With Thanksgiving weekend giving students a taste of the long break awaiting them after the semester ends, it’s time to buckle down and push through to the end of the semester.

Finals are looming just two and a half short weeks away, so the time to get serious about ending the semester on a high note is now. Here are some tips to help successfully close out the fall semester:

Write down what needs to be done, and in what order

By keeping a running list of what assignments are due and WHEN they’re due, staying organized and getting everything done becomes a lot more manageable than trying to remember everything from memory.

Writing down and organizing assignments by the due date makes it easier to remember what assignments are due first, so you can prioritize when to finish them.

Write down what needs to be done for each assignment

Sometimes, tasks can seem so simple until you begin doing them. The assignment you thought would only take an hour suddenly takes six, all because you didn’t realize how much work needed to be done.

An easy way to alleviate this issue before it arises is to write down what work needs to be done, step by step, in order to complete each assignment. By doing so, it becomes easier to prioritize and schedule what assignments will take the most, or least, amount of time.

Scheduling the right amount of time for each assignment will help to eliminate the inevitable issue of an assignment taking longer than it seemed it would at first glance.

Don’t forget time for yourself

As important as it is to be sure you schedule enough time to study and complete assignments, it’s also important to remember to take time for yourself.

Focusing too heavily on getting everything done can sometimes leave students even more stressed and worn out than before the final assignments hit. Taking time to do things like see friends, watch an episode of your favorite Netflix series or even just by taking a break to remember to do your laundry can help students feel like the rest of their world isn’t falling away from them while they focus so heavily on schoolwork.

While focusing on schoolwork is important, it isn’t always the most important thing. The most important thing many students seem to forget, especially as finals and deadlines start to approach, is to take care of yourself. Self-care should never be put to the wayside, no matter how many assignments are due next week.

Finals week is about to rear its ugly head, and it seems like there are a million assignments due in the next two and a half weeks. Contrary to how it may seem, it is possible to get it all done, plus take care of other priorities.

Stress through the end of the semester is inevitable, but make a plan and you can beat it before it beats you.

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