Burnout can lead to depression, sleep deprivation, the feeling of helplessness and physical problems. What is worse, the overload many students feel before or during their exams won’t necessarily lead to great marks that they expect to get. Stress heightens one’s cortisol levels, which can result in a lack of concentration, problems with memorizing things and poor academic performance overall.
As exam week is now closer than ever, we have gathered efficient techniques that will help you survive your finals and come to Thanksgiving in a positive mood.
Unobvious Ways to Improve Your Grades
1. Go Outdoors
L.A. students are lucky to have sunshine all year round and don’t feel down when the temperature begins to drop. However, if you stay indoors, browsing your notes several weeks in a row, you will still have a lack of vitamin B and a drop in happiness hormone production. This will influence both your psychological well-being and academic experience.
2. Decrease Your Consumption of Sugar
The latest research found that the response of cortisol to stress increases with additional glucose consumption. Even though a chocolate bar creates a feeling that your brain is recharged, in the long run, the habit to stimulate your mental activity with something sweet will worsen your academic performance.
(madsmith33/Pixabay)
3. Obtain a Feeling of Control
Make your to-do list as realistic as possible and regularly check off tasks from it. This will help you avoid a feeling of low personal accomplishment and decrease the level of pressure exams create. Moreover, when you start believing in your own promises, you will develop better self-esteem and will be able to plan your activities more accurately.
4. Cuddle Your Pet
Many studies have shown that even 10 minutes of close interaction with dogs or cats drastically increases cortisol levels. This is what made some universities, including UCLA, join the “Pet your stress away” initiative on their campuses. Furry antidepressants help students tackle emotional withdrawal, improve their psychological health, and increase mental capabilities.
(Pixabay)
5. Choose Positive People Instead of Stressed Ones
The American motivational speaker Jim Rohn says that you are an average of five people you communicate more often with. This means you can make changes in your personality by making a wiser choice of the people you interact with.
6. Find Support
Sometimes the reason why your goals cannot be achieved is not laziness, poor time-management skills, or tiredness but the impossibility for a single person to do it all. Unrealistic expectations can lead to a feeling of guilt and depression. Try academic assistance like the one CustomWritings provides and get help when it matters.
“Many students become our clients during exam periods when they get overloaded with academic work. Our experts complete personalized papers for them according to their requirements. With our help, students can understand their topics much faster. During exams, every minute counts, and going through dozens of sources or studying the formatting requirements for your assignment doesn’t seem to be the most efficient way to spend your time,” a support team member of customwritings.com explains.
When you repeat one paragraph hour by hour, the words become pointless as well as all your getting-ready-for-exams activity. Don’t push yourself to the limits all the time and allow yourself to have some joy now and then. Breathe out and remember that your life doesn’t finish with these exams.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.