There’s a reason the Knight Library never closes during Dead Week and Finals Week: Students traditionally study harder during these weeks than they do during the rest of the term. But pulling all-nighters in the last days before summer vacation may actually decrease your chances of acing that final or term paper.
“Especially in terms of studying, there’s clear medical evidence that the way the human brain works is that you can remember things better if you sleep between the time you study something and the time you take a test,” said Ben Douglas, medical director at the University Health Center.
Study tips
| –Turn off your cell phone. –Avoid eating high-fat foods and drinking caffeine; instead, eat carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables and drink water or juice. –Manage your time. Don’t cram for your final or start writing your paper the night before. –Get a solid eight hours of sleep the night before your final exam. |
And the principle doesn’t just apply to tests. For students who try to engage with information they need to learn, be it a list of Spanish vocabulary, a piano concerto or an oral presentation on Shakespeare, sleep is proven to solidify the information better than all-night cramming.
“Don’t stay up all night and go straight to your test,” Douglas said. “You’ll be able to remember or perform it better if you’ve slept.”
But studying in the daytime and getting enough sleep at night during the last week of classes is easier said than done, especially for procrastinators who suffer from spring fever. There are, however, some steps they can take to stay focused and do well on the most important tests and papers of the term.
First, don’t slack off with respect to food preparation. High-fat foods that don’t require cooking, like French fries, hamburgers and pizza, will “make you tired and drowsy.” Instead, try eating a balanced diet that includes carbohydrates, fresh fruits and vegetables that naturally energize the body.
It’s tempting to try staying focused with cup after cup of coffee, but it’s important to moderate caffeine intake, “especially if you’re not getting much sleep,” Douglas said. Too much coffee or soda can actually make people more irritable or agitated, the last feelings students want elevated while studying. Instead of suffering from a self-induced caffeine coma, Douglas recommended that students stay hydrated with water or juice.
Student Isha Rainbowlight said study breaks are important to observe.
“If you try to study too much at a time, you lose momentum,” Rainbowlight said. “When you take intentional breaks, like getting lunch or doing yoga, it actually helps.”
Exercise, like proper diet, is an important aid to studying and “plays a beneficial role in focus and overall brain function,” Douglas said.
Douglas warned against using prescription drugs that aren’t yours, like Adderall, to stay focused.
“One of the concerns about taking someone else’s medication is there may be health complications that could cause problems,” Douglas said.
Also, Adderall is an amphetamine that can leave students with feelings of withdrawal if they take large doses in a short period of time and stop using it abruptly.
A less risky way to minimize distractions, said student Kathleen Sumagit-Rivera, is to “go to a quiet area where no one can bother you, turn off your phone and don’t go on Facebook.”
When all else fails, Douglas said, take a deep breath and remember “this will be over soon.”
[email protected]
