How to Handle Final Exam Stress Using These Proven Techniques

Finals week is arguably the most stressful time of the year. Suddenly, in just a whirl of a few days, you have important exams to take and loads of notes to study, all while making sure you get enough sleep to keep you from going insane.

To help you navigate final exam stress, here are some tips and tricks on how to manage, handle, and conquer any anxiety you might experience when juggling your academic responsibilities!

To put your mind at ease and set yourself up for success, consider these effective techniques for dealing with stress during exam week.

My first piece of advice is to remain calm and take care of yourself. Self-care is one of the best ways to reduce stress, and this can take the form of 5-minute breaks while studying, rewarding yourself with a sweet treat after a long study session, or buying a face mask to do each night before a big exam.

Now, this takes care of our mental state, but we should also keep our bodies healthy. Remember to have a good dinner and a solid breakfast before each test, eating nutritious and protein rich foods to keep our brains in tip-top shape.

After an exam or a long study session, make sure to keep blood flowing to your brain by standing up and doing a few quick stretches, or walking around your house for a few minutes. Any form of light, simple, and non-time-consuming physical activity helps keep our health in check so we can perform our best in the upcoming finals!

Another way to keep stress levels down is to stay organized. By maintaining organization, your mind stays clear and relaxed, focused on the task at hand.

Now, recordkeeping and planning are examples of ways we can achieve mental cleanliness, but this also means that different things work for different people. By high school, even freshman year, you should know what way works best for you.

For example, planning out all my assignments and major events - like my Honors English midterm coming up - are all neatly written in my planner, giving my brain some peace of mind, and clear visuals as to what I have to study for. I also plan my study sessions based on what I need to review and what I can skip. 

Another great tip that works well for me is to clear out my main folder with multiple sections for different classes at the end of each month. I organize all the papers from old lesson plans and store them in a binder with color-coded folders for each class. This way, when midterm week rolls around, I have all my notes in order.

Now, what I usually struggled with wasn’t organization, but how to study effectively. So I did some research, watched a few YouTube videos, tried different study techniques for different quizzes, and found out what worked best for me per the subject.

For example, what really helped me maintain an A in an AP Art History class was writing down all my notes in a clear format and taking note of all the important things my teacher said, instead of just copying the slideshow verbatim.

Then, a day or two before my quiz, I would review and pretend to teach the lesson to somebody else (usually a stuffed animal or my cats). I found that this technique really stuck with me and helped me earn a good grade.

But, as mentioned previously, this might not be your method, and that’s okay. What does matter is knowing yourself and how you learn effectively and efficiently to keep you prepared for final exams.

At the end of the day, we are all trying our best. Even though we can often forget it in the midst of school and academics – with competition at an all-time high in high school - we should remind ourselves that grades do not define us, and are not the sole determinants in determining our future.

By keeping a cool, calm, level-headed state of mind, you can easily manage your stress, organize your assignments, and help you ace any finals!

- Need additional help managing final exam stress? You can rely on the Student Success Center for support tailored to your needs! Get help with study skills, time management strategies, and more.