How do you know exam season is approaching at the University of Toronto? Easy. The bags under 60,000 students’ eyes get substantially darker and deeper, the wait to get in one of the Robarts elevators grows to 5-10 minutes, and if you listen closely – you can almost hear the simultaneous groaning and whining that can be made out to “you would NOT believe how little I slept last night.”

Though this type of stress and frantic re-learning of everything in the semester’s syllabus happens at least twice a year – yet many students (or at least myself) are always seemingly completely unprepared. After three and a half months of telling myself that everything would be okay, absolutely nothing is ever okay during exam season.

So how do I eventually pull it together and get through exam season? Here, I’ll offer a very abridged version of the process I’ve gone through four times already, and what I’m currently about to go through:

1. Make a list and plan deadlines for studying. It’s so easy to fall behind on what needs to be done, and it’s also easy to look at your exam date as “later” and thus put studying for it off until “later.” For myself, it helps to set deadlines for smaller things to give myself a sense of achievement throughout the studying process – for example, I will tell myself that I have two days to touch up on my reading notes, one day to put together a study package, and two more days to review everything again.

2. Go through a stage of denial. Really, it’s okay. Pretending that something doesn’t exist helps for a few hours of relaxation (and okay, maybe a little anxiety.) Disclaimer: if you don’t have to do this, don’t.

3. Form study groups or speak to your professors. Whether it’s to confirm that you’re not the only one struggling to cope with the impending late-nights and caffeine-fueled study sessions, or to actually work and put together ideas and notes – it’s always better to work in a team, at least for part of your study process. Teaching what you know to others is a sure-fire way to relearn and set your knowledge. Furthermore, professors can help calm your nerves by offering a little bit of insight as to what the best way to study for your exam is. (Yes, you can talk to your professors – they’re great people too.)

4. Find the time to sleep. At the time that I’m writing this, I’d only slept about two hours after frantically writing two research papers. I know, it’s my fault for leaving it to the end – and my body and my mind are paying for it. Your studying will be so much more meaningful and things you learn will stick with you if you continue to eat well, sleep enough, and do your best to not get too wrapped up in your books.

5. Force yourself to study. Reward yourself with food after every reading you get through, turn off your electronics, tie yourself to a Robarts carrel – whatever works for you. You’ll feel better for it (though it won’t seem like it at the time.) Your pre-exam jitters will slowly disappear as you realize you actually do understand the obscure topic you learned about in that weird fourth lecture, you’ll start to learn and remember names and dates that you can use in your exam essays to impress your TAs, and you’ll definitely be able to teach your younger siblings about stuff they probably don’t really want to know about.

In all, exam season is always going to be stressful, and no one is really ever going to be prepared. But finding a proper way to cope and get some studying done in a way that works for you might make this December season a little easier. Good luck on all of your studying!