Top 5 Study Tips

Sorry guys, I know I've been gone for a while! It's semester finals week, which for most people, equates to shitloads of studying and stress. Especially if you're me, and your grade in pretty much every class depends on finals. Did I mention I took a study hall, which means I'm only in five classes and thus have no cushion for my GPA? No pressure...

Here are some of the useful tips I apply to my own studying, and hopefully they help you stay sane before an exam too.

Top 5 Study Tips

1.) Take a break every 30-50 minutes and walk around, or do some sort of physical activity. I like to take my heaviest textbook and do 15 chest presses coupled with 25 jumping jacks, or pop out 10 burpees. Since I usually don't have time to work out during finals week, this helps me burn off some of that stress.

2.) Stock up on "brain fuel," like greek yogurt and high fructose corn syrup-free granola bars. I always keep lots of frozen Chobani yogurts and Kashi granola bars on hand for late-night study sessions, because for me, studying always works up an appetite.

3.) Don't eat high-carb or sugar foods before studying. You'll crash an hour into it, and it'll just exasperate the pain and lethargy.

4.) If you're cramming the night before, like I usually do, make sure to take plenty of practice quizzes. They give you a general idea of what you should know, and can be more effective than memorization because they require you to apply the knowledge, and thus force the linking of concepts.

5.) Read the captions/headings of each section and paragraph in the textbook.  For AP Semester Exams where you have to cover over 20 some chapters of material, you need to grasp the broad concept of each chapter and not just memorize the terms. I have found that although most people ignore the captions/headings, they give you a good generalization of what is going on.

With that said...
Wish me luck on finals today and tomorrow. If you have exams this week as well, all the best to you too!

Chillaxin'

I feel like I'm going to deviate from the title a helluva lot... Lots of school-related bitching is in the works, but I'm not going to let all that negative energy get to me right now. WTF does that even make any sense??? Sorry, sorta out of it right now.

Anyways, I'm just giving y'all a heads up. I'm not going to be sticking to any workouts except for tennis, or maybe some pilates, for the rest of the week because my shins have been feeling wonky. They feel really tight when I'm doing any type of lunge/jump. This means pretty much most cardio activities involving repetitive jumping are out. Pushups and full burpees are okay, but I think I'm just going to give myself a week or two to recoop and let my body rest.

I am totally out of it right now... I should probably go practice piano since I haven't been doing nearly enough of that lately, but it's so difficult because it's a "study binge" weekend. Yup, an orgy with the textbooks...
Sounds like fun, doesn't it? So does sticking forks between your toes.