10 Stress Busters

Tis’ the season for stress.  Consider using the following quick tips to lower stress:

 

  • Try not to procrastinate.  The longer you put off a task, the more onerous it becomes.  Stress builds as the guilt builds.  Stress builds as the deadline gets closer and time runs out. 
  • Do practice exams.  Your stress will be greater if you have done very few practice questions.  Practice questions ahead of the exam allow you to monitor your understanding of the content, apply the content to new fact scenarios, practice exam-taking strategies, and practice some questions under timed conditions.
  • Do your hardest or least liked task first.  That way it will not hang over you all day and increase your stress.
  • Break down any task into smaller steps.  It is less stressful to contemplate reading just one case than to approach 35 pages of reading for a course.  After the first case, contemplate just the second case, and so forth.
  • Learn just two or three rules at a time.  Memory will work better when not overloaded.  Your stress will go down as you succeed in remembering smaller amounts of material at one time.
  • Ask for help.  If you hit a wall on understanding a concept, ask a classmate or professor for assistance.  Stress increases dramatically when you stubbornly keep on struggling alone with only frustration as payoff.
  • Plan now so that you don’t oversleep for your exams.  Are you like me?  Can you hit the snooze button seven times before waking up?  Plan now to set multiple alarms.  Have a friend and a family member call you in the morning to make sure you are awake.  And finally, get 8 hours of sleep before each exam.
  • Plan now so that you don’t run out of time on the exams.  It is important to finish all questions on the exam.  Having to rush to finish increases stress.  Distribute your time wisely by making a time chart as soon as the exam begins.  Note the times that you must begin and end questions.  For each fact-pattern-essay question, divide the amount of time for that question between reading, analyzing, and organizing (1/3) and writing (2/3).  For multiple-choice questions, determine time checkpoints and the number of questions you must complete by that time (for example, 15 after 1/2 hour; 30 after 1 hour; 45 after 1 1/2 hours; 60 after 2 hours). 
  • List four things you plan to do for fun during semester break.  Read the list often.  You will be less stressed knowing you have things to look forward to once exams are over. 
  • Go to the movies.  Sitting in a dark movie theater watching an enjoyable film allows you to get completely away from the law school grind and escape into another existence.

Manage your stress so that it does not manage you.  The sooner you implement stress busters into your regimen, the more likely you can prevent stress from getting out of hand.

November 27, 2017 | Tags: stress