With winter break coming up putting an end to our first semester, this means finals will be making a sharp left, right to your face. Here are 5 ways that you can help yourself get prepared for finals and have a nice relaxing winter break!

1) Use conference to your advantage and study hard!

The last thing you want is to have a bunch of missing assignments on the last week of school that could potentially drop your grade in a class. Your teachers are more likely going to let you make up work if you talk to your teachers in advance rather than waiting and making their lives harder by giving them even more work on the last week. STUDY TOO! That’s a big part of maintaining your grades and you will definitely need to be studying to do great and excel on your final exams or assignments.

2) Get into a good sleeping habit.

Many students probably say that they stay up really late and wake up later than they should. Getting better sleep will definitely help you during school to stay awake with more energy. So instead staying up late, texting, binge-watching T.V., or playing video games, turn off the blue screen and get some shut-eye; wake up at 6 so you have that extra hour in the morning to wake up a little more and get ready for school that day. Along with getting a healthy sleep, you also need to eat well and consume a lot of water. Better sleep will lead to better academic success, and then when winter break comes you can get back into all those all-nighters. Your body is your powerhouse.

3) DO NOT STRESS!

I know you hear it all the time from your teachers, parents, friends, and even yourself, but the last thing you really want to do before finals is stress out. At the end of the day, if all you do is study hard and focus, it will be all over and you will get a euphoric feeling. Stress is just in your mind at the moment and will fade away with all of those finals.

4) Spend time with your friends and family.

Part of not stressing out is also hanging out with loved ones and your friends. Would you rather feel alone through finals or be around other people who can share their ideas on how they feel about the finals? There is a better feeling when you have someone to relate to. Another good plan while hanging out with these people is to set up study groups. You can even plan hangouts for winter break so you can see each other and celebrate that all the finals are over!

5) Time management is important. 

With finals coming you will not only have one class to study for, but 6! Getting a planner for yourself will help you keep track of all the things that are due and when it comes to studying, you will be prepared to do so. Studying over the next month starting now will definitely improve your scores rather than waiting a week before finals and cramming all of the studying and assignments into a short amount of time. Use all the time that you have to your advantage before the big test come!