There is an abundance of techniques one may use to avoid “stressing out” during mid-terms. Following these may help in the process of not pulling all your hair out or having a mental breakdown during the middle of the exams.

The first thing everyone will always tell you is getting as much sleep as you can. The basic idea behind this reasoning is that it can help you be more focused and alert while studying and testing. The standard time people will say is eight hours, but in all honestly most times eight doesn’t feel quite like enough. So get the appropriate amount of sleep.

Why? According to the American Psychological Association, “Sleep is so crucial that even slight sleep deprivation or poor sleep can affect memory, judgment and mood.”

Organization can really help . Honestly. when you  already have enough stress with mid-terms, you don’t want to be worrying about other things. This includes having organized notes to study and knowing when and where you are testing. This also can include having a planned schedule for yourself so you know how much time you have to study and sleep.

“In my opinion one of the worst ways to study is cramming instead of just studying. I think it just makes you that much more stress when you’re just cramming a bunch of information in,” says Jasmine Slough, sophomore.

Taking breaks from studying and even small breaks during the test can help relieve stress on you. Now when you’re studying you have to remember to not take too long of breaks or get off task as much as you would love to not be studying. Also, when you’re testing, you only have so long to test so you want to be sure if you take breaks they aren’t excessively long.

Sometimes engaging with other humans can provide the relief you need. Sometimes seeing friends for a brief moment and getting to talk to them can help ease the pain of a thousand pressures for passing the mid-term.

Some things even as simple as laughter can help to give you light in the dark times. Obviously, you probably shouldn’t start laughing during your mid-term because you might get yourself in trouble, but looking at something that makes you laugh or happy can just make things a little less bleak.

One last final word of advice for all of the poor souls that are going to be brain-dead soon: cry. I don’t mean just a few tears here and there. I mean full on crying like a baby and feeling sorry for yourself. You will actually feel better and more focused after a good cry.

All in all, there are many different methods for making yourself less stressed and by all means use them. As quirky or weird as they may be, just get that stress off your chest. (Obviously, don’t do anything that may result in you getting in trouble. The point is to destress, not to add a more!)