Midterm and finals season is often a time that brings about higher stress levels and even busier schedules than normal. In the midst of this busy season, it’s especially important to carve out time to practice self-care. Practicing self-care can help limit stress and increase productivity, which are both necessary during this time.

Below are 3 tips to help practice self-care during midterm/final exam season:

1) Set a Routine/Plan Your Time
With these seasons being extremely busy, scheduling and planning out your day can help make it easier to keep track and complete your tasks throughout the day. Take time at the beginning of your day or week to go over what needs to be completed and use a physical or digital journal or calendar to write it down and mark off when the tasks are completed. Personally, the Notes app on my phone is my best friend when it comes to creating checklists of tasks to complete each week!

2) Give Yourself Breaks!
While studying for long periods of time might seem necessary, it’s important to allow yourself to take breaks. Breaks can help alleviate stress and motivate us, which in turn can increase productivity. When planning out your day, be sure to include some time in between tasks to take a break. Once you choose how long you want your break to be, you can choose an activity to do during that time such as a stretching or mindfulness exercise! Depending on how long I’ve been working on a task for, I try to aim for my breaks to be between 10-20 minutes. The longer I’ve been continuously working on a task, the longer of a break I’ll give myself to recharge!

3) Get Enough Rest
Lastly, getting enough rest is important during midterm/final exam seasons! Much like taking breaks, getting enough rest can also help to alleviate stress during this busy time which can help your ability to focus. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule can also help you in the long run during the entire semester/school year as well! Much like planning out breaks, I like to include this in my scheduling while planning my time each week to make sure I’m giving myself enough time to rest.

While it might seem inconvenient to slow down during a busy time such as these seasons, it’s important and not selfish to prioritize your mental well-being! Not only can these tips help during final exam/midterm season, but they can also be turned into habits for the remainder of the semester and school year.