Stop stressing

Final exams are coming and these weeks are the scariest weeks of the year for high school students, especially junior and senior year, when your grades have a huge impact on college applications and getting accepted into the school of your dreams. But stressing out over these tests won't make them any easier and it certainly won't make them disappear. Not to mention the fact that an overload of stress is not good for your body, it can cause you to gain weight and break out all over the place; and that's the last thing you need. So here's a few ways you can try to relieve your anxiety these next couple weeks.

Start studying WAY earlier than you think you should. If you can get ahead of the game, so to speak, and ahead of the rest of your classmates when it comes to memorizing information for a test, you'll be setting yourself up for way less stress when the test approaches. You have heard every teacher tell you not to cram the night before, and they don't just tell you that in attempt at giving you extra work. Studies have proven it, so get started early at preparation.

Get organized. Go through all your binders and folders and get rid of old papers. While doing this you can review all material you haven't seen in a while to refresh your memory. If you can get yourself organized it gives you one less thing to worry about (not to mention that you can kick 5 pounds off your daily load). Chances are that you're carrying around tons of old papers you don't need anymore. I did this last week and I feel so much better.

Get lots of sleep. This may sound like a no-brainer, but staying up late cramming isn't the way to go. You are only hurting yourself. Set a reasonable bed time and stick to it. Your "morning-self" will thank you later. Your body works best on schedules, so start going to bed and getting up at around the same time everyday, even on weekends, to build the habit. Start this a good 15 days ahead of your exam date. Your body will start to adjust and get up automatically. You'll wake up feeling more rested and ready to take on the day. This applies year round, but mostly during the school year when the stress of the workload sets in.

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