How to IMSA: Dealing with Pre-Finals Stress

The week before finals casts an ominous shadow on the lives of IMSA students. Here are some pointers on ways to not die while finishing up projects and studying for finals.

To begin, you don’t need to forget all of your worries, just do not obsess over them. There’s a difference between feeling some pressure and being overwhelmed from thinking you can’t deal with it.

Having fun is all about giving yourself a much-needed break from constant worrying. And even if you can’t get yourself to stop worrying, STOP WORRYING SO MUCH; decreasing the time you spend worrying can be quite easy.

1. Start off on a positive note; think about what you DON’T need to worry about. What do you have under control? Are you the one carry in your math class? Good. Then stop worrying about math and turn to classes that trouble you the most.
2. Ask people for help. There are at least 10 other people in the same class as you. Hunt them down, and ask them to go over what you need help on.
3. If you think you really have no time, make a plan. If you are loaded with too many weighty assignments, try to skip around; don’t focus too hard on one assignment. If you run out of time to do the others, you’ll start to stress even more.
4. Plan to do some work. This may be a worksheet, a small assignment, or a section of a larger assignment. Then, reward yourself by spending 10 minutes watching YouTube videos, getting a snack, watching 10 minutes of your favorite show, reading a chapter of a book, etc. Whatever is fine; it just needs to be something time-controlled that will help you relax. Then, get right back to work if you need to. When working, saving yourself from distractions is important to being productive; this is why you take breaks, so that your “distractions” are concentrated into a strict time slot.