12 tips to help you survive finals

There are a lot of articles out there telling how to get through the stress of finals, but most times you don't feel like exercising or drinking green tea and meditating, you just want to get things done. So instead, here are some tips to actually get you through finals without wasting your time.

You hear this time and time again, but it's so important to get enough sleep during your finals week. If you end up studying but not sleeping enough you'll probably not do very well.

Give yourself about 10 minutes before starting studying to divide the work among the days so that you don't end up studying 1 chapter every day and then 10 chapters the night before your exam.

Don't take this to mean you can binge watch an entire season of Friends, but do give yourself at least an hour a day to relax or do whatever makes you feel happy. This could be watching your favorite show, or catching up with some friends.

The worst part about finals week is being holed up in a library not knowing what time of day it is, dreaming about all the things you could be doing if you hadn't been here. To avoid that, try thinking of new places to go to study, such as student-friendly cafes or parks.

During finals week, don't agree to do a bunch of things just to find out that you'll be giving away studying time, or worst, time for relaxing in order to help others out, learn to say no. Even if you're the most selfless person on the planet, during finals week practice some selfishness and put yourself first.

We know how hard it is to eat well when all you can think about are equations and big words you are yet to decipher, but try to get a home-cooked meal at least twice a week so you don't crash because of all the fast food you're consuming.

Yes, you're a college student. Yes, now's your time to enjoy life. But during exam week, it's better if you don't go out partying. Just think of it this way: if you miss a couple of weeks worth of parties, you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the semester's with a clear conscience. Besides, refer to tip No. 1: A good time should never come before a good night's sleep during finals.

When things get tough, instead of rolling over into the fetal position and crying, remind yourself why you're doing this. You may not care about calculus, but you need to pass this one course to graduate and live the life you want.

During finals week, you will doubt everything and everyone, and especially yourself. To avoid an existential crisis, just turn yourself into your own biggest cheerleader. Remind yourself how great, smart and capable of acing these exams you are!

The pressure of exams is crippling, so don't add any pressure by striving to be perfect at everything. There are some papers you will turn in that will be brilliant, but there are others that will leave both you and your professor confused as to what you were trying to say, and that's fine! As long as you do your best, everything will be fine.

Some people like to study to regular music with words and all, but for most of us, the words in our textbooks are more than enough. If you feel that way, look for instrumental study playlists online and you will find a world of wonderful music that can help you focus and regain a little bit of hope.

Right now, turn off your phone, get off Facebook, sign off twitter, and close this article. Get to work!