Studying important, but so is having fun

Eric Hydrick / Columnist

With finals coming up, everyone's talking about studying hard for finals (because all we really care about is getting those good grades). However, there are other (more or less productive) things to do at the end of classes. And there's no reason why some stupid test should have to ruin all that.

Reading day is a day off – use it as such

Just because there's a day with no classes just before exams doesn't mean that you're supposed to study.

I've never seen anyone study for much more than an hour straight, let alone an entire day.

Concentrate only on the exam(s) you'll take on your first day. That narrows things down to one or two tests – something much more manageable that leaves you with plenty of time to do something better.

By limiting yourself on reading day, you can keep yourself relatively stress-free and still have time for all kinds of other stuff.

Exam days = short days = lots of play time

You can't have more than two exams in one day – the latest they end is 9 p.m. That's plenty of time to hang out and do something you want to do.

Studies have shown that insanity can be caused by too much time looking over old notes. Spend the many hours you have off sleeping, playing some sport, playing video games, IMing people about how much finals suck or anything else that crosses your mind. After all, this time does mark the beginning of summer break.

Don’t over-study

The more you study, the more stressed you'll be when you actually take the final exam. Also, you've been going over this stuff for a whole semester. You have to know some of it already.

If you're going to sit down and study, make a list of what is going to be on the final. Then, go ahead and skip everything that you already know. There's no point going over something you already know how to handle.

Now, the stuff your memory is a bit fuzzy on or never really got in the first place is another story. You may want to take a look at that.

The less you cram, the better the odds are you'll remember it come time to take the exam, which is all you're really trying to accomplish.

Take study breaks

You can't sit and study for anything for hours on end. It's not possible, and probably not healthy either.

Instead, quit preparing for finals every so often and do something, if only just to break up the monotony. Even if you're studying with friends, stop every now and then for something else.

You don't have to do much, just something else. You could eat, go get drinks, go check your mail, play cards -– just something that's totally unrelated to what it is you're studying.

Besides, at some point you're going to be taking a major test. You don't want to come right back and study for another one.

If you want to get through finals with as little stress and the best grades possible, then you should adopt methods that give you the best grades for the least amount of work. That way, you can enjoy your last few days of school without sacrificing your grades.

And you'll also have your wits about you going into the summer break.