Your Finals Week Survival Kit
We’ve made it! Not only through nine weeks of Zoom University, but through an entire year of UChicago madness. Well.. almost. Just one week of finals stands between us and a long awaited summer break.
Motivation has been incredibly low for me this quarter - I never thought I’d be missing Harper this badly. It’s hard to get the same sense of accountability studying in your room as you get around others, whether it be in study groups or simply listening to the manic typing of those in neighbouring Reg cubicles. It’s also been harder for me to justify taking study breaks when I feel like I’ve been less productive that I should have been. As the quarter has gone on, this inability to divide my time between work and leisure has gotten me feeling angsty and stressed. The unending workload here has always stressed me out, but trapped in my room I feel less able to keep it off my mind. Though carving out clearer work/life boundaries is definitely a work (ha ha) in progress for me, I would like to share what has helped me so far. Hopefully these techniques and resources will aid you with focussing during finals week, but also establish healthy habits that will be beneficial in the long run!
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Take a breather
Because your mental health is more important than your calc grade.
Walk.
I felt guilty at first taking large chunks of time away from my screen just to take a walk outside and be contemplative, but they are so worth it. A change of scenery is a great way to disconnect from your work, and means that you will likely have a fresh perspective on that paper when you get back to it. Being surrounded by nature also does wonders for creativity, which is handy not only for that aforementioned paper but also as an outlet!
Get some Headspace
Sometimes my thoughts are so jumbled I feel I just need to get out of my head. Headspace has some really good guided meditations, and even if meditation isn’t your cup of tea, Andy Puddicombe’s calming British accent will be enough to make your day better regardless. CorePower Yoga also has short guided meditations (not to mention a range of yoga classes) on their website.
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Work smarter
Finding focus when everything about life is distracting right now
Study with me
To create the sense of accountability lost by studying with or around others, I’ve started watching ‘study with me’ videos on YouTube. These usually run 1-2 hours, and I just have them on in the background. They make me feel guilty for picking up my phone/checking Facebook, since I can’t help but glancing at the video and seeing that the creator is still steadily working. An alternative to this would be Zooming a friend to study alongside - although this can quickly turn into a catch up rather than a productive study sesh.
Forest
Forest is an app or Chrome extension that rewards you for your productivity by planting trees. You set a timer on the app and for that amount of time you are not allowed to leave said app, or your virtual tree dies. Once you’ve planted enough virtual trees, you’re able to get a real tree planted; being productive and saving the planet at the same time, it’s a win-win.
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Self Control
The name really says it all - unlike Forest, this app works better on your laptop. You input the names of websites you want banned (e.g Facebook, YouTube) and once you set a timer, it literally does not allow you to visit these banned websites at all, making procrastination a lot harder. Time to start the final paper I guess!
Lo-fi beats
I have never been able to listen to music while studying - I’d always just end up listening to the lyrics and singing along instead of focussing. But recently I’ve gotten into putting a lo-fi playlist on shuffle in the background - it isn’t distracting for me since it’s purely instrumental, and gives me a reason to look forward to studying.
The bigger picture
Sometimes it simply helps to remember that your grades are really not the be all and end all of success. This has been a weird quarter for all of us, and it’s impossible to compare how we’ve done academically to our peers or even to our previous selves because of such variance in situation and circumstance. Try your best, but don’t beat yourself up if you still find it hard to focus. It’s more than justified.
