20 Remarkable Tips on How to Study for College Exams and Reduce Your Stress Now

This is the time of the semester college students feel the heaviest stress. Some are able to express the overwhelm and make a proactive plan to stay on top of the heavy feelings. Others, like the students with whom I coach are not able to visualize and create actions that help them approach stress and anxiety effectively.

From now until final exam season 2022 is over, Students Stress Less Coaching LLC will support college students in  building and creating the most effective and successful stress management plan for themselves. In addition to offering discounted one hour coaching sessions in December, SSLC, LLC sends stress less care kits to students anywhere in the US . 

For now, sharing this comprehensive list of tips and reminders for a successful exam season can be your parental contribution to help your student monitor and neutralize exam stress. When students are emotionally and mentally prepared and supported (and reminded), they are more likely to take action to bolster their mental and physical health.

Share these helpful tips with your student as they prepare for weeks of distress, poor self-management and daily balance, overwhelm, and feelings of helplessness:

1. Start planning, organizing, and creating your exam study schedule today. Do not wait until "dead week" to get ready to study. Waiting creates the sense of rush which multiplies feelings of angst. Spend 20-30 minutes a day prepping your thoughts and envisioning your study structure.
2. Decide where you will study. One of the most practical things you can do to enhance your study endeavors is to pay attention to your study environment. Switch it up daily. Make it bright but not cozy. Be sure to incorporate fresh air into your study space. Your dorm room is not a good choice. Leave your apartment. Choose a place with minimal distraction capability. Mix up your go-to study space and be sure to emulate your test taking environment when you can. 
3. Plan your study breaks. As critical as study time, planning when and how you will take study brain breaks is extremely productive. Taking care of your brain in the next few weeks will in part determine how it produces. So, include study breaks into your study schedule.
4. Clean up your spaces. You want your mind to be free of distraction. You want to minimize the amount of time you spend each day looking for things or avoiding studying because you mind is on cleaning or organizing. Disruptions can be in the form of thoughts (on what needs to get done), so free mental chaos by cleaning your dorm, apartment, car, bathrooms, and study spaces. You will be able to focus on only what is in front of you when your space is organized and clean.
5.Make sure you have all of the essentials needed for a good study session. Gather study materials and essentials like highlighters, timers, chargers, old quizzes, phone numbers of professors and classmates, syllabi, and books. Have access to a printer and to electronic files of content. 
​6. Know what content is covered on the exam.
Refer to your syllabus first. Review class notes for emphasized, repeated, and highlighted concepts, examples, ideas, and professor comments. Be very clear on expectations. If you have any missing links or gaps, ASK now.
7. Failing the class? Need and want a better grade? Do not give up. Your exam is only worth a ce

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