How to Spend Your Reading Days

I know that readings days are to prepare for finals. I know that reading days are to review material and do practice problems and study like a madwoman. I know that readings days are designed for students to catch up on work.

And of course, I’ll be doing all of the above, except that I won’t be doing all of the above all the time. Instead of cooping up in the library to study and becoming unproductive by hour six, there are some alternative ways to prepare yourself both physically and mentally for finals.

1)      Sleep

image credit to Marianne Perdomo on flickr.com

I’ll be spending at least a whole day just catching up on sleep. You know these past few months, when you’ve barely had any shut-eye for at least five days out of the semester? All those parties you went to, all that liquor you ingested; all the assignments you procrastinated, and the all-nighters that helped you hand in that essay to ella at x:59? Now’s the time to make up for those long nights spent cramming for an exam and the times when you needed a whole day to nurse a hangover.

2)      Eat

image credit to DanieleCivello on flickr.com

Believe it or not, you do still need meals during finals. Staying in the library 24/7 and snacking while studying can only get you so far in nutrition before your body decides to conserve energy and stop processing the information in front of you. Make meals a social event so you won’t feel too deprived of human contact, but won’t feel too unproductive when you just chill with your friends.

3)      Get dressed

See this? Yeah, don’t study there. image credit to free range jace on flickr.com

Personally, I will make an effort to be in publicly accepted clothing while I study. Drowning myself in sweatpants in the burrows of my bed under a computer, several textbooks, a notebook or two, and abundant food will only make me feel too comfortable and lethargic to actually crack the whip on myself to seriously study. Take a shower, pull on some real pants, and sit down at a desk (or at least an armchair) to give yourself a studious environment from skin outwards.

4)      Surf the internet

We all do it, whether we intend to or not. It’s much better to set aside a designated time to wind down, relax, and waste some well-deserved brain cells on internet humor. This way, you’ll feel more obligated to work after a certain amount of time because you can keep track of how much time you’ve allotted yourself to procrastinating instead of aimlessly wandering the depths of Youtube, becoming entrenched in its alluring content, and emerging from that tangled web of steadily increasing insanity and realizing you’ve blown the last 5 hours watching gifs of cute cats.

Oh, look at it’s smug smile! image credit to Laenulfean on flickr.com

5)      Clean

I personally concentrate a lot better when I have a tidy space around me (which is why most of the time I don’t study in my room). At stressful times, even cleaning your room will sound like a welcome distraction. Go ahead and do it! Instead of half-heartedly reviewing the material and having surrounding distractions, take care of those distractions once and for all instead of leaving it be and wishing you could make all that bother go away. You’ll have to pack for December break, anyways.

Hopefully those tips will retain some semblance of your sanity during finals. Three days (and then some) of continuous studying can only fry your brain. If you spend your reading days balanced between studying and the above tasks, you’ll be in much better mental health.