When most people say to take care of yourself during finals, they're implying that you need to eat regularly and get plenty of rest.
But as most college students know, this can easily become a challenge that we don't have the spare willpower/energy to tackle.
So in this post from an engineering student, I'll drop my best kept secrets to truly take care of yourself when you hit your worst during finals!
To start with, we'll look at eating. People who say you need to eat regularly are both mistaken and correct. The human body can easily go two days without food. However, function declines with less food over time. When you don't have time to cook or don't have time to go to a store/dining hall, be sure to get at least something to eat each day. Although chips and sugary foods like candy will sustain your progress and maybe even add a small boost, protein is the food that will provide highest energy efficiency. So next time you have to go to a vending machine, skip those hot cheetos and grab trail mix or nuts. Additionally try to get a full meal at least once every three days or you risk your body adapting to no food and developing an eating disorder.
Staying hydrated is also a must! Pay close attention to how often you're going to the bathroom. If you aren't going at least twice a day or the color is medium to dark yellow, or darker, you need to drink more! Additionally, the first sign of dehydration is a headache. So if you have a headache from studying, try drinking more to see if it helps (might take up to 3 hours to alleviate, assuming lightest severity). Remember that for every soda or energy drink, 2x the volume in water is needed to offset the increased chance of dehydration!
Be sure not to let anxiety get to you. While some stress is normal, suicidal thoughts, feelings or hopelessness, and panic attacks are not! Taking care of yourself in this case can sometimes mean putting your health before your grades. Step away from the books and screen and go for a walk, or play some video games. Remember that grades are nothing compared to your life itself! And if you're afraid you're failing, push it aside to tackle other finals! Don't get distracted and let one final affect your others!
Lastly, sleep.... All nighters are inevitable for most. But here's a couple of tips you'll never hear from anyone else:
1 If this is your first time take it easy! Most people who pull all nighters without medication have to spend a couple of days prior pulling late hours screwing up their natural sleep cycles.
2 Build up to it slowly. Try naturally first, then sugar, add coffee, then energy drinks. As a last resort medications can be used (I don't condone these). Realise that as you move up the chain of 'boosters', the crashes get worse. (Yes you tend to crash harder on meds than energy drinks).
3 The trick is to actually get some sleep after the first 24 hours. While it is possible to go multiple days with zero sleep, it is incredibly bad for your mental health and gets harder every successive night. Hallucinations are the first clue that you're pushing your limits. Lack of sleep has been proven to lead to mental instability and loss of mental coherence (insanity). Try switching off with a housemate or roommate taking hour long naps. If even this is impossible, try 5 minute powernaps [earbuds in, set a timer, force self to try to sleep for all 5 minutes. You may not believe in them now, but after a few all-nighters, you'd be surprised].
4 Compromise if you need to think straight. Any class that requires critical thinking (math and science) require some rest before them! Get at least 2 hr sleep before taking finals in these classes! And set multiple loud alarms!
5 Be sure to compensate. At the end of your push, be sure to get extra sleep to let your body and mind recover and rest. This is the easiest part of all!
Hope this helps some of you!