will be wasted. Maybe you don't need as much sleep as I do, but take that into account and structure your days around your optimal hours of sleeping. I've found that by setting a bed time for myself, I'm a lot more likely to work harder so I can be done with my work by that time.
I know none of these tips are groundbreaking and that you've probably heard of them all before. But I'm hoping that I can provide you with a small reminder to take care of yourself during this stressful season. We're almost done, keep working hard, and in just over a week winter break will be upon us.
Until next time,
Taylor xx
If anything, when you set your new year's resolutions set random calendar alerts throughout your year so that you stop and analyze your progress towards your goals. See if the goals you set for yourself January 1 are still things you want to accomplish and if they are make a more detailed plan on how to stay on track.
