Pace yourself this week. You want to be as alert going into your last exams as the first ones you had.
- Get enough sleep. Being rested will help you more than staying up to the wee hours cramming.
- Take short breaks at least every 90 minutes. Your brain can continue filing away information in the 10 minutes you take off.
- If you need a longer break, combine exercise and a meal so that you have a couple of hours off and use the combination to combat stress and re-energize.
- Add movement to your breaks. Walk around outside for a few minutes. Walk throughout the hallways of the law school. Do a few jumping jacks. Jog in place.
- Eat food that nourishes your brain. Avoid overdosing on caffeine, sugar, energy drinks. Take a dinner break where you sit down and eat a real meal rather than pizza or junk food.
Prioritize what you still need to study. Spend more time on the things you are having difficulty with for a course. Light review is all you should need on the things you already know well.
If you are losing focus, mix up your study tasks; variety that suits your learning styles can help you regain focus:
- Intensely review a subtopic in your outline
- Drill with your flashcards
- Talk to a friend about the material
- Do some practice questions
- Draw a spider map of the concepts
- Write out a difficult rule 10 times
- Read aloud a topic in your outline
- Tab your code book for an open-code exam
If you are working on a paper, break down your tasks into small pieces so it will not be so overwhelming.
- Separate research, writing, and editing tasks into three “to do” lists.
- Read aloud if you are having trouble reviewing what you have already written.
- Do multiple edits with each one focusing on a different task rather than a mega-edit:
Punctuation; Grammar; Logic; Flow and style; Citation; Footnotes; Format
- If possible, finish the day before it is due so that you can set it aside and come back for a final look with fresh eyes.
Think of three things that you are going to do to celebrate your end of the semester. Having things to look forward to helps you stay motivated.
Good luck as you continue through exams! Summer is almost here. (Amy Jarmon)
