What do long lines at Starbucks, late
night fourth meals at any open restaurant, and Pinterest breaks have in common?
From what I have seen at my time here at the University of Florida, they all
are signals that students are preparing to study for mid-terms. I am going to
share a few of my secrets for preparing for mid-terms.
1. Have your priorities in order
The most important thing to remember
when beginning to prepare for mid-terms is set your priorities. By knowing what
is of the highest importance you can set an order to your daily activities. One
thing that I utilize is something taught to me when I first entered college;
the MSN system. Must do, Should do and Nice to do. For me, must do
tasks are items that need immediate attention, should do deals with me getting
ahead for classes and nice to do covers tasks that are not urgent. It is
important to set a standard for each of these or you may begin to categorize
you N’s as M’s. I know that I can become stressed out easily when it comes to
studying, so taking a break every now and again is a must do for me. Taking
breaks helps to keep you fresh and energized. But trust me, an hour long
Pinterest break is not going to help you remember how to go about finding the
risk free rate when you are valuing a stock. A five to ten minute break is a
must do; an hour long break is definitely a nice to do. Prioritization leads
right into my next tip.
2. Time management
Managing time is a surefire way to make
sure that you are staying productive during the day. Prioritizing your tasks
helps to make sure you do the most important things first, but planning out the
day can help you to get more accomplished. Desk calendars are amazing. I am not
talking about the cute little calendars with the puppies on the cover. I am
talking about the big, pasty white, two foot by three foot calendars that is
actually too big for your desk altogether. I have one that I use and without
it, my life would be chaos. We as students aren’t just taking classes. As for
myself, I am in numerous other organizations in which I serve on the executive
board and I have a part-time internship with Gainesville Regional Utilities.
How you want to organize the calendar is up to you. You can go into a lot of
detail by planning out each hour or use blocks of time. I had the ingenious
idea to color code my calendar at the beginning of the year… now it looks like
it just participated in the color run.
3. Stress management
My last tip is to manage your stress
level. College life, in general, tends to be very stressful and at times even
frustrating. The feeling of being
overwhelmed is enough to drive any student to the brink of insanity.
Understanding what stresses you out is the first step in knowing how to deal
with it. There are many different ways to deal with stress; listening to music,
exercising, meditation, or setting aside some time for your favorite hobby are
all common ways to manage stress. The Counseling and Wellness Center, Student
Health Care Center, and GatorWell are all good resources available on campus if
you need additional help in managing stress. They have counselors who will sit
down and talk with you about anything and everything. They also offer fun
activities during exams like free massages and sometimes they bring in animals
for students to play with as another way to relieve stress.
While these are a few things that I do
and utilize to prepare for exams, there are many other techniques and options
out there. As a student graduating in December, (HOORAY!), I figured I must be
doing something right, so why not share my secrets. J
Hopefully what I have shared will help you get though mid-terms and even
finals.
Study hard (but not too hard) and GO
GATORS!
- Deirdre Hilliard
“If a person studies too much and
exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to
apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension.”
-Maimonides
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