As you chugged through the fall semester, you’ve likely mastered the balancing act between classes, exams, work, internships, football season and what remains of your social life. Now finals are here, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the pressure, cramming and lack of sleep, especially with break right around the corner. These tips will help you study for hours while keeping that volatile mood at bay.
1. Pay attention to your environment
Turn off the computer, television, iPhone and anything in between, even if it’s for just 15 minutes. “In this day and age of so much electronic contact, we’re bombarding ourselves with stimulation,” said Kim Kazimour, a Gainesville psychologist specializing in mental health counseling and behavior management.
Decrease the amount of electronic stimulation in your environment and stimulate the senses instead.
Make a playlist of soft, calming music. Take deep, slow breaths. Try lighting a candle.
Think a candle’s scent is too strong for your taste? Try other aromatherapies like lotions and soaps, which can be just as effective.
2. Catch some Z’s
The ever-so-tricky all-nighter: Does it hinder more than it helps? Yes. Not only will your irritability increase when you’re sleep deprived, but so will your inability to make good decisions and your chances of making careless errors.
You also don’t retain information when you’re overly tired, Kazimour said. If you get to the bottom of a page you just read and don’t remember anything, you have to do it all over again, which is why lack of sleep also causes a decrease in efficiency and patience.
The brain needs the kind of rest it gets during the restorative cycle of deep sleep. Kazimour recommended at least five hours of sleep as part of the preparation for an exam.
3. Mind over matter: Have a positive outlook
Something that usually comes with stress is a negative mindset toward your own abilities. However, with this kind of mentality, you’re much less likely to remain calm and focused in order to get things done. Kazimour said that mindset has a huge impact on actual stress levels on an individual. Her advice? “Think about what you would say to someone else. Be as nice to yourself as you would for them.”
Say things to yourself like, “Next week will be better.” With this mentality, you’re more likely to remain calm and focused in order to get things done, as opposed to giving yourself the negative and increasing how bad you feel about the situation.
4. Get your blood flowing
Kazimour and UF nutritionist Linda Bobroff both agree that physical activity is the most effective mood lifter. Exercise burns cortisol, the hormone the brain produces during stress.
But for those of you who don’t happen to be exercise enthusiasts, don’t fret. It doesn’t need to be vigorous exercise like running or kickboxing that saves you from your mid-study slump.
“When you’re studying and going at it, you probably don’t have time to go out for a run,” Bobroff said.
Instead, stretch a little or go for a leisurely walk. It can even be a walk around the library if you’re too busy focusing to leave. As long as you’re being physical, you’re helping blood flow to the brain, which will help with productivity and alertness.
5. You are what you eat
Changing what and when you eat can have a positive effect on your mood. By eating every four to five hours and limiting refined carbohydrates like soda, candy and fruit juice, you can lessen volatile blood sugar swings and level out your mood, Kazimour said.
She also said to incorporate protein with meals and snacks whenever possible. It slows down the absorption of carbohydrates in the blood, leaving you feeling upbeat for hours.
Omega-3 fatty acids, mainly found in fish, have been found to improve mood and mental performance and possibly alleviate depression, Kazimour said.
