Finals week is just around the corner, so making sure you use your time well is pretty important. When you’re a student it can be hard to manage your time, especially when you’re trying to balance all the other life demands like hanging out with pals, working and so on. We’ve pulled together some of our top tips for making sure you use your time effectively. Go smash it, guys!

Get yo' schedule ON!

You’ve probably heard it a million times before but, when they said ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, they were telling the truth. Harsh, but true. If you’re trying to prep for your finals but have no idea of how long you want to spend studying certain topics, it’s really going to stress you out. How can you focus with nothing to work towards? There are loads of online study timetables where you can fill in details of what exams you’re taking, when they are, areas you’re struggling with etc. Get scheduling!

Turn it off!

We know that scrolling through Instagram is basically (and a perfectly acceptable!) hobby, but try to avoid looking on social media or messaging your squad whilst you’re trying to study during finals week. Sadly, it’s only going to put you off of your work and therefore make you study for longer. No thanks. To stop procrastinating on your phone, put it somewhere out of reach or disable your internet for a few hours. Simple.

Multitasking = a no from us

A common misconception amongst students is that multitasking is a way of being efficient. I mean, surely during your math and history revision at the same time means you’ll be finished quicker? If only! Trying to do loads of different tasks at once is actually very counterproductive. Your poor old brain has to keep readjusting to your new area of focus, so it’s just going to a) waste your time, and b) making you hella’ confused! Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Break it up!

Effective time management is all about working smarter, not harder. If you sit down and think ‘right, I’ll study for 6 hours straight’ you’re really not being smart. Focusing for too long is going to make you less productive, ain’t nobody got an attention span that long! Try working for short yet concentrated periods of time, and then break. Why not try 20 minutes or revision and then take a 10 minute break? Again though, avoid going straight back to your phone during a break as it might just distract you for too long - soz group chat!