Written by: Kait Holloway, Student Communications Coordinator
It’s no wild notion to anyone who’s attended post-secondary school for any length of time: finals season can be ROUGH! Sleepless nights abound, hopped up on caffeine and low on steam, it’s natural to feel your mental, emotional, social and physical meters run low. But we have two pieces of good news!
- Humans are adaptive creatures by nature! That means we can train our brains to better handle high-stress periods and develop positive work habits.
- While the needs and priorities of individuals will always vary, we’ve compiled a list of 3 tips on how to care for yourself when it really counts. Here they are!
1. Make sure to check in with yourself.
It’s easy to get carried away with everything on your plate, but it’s important to recognize the things that are causing you stress so you can deal with them as they come. A lot of students tend to ‘bear down’ and tackle their stressors head on, but this isn’t always a sustainable strategy when it comes to dealing with long term pressure. Setting good work habits is always a good idea, and there is no healthy productivity without peace of mind.
2. At the end of the day, you’re only human!
Whether you’re coming to Mohawk fresh out of high school or you’re a mature student, everyone makes poor judgement calls when it comes to setting priorities sometimes. It’s easy to get distracted, especially when working on assignments that aren’t particularly fun or easy. On the reverse of this coin though, if procrastination becomes habit it can prove a big issue; it’s important to recognize when to step away from distractions.
3. That leads us to our next tip, which is to prioritize your personal needs first.
For many this may sound like a given. But making sure that amid those day n’ night cram sessions in your favourite hoodie with a Red Bull in hand, that you’re also drinking water, showering and eating nutritional food often enough (Multivitamins can be an excellent source of essential supplements as well). If you feel like you’ve hit a wall in your work and you’re about to transition tasks, stop and ask yourself: ‘when was the last time I ate, or had a glass of water?’ Going for a short walk is always good too, but when this isn’t possible, try opening a window to let some of that fresh spring air inside! Sometimes a nice gentle breeze is all it takes to topple a mental block.
Good luck to everyone working on their finals right now! We’re almost at the finish line.
