By Daniel Becerra

You may already be done with finals (good for you!), or just in the process of them, or maybe (like me) just a week away from finals, so here are ten very useful insights that I gathered from personal experience and from friends who keep a really high GPA. In the hope that you have excellent and very badass results, here they are:

1. Distinguish Important From Urgent

First and foremost important it is that you sit down and establish what is really important to you during finals week. It is obvious that finals is one of them, another important thing could be your work out or your blog, perhaps, but a night out with the friends or that obligatory phone call or club meeting may not be as important as they are urgent. It’s easy to fall into the trap of club meetings, hanging out with the buddies and what not, and all these may seem urgent to do because of all the pressure on you, but they are not really important. Learn to say no to those things that are not important to you, so that you have enough power and time to say yes to those things that ARE important. Let some people be upset if you don’t attend a meeting or the ‘mandatory’ one hour phone talk. This is finals week, damn it, you can talk all you want once you’re done with them.

2. No clarity, no nothing

Nothing tires more than the brain workout. It’s easy to get tired when studying for long hours while not moving any muscle but your brain, and that’s okay, learn to use this to your advantage. When you’re studying, don’t push yourself to the extreme by studying when you’re half asleep or simply not able to focus. Take a walk, or a 30-45 minute cat nap, eat a fruit, or listen to music, anything that works for you. You’ll get more in 30 minutes of study with a sharp brain than one hour of study with a tired one. Eat fruits and veggies, not fast food (at least for this time of the year) and I assure you that your energy level will be kept high. Fast food will only make you more tired.

Use the thumb rule. No clarity, no nothing. This doesn’t mean quit if you don’t understand it. It means if you can’t get focused, take a break so you can then tackle the problem with a clear head.

3. Knock Distractions Out

I personally can not study in my bedroom for more than one hour. I touch the computer, I touch my cell phone, I lay on the bed, not good. I’m aware that I need a quite place with little to no distractions. You may be different from me, so do what works for you. But this is necessary:
- Keep your room clean if you’re going to study there
- Turn off your phone
- No eating DURING study time

Don’t study and surf the net at the same time. Study only. It’s easy for me to surf the net if I’m in my room, that’s why I prefer to stay away from it . If I can, I’ll grab those individual tables in the library and just really focus. It saves time and effort. If group study is your thing, then go for it, but if it’s not, then don’t follow the trend just because you feel pressured to it. However, I strongly recommend having at least a partner to test each other out once you’re done studying. It really helps to keep things in your head. It doesn’t need to be a class buddy, it could be anyone.

4. Grab one thing at once

Don’t study Math And Communication by mixing things up and having both books or notebooks open at the same time. Grab a paper and pen and write down what you’ll study first and stick with it until you’re finished or until you need a break. As you finish one subject, cross it out, take a break and move on to the next one immediately.

Writing papers for a class or blogging is very similar to studying. If I stop writing and go to something else that requires equal effort, I’ll just find it hard to get back to it. I prefer to finish all at once and then later, read and re-read to do some editing. In the same way, study, read, take notes, and then when you come back to study, test yourself. But don’t study one subject and then go to another to then go back to test yourself on the previous subject. If you’re on math mode, stay on math mode until you’re done.

5. Don’t Cram Things To Last Minute

This one is quite obvious. It’s simple, don’t plan to digest it all in a couple of hours or even if one day or two. Take an entire week to study previous to when your exam is held and you’ll walk in more confidently and prepared. Don’t even worry at planning day by day (that usually does more damage than good). Just grab one subject based on level of importance (how hard it is) and study on it at once. It’s alright if you don’t finish on one day (of course you won’t!), but you’ll get a chapter or two out of the way. Next day you grab one, two or three other chapters. A day or two before the exam, you can simply review rather than stressing yourself. Use flexible planning for your finals. I use it for my website and it’s working wonders.

6. Set High Expectations

This may very well be the hardest of them all (it is for me). Don’t go in thinking ‘Oh let’s hope it’s not that hard’. Go in saying ‘I’m going to get an A on this bad boy!’ If you go in hoping ‘the exam is not that hard’, then you’re basically settling for the exam, not for your knowledge. Not good.

7. Reclaim Wasted Time During Classes

Let’s face it, some classes just don’t teach us anything. Sometimes one of my classes will play a video and if the video doesn’t catch my attention, I’ll step out and go nap somewhere else or if I have an exam or a project to finish, I’ll get my hands on that. Especially on finals week, you cannot afford to waste time on something you don’t need. It may sound disrespectful to walk out of class, but really, sometimes it’s needed. I know that if I was to stand and speak in front of a group of people and they don’t pay attention to me, I too would feel horrible, but I would assume that I’m bringing no value to that person’s time and if that is so, then I must respect it. Same goes for the professors.

8. Use Quizlet.com

This may not help you a lot for your Math final, but it’s extremely useful when it comes to terms and definitions. It’s basically flash cards. You put the information in: Terms and definitions. And it will do the testing for you. You can review your words as many times as you want and it can even be shared! So if you and your buddy cannot meet up, you can share your flash cards through quizlet.com. Here is an example of how two people can put a study guide together and share it online: Literacy Test.

Use it if you find it convenient. If you don’t use quizlet.com, at least buy flash cards and study with that. DO NOT ignore the flash cards. It’s a nice investment.

9. Experiment A Bit

As I write this article, I’m actually listening to some Immortal Technique’s ‘You Never Know’ at a low enough volume to enhance my thinking, rather than to distract me. I enjoy music to study sometimes and sometimes I don’t. In this case, music is not a distraction, it’s an enhancer. If music works for you, then go for it. If it doesn’t, avoid it. I have a friend who studies by walking around and saying things out loud to herself. I personally can not stand that, but she can, so if it works for her, perfect! Experiment a bit and see what works for you. Remember that you do need something that will keep you motivated. Don’t sabotage yourself with a super quite study if that’s not your thing.

10. Exercise

You don’t have to kill yourself with a two hour work out, or even an hour, or even set up specific time to exercise – but as America’s beloved doctor, Dr. Oz says, do try to speed up your walk a bit while going from class to class, to the point in which you’ll be a bit out of breath. This will keep your head sharp and aware. You definitely want that. There is really no excuse – exercise, at least a bit.