Amy Franklin Havasi

MS&Ed, Health Educator

Q: “The thought of finals is freaking me out. What should I do to reduce my anxiety level?

– Nicole

A: Stress itself has gotten a bad rap, but if properly used, the stress of final exams actually can help you have extra energy to study and maximize your performance. All students want to do their best during finals, but sometimes the end-of-the-semester crunch may lead to anxiety and exhaustion.

To enhance your success during finals, there are strategies designed to promote high performance during stressful times. To make positive use of stress during finals, it helps to recognize the symptoms of too much stress. These symptoms may include sweaty palms, nervousness or a feeling of “butterflies” in your stomach, indigestion or heartburn with headache, panicky feelings, increased heart rate or pounding, self-doubt, extreme fear or shaky hands and muscles.

In addition to recognizing stress, the following behaviors can help reduce excess stress and improve your performance during finals week:

1. Choose a study location that works best for your optimal level of efficiency. For example, you may find the library more conducive to studying than staying at home with your roommates.

2. Eat a healthy diet including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to avoid excess amounts of junk food and candy. Meals high in sugar can lead to being sluggish or less alert, but overuse tends to diminish the effects, and because it is a stimulant, excessive caffeine intake can increase anxiety levels.

3. Keep your sleeping pattern as normal as possible. If you have any additional demands on your schedule, try to compensate by skipping some activities to allow time for studying and getting enough rest. Studying is important, but being overly tired can hurt your ability to demonstrate effectively what you have learned. To help ensure a good night’s sleep, avoid nicotine and caffeine products for two to four hours before going to bed.

4. Take breaks from your books. Go for a walk, joke around with friends and distract yourself. Physical activity can help reduce the effects of stress and may aid concentration. From time to time, allow your eyes to focus off into the distance. This helps reduce eye stress from too much close work at once. The use of alcohol or other central nervous system depressants is discouraged because it can lessen your ability to stay awake and alert.

5. Plan a step-by-step time schedule for each major project or exam, and focus your energy on one subject at a time. It is most effective to study in many small segments of time rather than one long period. If you find yourself unable to concentrate on a particular subject, switch to something else and return to the first project later.

6. Go into your exams with a confident attitude. Admit that you cannot know everything, but that you will do the best you possibly can.

Good luck on finals! For more information about stress management and optimizing personal performance, call Health Enhancement Services at 753-9755.