Hello Everyone!
Today we are going to discuss a few more tips and tricks that I have for my fellow college students who are about to enter finals season.
Music
While it can be very tempting to listen to music with words that isn’t always the best idea when trying to study for finals. That being said it is all based on your own productivity style. For example, I can’t listen to music with words while studying for a test, but I can listen to it if I’m creating a presentation. I can also listen to instrumental music while studying, but I can’t listen to anything while reading a textbook. It has taken me years to figure this out, but now I have a pretty good idea of what music I can and can’t listen to depending on the assignment.
Linked below are a few of my favorite YouTube channels for study ambience. These sites have great options if you just want a little bit of background music or noise, but don’t want too much music
The Pomodoro Technique
There are some great study techniques that can make you that much more productive during your study session. For example, the pomodoro technique. This technique is great when you have a lot of time and don’t know where to start. With this method you study for 25 minutes and then break for 5 minutes. You then continue to cycle through the process until you have completed the assignment.
A few changes that I make when I use this method is that I will sometimes study for 45 minutes and then give myself a 10 minute break. I have just found that I enjoy the overall process of the pomodoro technique, but I can concentrate longer than 25 minutes and prefer a bigger break. I also like to transfer between assignments. If I continue with the same assignment for too long I get tired and bored. So I like to cycle between assignments when I’m using this method.
Create a Finals Schedule
I started this process in high school and I still do it every finals season. First,I go online and find a printable monthly calendar. Second, I print the calendar out and write in any finals that I have during the month. I then go into my syllabus and determine how many chapters are being covered on the final. I’m then able to divide the number of chapters by the number of days until 2 days before the final. This tells me how many chapters I need to cover each day to be prepared for the exam. I also leave two days before the exam to review all of the chapters. I will then continue that process for all of my finals.
A Tip for Open Book Finals
A very specific tip that I have is for those open book finals that you might have. While these finals are great because you have all of the information directly in front of you these tests can also be the hardest. So, if your professor tells you to study for these tests make sure that you listen. Another thing that I like to do for finals like these is take post-it notes and label all of the chapters and important figures that might be referenced in the chapter. This is extremely helpful during the test because then you don’t have to search.
See you next time!
Maria
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