It’s finals time and you know what that means. Late nights, no sleep, caffeine overload and a lot of stress.

Most of you will spend very little time taking care of yourself and will only be concentrating on making it from one exam to the next.

While achieving the best grades possible is extremely important, you will find that if you treat your body right both mentally and physically, you will feel much more energized to power through the next week.

Sleep.

It really is not worth it to watch the sunrise from Fondren Library.

Research shows that you will retain more information in your long term memory if you get enough sleep than if you pull an all nighter.

If you do not get enough sleep you will feel out of sorts and end up crashing before the week is over.

Keep your sleep patterns as normal as possible.

Eat and eat healthy.

It sounds cliche but it will make all the difference in the world. Stock up on healthy snacks for the week and prep meals that will be easy to fix.

If you are someone who does not eat at all when you are stressed out, keep in mind that you need to have fuel for your brain.

Try eating a little something every few hours.

If you are someone who wants to eat everything in sight when you are stressed, prepare ahead of time.

Make sure you only have healthy snack foods around you so that you will not be tempted to eat a whole bag of oreos.

The more junk you put into your body, the more sluggish you will feel.

To keep your energy levels up, eat smaller meals periodically throughout the day and fill your body with foods that make you feel good.

Don’t forget, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whole wheat toast, eggs and a piece of fruit is a perfect, nutritious start to the day started.

As always, drink enough water and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables especially during this time of year.

Exercise.

Go outdoors. Hit the gym. Try a new workout class. Do whatever you have to do to get your heart pumping.

This is not the week to have your regular workout routine fall to the bottom of your priority list.

Don’t have an hour to work out?

Who cares. Working out is proven to reduce stress and anxiety. Ten minutes is better than zero minutes.

Going to a relaxing yoga class may make you feel like a whole new person.

Even if you only have time to run one mile, you will be happy you did something to clear your head and get some energy.

Limit the caffeine and energy drinks.

These may give you energy for a short period of time but you will end up crashing later in the day and unable to focus on your work.

It is important to stay hydrated but make sure you are hydrating yourself with plenty of water.

Take a mental break.

Whether this is going to dinner with a friend, driving in your car listening to music, going for a leisurely walk or getting a manicure, you will not regret putting the books away and taking some time to relax.

Whatever you have to do to treat yourself, do it. If you take a break and come back, you will be able to concentrate better.

Make a schedule.

If you are able to see what all you have to get done laid out in front of you, you will be able to schedule in meal times, workouts, mentals breaks and time with friends.

Plan when you will wake up and when you will go to bed. If you plan out each day, you will get a lot more done and will probably find it reduces a lot of anxiety feelings.

Good luck. Study hard and stay healthy!