In the table talk about health and wellness/managing exam stress, we talked about what we (and Cornell) can do better for students. While a lot of the ideas that were presented for how Cornell can do better is very unlikely to be achieved (these ideas included stuff like “get free stuff” and “get free messages”), I think we should all be held accountable for managing our own final exams stress. Finals are stressful, yes, but there are things you can do to make it less stressful for yourself, and there are things that students do that exacerbate the stress.
One tip that I have is to avoid/limit distractions. For most of this semester I have not allowed myself to watch Netflix unless it’s a Friday night, and I mainly stuck to podcasts as my main source of entertainment. I know some people like the mindset of “treat yo self”, but really, one episode of Netflix can turn into 3 or 4 or 5 very very fast.
Another tip is to prioritize. There was a study done that said that if you had 1-3 priorities that day, you will accomplish 1-3. If you have 4-6, then you’ll accomplish 1-2. More than that, and it’s likely you won’t accomplish any at all. This was something that one of my professors shared with me at the beginning of this semester and I really took the advice in trying to prioritize my day. Yes, sometimes you have several important things that you have to accomplish, but if you could only accomplish ONE, which one would it be? I think someone at the table talk (because I brought this up) asked me what I’d do if I had multiple things due the next day. Truth is, that has actually never happened to me because I end up staggering every assignment out over the course of a week/month so I’m always early in turning in my assignments and studying for my exams. This method will get you way ahead of your coursework (and this is coming from me, a stats/premed taking 22 credits this semester, working almost 20 hours a week, and still getting 8 hours of sleep a night, have a social life, and doing well!) so I recommend you giving it a try (or at least a thought) if you haven’t.
I think the last piece of advice for managing your exam stress is to take care of yourself. Don’t skip meals, and sleep is really more important than people give it credit for. I cannot count the number of times this semester where I went to bed late after being stuck on a programming problem–but when I wake up refreshed, the solution would come to me very quickly.
Hopefully everyone has a successful exam season! But I know we are all looking forward to the summer 🙂
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for your post! I agree that prioritization is one of the most important tips of time management and am very impressed that you are able to balance parts of your life so well. I think your system works fantastically if started from the beginning of the year. Once you fall behind though, it becomes a never-ending catch up game. As someone who has been chronically sleep deprived since probably middle school, I can definitely attest to the importance of sleep and its effect on not just cognitive abilities, but emotional stability. Unfortunately, I think many people (me included) do not prioritize it because it is the easiest to ignore. It is also a problem that in some ways, a lack of sleep is considered not only widely acceptable, but a symbol of hard work. Hope the rest of your semester goes well also!
Wow, thanks for this! As finals are approaching, I’m also feeling a lot of loss of motivation. Prioritizing is definitely an essential trait that we all need to practice, but, as Christine mentioned, it definitely is the easiest to ignore because it’s so simple just to turn on Netflix instead of working on an assignment due the next day. Thanks for your post!
These tips are really helpful, thanks for sharing! I agree that getting enough sleep is really important. Cornell can be really stressful, and there are times where it feels like the work will never end. It might be tempting to stay up late to finish one last problem, but it’s important to realize that when you are sleep-deprived, you are not functioning as well as when you you get enough sleep. That’s why I’ve never gotten less than 8 hours of sleep, and I encourage everyone to try to get as much sleep as possible, because sleep is really important!
I am glad I am not the only person who tries diligently to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I can also heavily relate to trying to only watch Netflix/ online shows during Friday nights. I will say Netflix has made it harder recently by adding a “skip intro” button to some of their shows. It doesn’t seem like much, but during the moments of a repetitive introduction sequence to a show, it is much easier to decide to stop watching, than during the middle when the plot typically tends to thicken. As you’ve stated, though, it is well worth being ahead of coursework. In the rare moments of my time on campus where I have actually felt ahead of my work schedule, it feels great. It is unfortunately easy to fall behind and then succumb to the domino effect of one last-minute assignment hindering you from completing another assignment early.
Thank you for these tips! It’s actually interesting – I think I am at my healthiest during final exams. I get the most sleep and most nutritious meals, and distract myself the least. I guess I have the best discipline when it matters the most. I wish I had this discipline throughout the entire semester.
Thank you for the advice! I especially liked what you had to say about prioritizing. However I have one question to ask you: You mentioned that you never have multiple things due the next day due to staggering out your work. But what something unplanned and uncontrollable happened, where you were unable to do any work for a few days? Something like this happened to me first semester of freshman year. Early in the semester, I ended up contracting a pretty serious foot infection, and I had to be hospitalized for a few days. I came back to campus to discover that, even though I only missed a few classes, I was quite far behind in my work. Although I was given plenty of extensions by my professors, I soon discovered, as Christine mentioned, that I was constantly trying to catch up. I was spending the time that everyone else had to do the current assignments doing the ones that I had been granted an extension for. So that would be my question: What would you do to get back on track if you were forced off of it?
Wow, these tips are great! I have to say, as the final week is coming, I have been struggling to manage all my work load while keeping my mental health safe. It was hard for me especially since I was falling behind a bit. I am hoping to utilize your tip to get through finals week!
Wow, these tips are great! I have to say, as the final week is coming, I have been struggling to manage all my work load while keeping my mental health safe. It was hard for me especially since I was falling behind a bit. I especially find your tip of prioritizing and the span of days I should spend. Its hard to figure out how much time I should spend on each subject and often miss the chance to schedule things correctly. I will refer to your tip to schedule my work load!