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Okay so I just finished exams and I have firsthand experience with this situation so I figured I’d put together some tips/advice for anyone else who is going through this!!

1 >> DO. NOT. PANIC. There’s absolutely NO use in stressing out or regretting waiting until now to study. You can’t go back and fix things, so it’s best to work with what you have now!! If you’re going through a breakdown, try to relax  + focus on what’s now. Try listening to some rain and taking deep breaths to calm down. 

2 >> Don’t procrastinate any more!! I find that sometimes I freak out enough to procrastinate even more (checking Tumblr, etc), making myself even more stressed. Put ALL the distractions away. If you’re having a problem with constantly checking your phone, try Forest. (also on Apple) I also use apps like StayFocusd on Chrome so that I block websites I tend to procrastinate on.

3 >> Set up and get started right away! Basically part two of step 2. Get out your notes/worksheets/whatever you need right away. Some music/sounds is usually preferable for people. (music masterpost by @areistotle, white noise masterpost by @killjoyjournal, a playlist for procrastination by @studyign) or just your own music!! Try to avoid things with lyrics, though. 

4 >> Set up a Pomodoro! Yes, you might not have much time, but that doesn’t mean you should study non-stop without any breaks whatsoever. A pomodoro is a 25 minute study/work block with a 5 minute break. Every 4 pomodoros, you take a longer break. However, since you’re on a bit of a deadline, it might be better to study for 25 minutes, get up, stretch, grab a glass of water, then head right back. (maybe not a full 5 minute break) That way you won’t become too unfocused in between pomodoros. 

5  >> Don’t read the textbook! If it’s the night before the exam, you don’t have enough time to read through the whole textbook. Also, it’s not the most effective method of getting stuff to stay in your brain. If you’re stressed, you could be reading it and nothing is staying in your head. Do things that will make you think about the info you’re going through.

6 >> Go through review sheets/old tests if you have them! Instead of trying to go through every single note/worksheet you have, look through some past evaluations. Redoing your old tests will make you think about what you’re doing, and if you come across some of the same problems you had before, you’ll know exactly what notes to go back over. If you have a review package with questions that your teacher gave you specifically, make sure you do as much of that as you can.

7 >> Write quick little summaries of the lessons! It’s a quick way to review what happened in the lessons without going too in depth or spending too much time. Sometimes I’ll write the topic name on one side of a cue card and write the summary on the other side, so that way I can test myself on each topic later. 

8 >> Talk to a friend! Talk to someone else taking the exam via social media/skype/whatever (don’t procrastinate though!!) and make sure you’ve covered everything. You can also try testing each other to make sure you know the content. 

9 >> Don’t forget to take care of yourself! Drink lots of water and eat healthy things while you’re studying. The water will keep you alive and hydrated as well as focused. The snacks will keep the energy coming. Also, don’t sit at your desk the entire time. Get up and walk around every once in a while. Remind yourself that you can get through this!!

10 >> DON’T STAY UP ALL NIGHT CRAMMING!!! The information will NOT stay in your head and it’s MUCH more beneficial to get as much sleep as possible!! This is especially important if your exam is early in the morning! Go to sleep at a reasonable time (that is not after 12, even 12 is pushing it) Try to fit in 5 or 10 minutes of meditation sometime before you sleep, too. It’ll help you relax and calm down enough to sleep instead of stressing.

11 >> Review what you studied in your head before you sleep. While you’re brushing your teeth, getting changed, before you fall asleep, go through the list of things you studied. Again, a way for you to think about what you reviewed. Also, try getting up everything you need for your exam. (Sometimes I forget stuff if I’m rushing in the morning, and that can lead to problems)

12 >> The morning of your exam: Eat a super healthy breakfast that will keep you going!! Try to keep it balanced: grains, dairy, fruits and protein. Take a walk outside, get some fresh air, and shower if you can. Review stuff in your head before, and try not to stress yourself out. You can totally ace that exam!!

like seriously, drop them now. 

they’re toxic and prevent you from being productive and doing your best.

comparing yourself to others. in anything, we tend to compare ourselves to others even though we know how unhealthy it is. stop comparing yourself to your friends and classmates because everyone works in different ways at different paces.

complaining. i get it. nobody wants to write multiple essays or do fifty math problems. it’s either you do it or you don’t. if you don’t do it, there’s nothing to complain about. if you do the assignment, why complain if you know you’ll finish it anyway ? complaining is counterproductive and honestly quite annoying.

being negative. “i’m gonna fail this test.” “i can’t do it.” everyone says these things to themselves, including me. sometimes i’ll say “i don’t understand anything” even though i’ve barely tried. have a positive attitude and try to believe in yourself. i think, therefore i am. speak your success into existence and put in the work.

cramming. if you know you have a test on friday, start studying a few days before. rather than spending a whole 3 hours studying the night prior, study in smaller increments several days beforehand. take your time to understand the concepts. cramming stresses the body by trying to force memorization which usually doesn’t end up well.

going out when you have homework. i get it. you want to hang out with your friends, but you really should get your work done. make an effort to finish most/all of your work before you go out. personally, the fact that i have work to do lingers in the back of my mind which lowkey stresses me when i’m trying to have fun. who wants that ?

wake up early

drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up

meditate or concentrate on your breathing for at least 2 mins

visualize your goals for the day and for the future

make your bed 

do calf raises or squats while brushing your teeth

floss

dry brush

take a cold shower (or end a hot shower with cold water right after for about 3 mins)

put on lotion while your skin is still damp

cleanse, tone, and moisturize your face

apply sunscreen

drink a glass of water before and after every meal

listen to a podcast/ted talk instead of music while walking or driving

park far away from where you’re going

stand up straight

look at people in the eye when talking to them

look straight ahead when walking, not at the ground

smile at strangers

stop complaining (it’s bad for your health)

bring cash instead of credit card

track your expenses

turn off notifications on your phone when doing work

resist the urge to go on your phone and observe your surroundings more

set a timer for 5 mins when scrolling through social media and stop when the time is up

learn at least 5 new vocab words from your target language every day

exercise while watching shows/videos

read at least 10 pages every day

do tasks that can be done in 2 mins right away

drink tea

prepare workout gear the night before

jot down tasks for the next day before sleeping

write down quotes/lyrics that strike a chord

spend 30 mins on a hobby

journal and write down things you are grateful for

Eight Ways to Remember Anything by Alex Lickerman M.D.

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

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Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

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Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.