5 Time Management Tips for Finals Studying
What’s that sound—a ticking clock or your racing heart? Either way, it means one thing: it’s finals time.
If you’re wondering how you’re going to juggle all of your responsibilities in the coming days, try putting these time management tips into practice now, before things go south. After all, a little planning can go a long way.
1.) Put Your Phone Away
Really. While you’re studying or writing, turn off any ringtones or vibrations, and put your device in a drawer where you can’t see it. If you’re working on a computer, don’t make yourself visible anywhere people can chat with you, like Facebook Messenger, Gchat, or Skype. Tell yourself you can check messages during the last five minutes of every hour. You’re not going to miss anything that can’t wait 55 minutes.
2.) Take It With You
Take along one item that you can work on during any down time. When a class starts late or you are riding home on the bus, make use of those extra minutes. Note cards are great for this. And if you want to de-stress a little but still need to keep studying, prop some cards or study sheets up on the treadmill or elliptical and work out your anxiety while you review.
3.) Schedule Rewards
Whatever reward you choose, don’t indulge in it unless you reach your goal.
Like your pets, sometimes all it takes to get us to behave is the prospect of a treat. Make a deal with yourself: “Once I finish this study guide for U.S. History, I can watch an episode of Portlandia.”
Whatever reward you choose, don’t indulge in it unless you reach your goal. You aren’t going to enjoy it if you still have the same task hanging over your head.
4.) Use a Calendar
Maybe you’re not the kind of person who carries around a planner or inputs every meeting into a calendar app. That’s OK—this is temporary, and you don’t need anything fancy. Just the calendar on your phone or a notebook will work. The goal is to put in writing a plan for how you’re going to use blocks of time, and then stick to it.
Let’s try a real-life scenario: say you have a statistics final at 3 p.m. on Monday, a history essay due at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and a Spanish final at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Researchers have found that interweaving various subjects and spreading them out over a few days (rather than a series of one-subject cram sessions) may be better for information retention. With that in mind, here’s a hypothetical schedule for your finals prep on Friday (assuming you have no classes):
● 10 a.m.—Start your history essay. If you get this going before the weekend, you still have time to ask the professor questions without looking like a last-minute slacker.
● Noon—Break for lunch (no skipping meals to study; you’ll lose focus)
● 1 p.m.—Statistics study time. Make yourself some flashcards. As we’ve discussed, these may come in handy later. After a few hours, schedule a short break, and then …
● 4 p.m.—Power through several hours of Spanish prep—do flashcards again, which you can carry with you over the next few days.
Plan a similar schedule for the rest of the weekend, and you’re set. Bonus: if you stick to your calendar, you’ll have the luxury of being able to have some fun in the evening and get some actual sleep. Make sure to build in your meals, breaks, and rewards as incentives to stay on task.
5.) Get Some Sleep
Cramming all night might get you through the occasional crunch situation earlier in the semester, but when you’ve got multiple final papers or exams crashing down on you at once, that strategy is not going to work. Manage your time and your sanity by keeping sleep on the schedule.
Lora Wegman is a contributing writer for Varsity Tutors, a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement.