1. Caffeine is your friend.

Whether you prefer coffee, tea, juice or energy drinks, there are many ways to keep your energy going into the wee hours of the morning to finish that paper for your history class. But be sure to keep hydrated so you aren’t too shaky to actually type anything.

2. Plan ahead

Take a look at the syllabi for all your classes. Check the finals schedule to know exactly what time and day your exam is on Simpson’s website here http://simpson.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Fall-2015-Final-Exam-Schedule-for-Day-Classes.pdf to plan out your week with studying and test-taking times plotted out.

3. Just sleep.

If it is after 3 a.m. and you’re still flipping through notecards for your 10:30 a.m. final, just go to bed. You’ve spent the whole semester in this class, so get some sleep and feel rejuvenated by test time. You won’t be able to retain much information that late at night anyway, so just sleep and start the next day anew.

4. Set extra alarms

We’ve all had the “oh crap” moment of waking up 15 minutes after a class has started. Don’t let that happen on final exam day. Set an alarm for when you would ideally wake up, one for 10 minutes after that and another for 15 minutes before the exam begins. At least then you’ll make it on time, even if your hair is a grease ball and you’re still in pajamas; at least you’re on time.

5. Find friends to suffer with

The library is never as full as on College Reading Day and subsequent finals nights. Find a group of people from your class to get some final quizzing in or compare papers with. And if all else fails, take a group trip to IHOP at 1 a.m. to get away from the stress before powering through another day of tests.

6. Save work in multiple places

There is no academic struggle worse than losing an entire paper or project right before it is due. Email a copy of your work to another email account, backup onto an external hard drive and print out a copy in case of a total technological meltdown. There is no fool-proof way to avoid a computer issue, but always better safe than sorry when it comes to your final grade.

7. Find a stress reliever

Don’t be afraid to take some time away from the studying and writing to just relax. There is no use in being a big ball of stress for an entire week, so take breaks when you’re feeling lost. Watch one episode on Netflix, take a walk, try out yoga or call your mom or best friend from home and just detox for a minute. Whatever it takes to chill out, give it a try and know your own stress relieving techniques.

8. Pick your own place

If you always study in your room, try going to the library or Dirlam Lounge for a change of scenery. Changing your location could help change your mindset and make studying that much easier.

9. Start now

Yes, finals are still a couple of weeks away. All the more reason to get ahead and start working on some things before crunch time comes. Get one of your presentations started or make an outline for your paper that your professor could look at for you. Starting now could relieve some of the stress of finals week, and you’ll thank yourself for it later.

Welcome to Fall 2015 Finals Week. May the odds be ever in your favor.

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