The end of a semester is always a bittersweet moment for students. On one hand, it marks the nearing break where they can finally take their well-deserved rest, and on the other hand, there are piles of work, exams, and requirements to get through before they can fully immerse themselves in peacefulness. It’s the most frustrating challenge to balance out excitement for the break, and dedication to studying—but the pay off will be so worth it.

So, to help you get closer to your much-needed time off while staying on top of your school requirements, here are some helpful tips and tricks to check out:

Create a pre-work routine

Get yourself mentally prepped for the day’s tasks by lining up the activities that motivate you and get you pumped up. Drink coffee, get through a workout routine, go for a jog outside, listen to motivational podcasts, or anything that will give you the energy boost to conquer the day. This will put you in the ideal mindset to get to work.

Organize study groups

May it be in the physical or virtual space, old-fashioned study groups are always valuable resources for studying. You and your friends could each focus on different topics in the curriculum, and come together to share your expertise with the others. Or, you can also review all the exam coverage and quiz one another during group discussions. Whatever the case may be, it’s always helpful to bounce ideas off of someone else, and to have that support system with you while cramming all the information in your head.

Do work marathons

Block out an hour or more of dedicated, no distraction, work and focus on getting those requirements done, reviewed, and submitted. Toss your phone onto your bed, put it on silent, or set a timer to go off when you can finally use it again—but remember to storm through those work marathons with laser-like focus and pour all your dedication into your pre-determined topics so your attention span doesn’t linger.

Take breaks!

Schedule in some breaks in-between those hours to avoid burn-out. This can also serve as a reward system for each time you’ve successfully and efficiently finished a work marathon. After a dedicated hour reviewing for your physics exam, you can give yourself five to fifteen minutes of some well-deserved break to ease up tension from your body. But don’t get too relaxed, because there’s still a lot of work to be done. Stick to allotted break time to avoid the temptation of procrastination.

Don’t forget self-care

As important as it is to pour your mind and body into finishing off those requirements, nothing is more valuable than making sure your mind and body don’t suffer from these pressures. If you’re suffering mentally or physically, and continue to put immense weight on your shoulders, you’re not going to see results. Not any good ones, anyway. Remember to not over-exert yourself, and take those much-deserved breaks in between. Get some sleep after a day of hard work, too!

Follow these proven study methods and reading techniques

There are loads of tested and proven tricks online that can help you understand and memorize your course work better. One of which is the Pomodoro technique, a time management hack that takes apart those big bulks of work to little, bite-sized, exercises you can easily accomplish in 25-minutes. You can also check out the SQ3R Reading Method for better reading comprehension through the Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review steps.

We’re wishing everyone a fruitful finals season! Just one last push before weeks of relaxation, lounging, and break time!