Resting Before Testing

By Alejandro Arcos| Published by November 23, 2020

With the final weeks of the semester closing in, students must prepare for final exams their courses may be expected to issue. With all the anxiety this is bound to bring, relaxation methods and healthy study routines are necessary in maintaining a healthy state of mind, especially when a clouded mind can hamper how well one would do in a test. Even when in full confidence of your success, taking it easy before taking finals is a valuable way to prepare.

This is a short list of methods one could use to prepare themselves.

 

1. Healthy Study Routines – Cramming before testing is never a good idea, mostly because all the strain of struggling to learn or reinforce topics in one’s head is bound to make the information hazy the next day. Instead, a routine is needed that balances relaxation and business. An hour and a half of studying and homework followed by two hours of downtime is a good start, with the two hours spent between studying being filled with whatever may make someone happy – fetching lunch, chatting with friends, playing a video game, drawing, etc. When it’s time to study again, the mind would have been relaxed and ready to continue by then.
2. Yoga – Also known as “stretching” if you don’t want to say you do yoga to your friends. The exercises done in yoga are well known for relieving muscle tension and allowing blood circulation through the body, and more blood means a more active and fueled heart and brain. After all, the last thing someone would want to feel is anxious and tense, especially after having just spent the whole previous day sitting and studying. 
3. Brain food – This term gets thrown a lot, but it still holds true. What you eat is directly tied to how well you function, and the brain is no different when it comes to foods like eggs, salmon, vegetables, berries, and nuts. As it turns out, coffee is also considered brain food, which was likely already in many student’s morning routines anyways. 

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