Exam Week Essentials: The Everyday Student’s Guide to Surviving Finals
11/17/2025 | by Sydney Saunders | Academics
College students everywhere are gearing up for the end of the semester, dreading the upcoming week of finals. No matter how prepared or organized a student is, finals week can seem like an unclimbable mountain keeping them from the joy of Christmas on the other side. We’ve all been there.
It doesn’t have to be, though. This guide will help you navigate the academic pressure of finals week. You can climb the mountain and sled into winter break with (relative) ease with these helpful tips, tricks, and tools.
Academic Tools
There are thousands of ways to organize your studying time. Whether you use a calendar, a planner, or a strict timer-based guide, organizing your thoughts is critical to starting finals week off right. There are also lots of programs designed to help you study more efficiently.
Planning Templates
When I know I need to organize my work, I first write out each of my classes. Underneath each class, I write what assignments are due in the foreseeable future. Off to the side of each assignment, I write the day the assignment should be completed. Finally, I number the assignments by priority. This is a simple way of organizing your assignments into conceivable chunks.
If you don’t want to write one yourself, try out Notability or Canva for cute to-do list planners. Having a cute and effective visual can make work more stimulating and gratifying!
Some other ways to plan your time include apps like Google Calendar or Notion to input assignments and due dates.
Study Methods
Studying can feel like a daunting task, especially when our hobbies (scrolling, sleeping, you get it) are so much more attractive to us. So, I always recommend making studying just as attractive as the things we love doing.
Maybe that means buying cute supplies: fun-colored sticky notes, fresh highlighters, or new pens. Use the sticky notes to remember important facts or try color-coding your textbook based on each unit or subject with the good highlighters.
Some more practical items to help you study are headphones, index cards, or a white board with dry-erase markers. The white board method includes writing everything you know about a subject, identifying gaps, then writing it all again—this teaches you how to include necessary information, recall facts, and mentally picture material.
Apps like Quizlet or Anki help with recall through flashcards and quick testing. Play memory games or test your knowledge in creative ways.
Playing music of all kinds can stimulate the brain into action. Try soft music like Lo-Fi beats to gently coax your mind into movement. Lots of people, myself included, like to listen to classical music composers Bach, Mozart, or Vivaldi. My personal favorite music to listen to is movie scores like Dune, Star Wars, Pride & Prejudice, or Games of Thrones.
A trick for encouraging productivity is to time yourself! It can seem like you’re adding stress, but it applies an arbitrary pressure that helps you stay in the flow. You can start a simple timer on your phone, working until the buzzer.
Or you can follow the popular method, The Pomodoro technique; this method uses 25-minute intervals followed by short breaks to reduce burnout. Work for 25 minutes, rest for five minutes. Easy enough! You can set this technique yourself or use a YouTube video to keep you on track.
Mental Health Management
Finals week can be emotionally and mentally draining. It’s important to keep yourself energized and grounded to tackle your finals with confidence! Sometimes we think that increased stress (like all-night study sessions, cramming information, or non-stop studying) can produce good results, but it’s not sustainable.
Keeping yourself healthy and happy can keep you from burning out. There are practical ways to keep yourself in a good headspace during this time.
Food and Drink
- Stay hydrated, drinking lots of water—not just coffee and energy drinks. In fact, limit your caffeine intake as this can cause brain fog and fidgeting.
- Eat hearty snacks like trail mix, fruit, yogurt, meat sticks, or cheese. Good food for your body is good food for your brain!
- Drink something comforting at night like tea or hot cocoa. It’s getting colder and something warm can help you winddown from studying.
Sleep
- Set a consistent cut-off time from both studying and screens!
- Use power naps to push through longs days – these are ideally 20 to 30 minutes long.
- Use apps like Calm or Headspace to wind down after a long day.
- Set boundaries like “no new information after 10 p.m.”
Stress Relief
- Journal before bed. Release all those thoughts onto paper and let it go.
- Stretching when you wake up and before you go to sleep is a sure way of soothing your mind and body.
- Light exercise like walking, stretching, or even dancing during your study breaks can keep you energized.
- Light candles and play soft music to comfort yourself.
Motivation Strategies
Here at Southern Wesleyan University, we know that our strength comes from the Lord.
If you’re nervous or anxious about finals, exams, studying and all of the chaos at the end of the semester, lean on the Lord for strength and comfort.
As Isaiah 40:31 reminds us, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like Eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint” (NIV).
- Be reminded that grades don’t define who you are, Christ does!
- Reward yourself when you do well and be encouraged by the Lord when you do not.
- Reconnect with the reason “why” you work hard. Yes, we all want our degree, but there’s more to it than the piece of paper. We’re working hard to reach our bigger goals.
- Be compassionate to yourself; guilt won’t encourage you to work harder.
- Visualize the finish line; imagine your rest and your celebration.
- Pray before each exam or assignment; God is here to help you!
Final Thoughts
Although it may feel like the end of the world, it’s really just the end of the semester. It’s easy to get hung up on what didn’t get done—the chapters you skimmed or flashcards you never memorized. But this week isn’t about perfection; it’s about persistence. You’re safe, capable, and stronger than you know. Work hard and finish strong!
And when all the hard work is over, play harder. Give yourself permission to rest, you’ve earned it!