Finals Are Fast Approaching and All I Want to do is Read A Novel: Some Tips on Staying on Track

How is it that finals are sneaking up on us and the school year is almost done already? Sometimes the weeks seem to go brutally slow but then all of sudden you're handing in final papers and filling out flashcards. For some reason while I was growing up I assumed that we spent a good chunk of our lives at college but older me has now fully realised how fast it actually goes. I didn't even know it was possible to learn so much in such little time. I didn't even know it was possible to feel this wiped out and honestly I'm ready to lie in bed all day watching movies and reading novels.

Since I needed motivation myself, I thought it might be a good idea to outline some helpful study tips and procrastination avoiders. Since being here I've stumbled across some pretty great (and definitely free) tools and if I'm being completely honest, I may have googled some of these to add more content to this post.

• Go to Quizlet.com, don't ask questions just go there. Save paper and enter your flashcards into this website and then play all the games! I speak from personal experience when I say that this increased my grade a good 20% from midterm to the other. It turns out my old way of studying wasn't as prime as I had thought it was.
• I don't want to encourage you to use Sparknotes but if you are an English major or any major with a ton of reading, this is a great website to use as a way to review what you've already read.
• If you still haven't figured out how to schedule very well then Schooltraq is ridiculously helpful! It is literally just an online planner that will help you remember everything you need to do and the importance in which you need to do them! Plus it includes a calendar and you can access it from your phone to.
• If you just need a simple to-do list the Wunderlist app is great!
• For all last minute papers: easybib.com is the place to go. If you haven't discovered this one already, you're missing out. It makes creating a bibliography simply a manner of minutes.
• For those with Apple software, be adventurous and try the SelfControl app. It will help you block out distracting websites and applications for a set time and there is literally nothing you can do to get around it.

While I think any of the above mentioned sites and applications will help organise the chaos that comes with the end of semestre, I also want to emphasize the importance of taking time to yourself. Taking a time out is just as important for your brain as sleeping, and eating, and breathing. Remember to do something fun that's different every now and then. Even if that is using your free time reading as motivation to get a certain amount of studying done or simply calling up a friend who you know can make you laugh. Laughing is healthy. Just don't burst out laughing in the middle of a final because people might slowly inch their desks away from yours. Also keep in mind that finals are right around Easter weekend. Don't let your finals distract you from the importance of that either.

One last thing, don't forget to keep your eye on the light at the end of the tunnel. Believe it or not, finals only last for a week. To keep you motivated and focused on this idea maybe use your free time to plan out some of your summer. Spend some time writing out a reading list and since I mentioned reading, let me just throw in that the books you read and hated in high school, you should read those again. Believe it or not but reading the classics as a little bit older and wiser really changes your perspective. Just don't spend too much time planning things out. Don't get the wrong idea and think I'm giving you excuses to procrastinate even though I really am.




Allanah Osborn is an avid reader with a bookshelf that costs way too much money to move from one apartment to the next. She is currently a BYU Bookstore employee and writes regularly for the Y Read Blog.