It’s that time of year again! Sleep is on the back burner, the coffee is flowing and there isn’t a trace of a social life for miles. Yes — it’s finals time.
With finals come many good things, such as increased focus, productivity and learning capacity as we attempt to relearn, or in some select cases learn, material covered over the last five months.
However, as expected, with the hyper-focus on academics, health and well-being can oftentimes not take precedence in the grand scheme of things.
This is generally the fatal error students around the country make. By compromising health, any sort of attempt to maximize brainpower is useless because one’s focus is directly tied to their physical and mental well-being.
So how can you stay physically and mentally well in order to excel to your full potential this finals season?
There is no magic elixir to promote this “well-being” I’m referring to. It’s more about striking a balance between focusing on academics and taking time to relax. Yes, that’s right — relaxation is essential. Your brain needs some downtime to recuperate and be ready again to retain information.
It can be a struggle to relax. In fact, many people have difficulty even deciding what exactly is a “relaxing” activity.
WebMD wrote a really helpful article on which activities maximize relaxation. These are especially helpful ideas for finals season.
Some of the activities mentioned are:
- Meditation: Take a few moments to escape the confines of your walls. Meditation can be a calming way to collect your thoughts and promote good mental health.
- Breathing exercises: Nothing helps calm you down more than simply breathing. Inhale fresh air and exhale anything that’s bugging you. Realize that everything will be okay.
- Being present: Understand that there’s more to life than academia. Yes, you should strive to do well, but don’t compromise your sanity for a letter grade.
- Reaching out: Hang out with people! The biggest misconception is that you “don’t have time” to interact with others. Don’t go to a full-on rager, but make sure to keep in touch with your friends every once in a while.
- Tuning into your body: Listen to your body. If you’re struggling to stay awake, take a break, take a little nap, do whatever you need to do in order to feel rested. Only when you’re rested will you be able to reach your full potential.
- Decompressing: Spoil yourself a little and get a massage. Tension builds up in your muscles when you’re stressed out causing stiffness and pain. Make sure you’re body is prepared for your exams where you need to feel 100 percent to do the best you can do.
- Laughing: Simply smile, watch a funny video as a study break, take time to laugh — it will make studying so much easier.
- Listening to music: Listen to music that will motivate you while you study or turn music on when you’re attempting to unwind — it will only make things better.
- Getting active: Do some yoga, go for a run or a swim … release any sort of stress you have physically!
- Being grateful: Realize that you have a lot to be thankful for, including your college education, family, friends and so much more — it will motivate you to preserver this finals season.
These are just a handful out of myriad activities one can do to relax during quite possibly the most stressful time of the year.
The most important thing is balance, as always! Balance that workload with relaxing activities to obtain the optimum amount of focus and energy.
Keep in mind that only with a healthy body can you have a healthy enough mind to retain information! Take advantage of the activities mentioned above and exceed your expectations this fall finals season.
Take a deep breath, don’t skip any meals, get plenty of exercise and make sure to blow those finals out of the water!
Stay healthy, my friends!
Contact the columnist at wshahid@asu.edu
