The end of the semester can be a bittersweet moment. On one hand, taking finals insinuates going home and having a month off from college. On the other hand though, some preparation is required to do well on those finals, leading to stress. To add to the building stress pile, a large amount of individuals also have to pack and get ready to go home for the break. It’s not an easy feat, and takes a slight of hand to stuff a mound of clothes into what usually takes three suitcases, all into one. Want to get a handle on the stress this semester? Read the tips below and best of luck on finals.

• Prep the study area: An organized workspace equates to an organized mind. For some individuals, taking the time to clean up the designated study area can be therapeutic and offers a fresh start to the studying process. Sophomore psychology major Tyler Waters can relate to this, “In order for me to concentrate, there needs to be no clutter.”

• Talk about the overwhelming stress: There are times when students are in the midst of a stress storm and it looks like it will not let up any time soon. When experiencing this, talk to a parent, friend, or counselor. Inform the confidant of the tasks to be completed, what the stress pressure points are, and ask for advice. Tasha Elps, junior English major, resorts to calling her mom when the stress has become too much “because she has that mom quality; she always knows what to say and how to calm me down so that I can focus on what needs to be done.” Sometimes, simply talking through the stresses of finals will alleviate the burden, and students can be on their merry way to taking finals and going home.

• Get organized: Students should organize their lives—school and social—via calendars or agendas. Solely writing items down and having a visual of what needs to be done and events taking place will help establish a plan of when to complete tasks; in this way, having a strategy lessens the stress . To go one step further, consider color coding the calendar so that social and academic instances are easily visible and distinct.

• Form a study group: If a student is able to study with other people, this is a great approach to tackling finals. Working with other people to understand and commit to memorizing a course’s material can offer students different methods of studying, resulting in less self-inflicted stress when the information is not processing. A risk in studying in a group setting is there will be more socializing than studying. “You have to find the right people to study with, and when you do, the [class material] will start to make sense,” recommends Devon Tuss, sophomore criminal justice major. Despite the temptation to go off topic and socialize, fight the urge and stay focused. When receiving that ‘A’ on the final, students will be thankful for hitting the books rather than finding out the latest gossip on so-and-so’s relationship.

• Temporarily quit social media: Breaks from time to time are healthy and can allow a person to be more productive and focused in the end. College students can relate to sitting down, preparing to do homework, and then getting a notification from Facebook or Instagram…two hours later students find themselves on a website and they have no idea how they got there. “One time, I went to the library and realized I forgot my phone. Instead of going back and getting it, I continued to do homework. At the end of the night, I realized I completed more work than I would have if I had my phone,” recounted Emily Chambers, freshman business major, who now leaves her phone at home. In an effort to prevent distractions, silence phones and leave them in a backpack for the duration of studying.

Remember to take a deep breath, because after the storm of stress has come and gone, it will be time to go home. Time to and sleep in every morning and binge watch all the shows recorded and saved throughout the semester. Happy final season to all!