Avoiding Stress During Finals Week

Almost every high school, college student and graduate student worries about big midterm and final exams. Most students end up cramming and trying to shove as much material and information into their heads as possible in a very little amount of time before this exam.

According to doctors, this is by far the worst method of studying and recent studies show that test scores may be adversely affected without the proper amount of sleep before the exam due to too much studying. So the question remains, with the big exam coming up, how do you maximize your time to study? Here are some helpful tips and suggestions for studying.

Don't study for more than 2 hours in a row. This will lead to a headache and you won't retain much of what you jsut learned. The best study tip is to study for two hours, then take a 15 minute break with a cup of coffee or watching the news. Then go back to your studying by taking another skim of the reading you jsut had just to familiarize yourself with what you've jsut read and to make sure that you retain the information. Then repeat these same steps.

Sleep time: Make sure that before your exam you get at least 5 hours of sleep. The recommeded dosage of sleep is usually around 8 hours for most people but since you will need the most amount of time to study, you can get away with 5 hours of sleep and still be mentally prepared for the exam.

Food is also a must. Food helps to give you energy and the mental strength to get through the long periods of studying. Food also helps your body physically gain more energy.