How to get through finals week without taking Adderall

Through the grace of God, we've made it to the end of this garbage-fire year of 2017. But with the sweeping relief of this year being almost over comes the sinking realization that there are still a few weeks of classes and finals to get through.

At a time when there just aren't nearly enough hours in the day and everyone seems to be shaking from the sheer stress of the season, the tendency to grab at the easy, immediate guarantee solutions is real. Coffee, energy drinks, weed (for the stress naturally) and Adderall are classic, well-trialled techniques used by college students across the country. But if we're being honest, there's a reason that we don't use these techniques all year around and when we do, we feel the regrettable aftermaths for days after.

So what if there were ways that you could get all your work done, sleep and not feel like death boiled over by the end?

Meditation and Mindfulness

Cost: Free.

Your immediate reaction may be that mediation is – for lack of better phrase – a 'crock of shit' and really that's a fair thought. But sometimes the best way to relieve your mind is through trying to completely clear it for a couple minutes. Mindfulness – a free app which you can download onto your phone – breaks down easy processes of meditation and you can even develop a schedule to adhere to during finals.

Not horrible advice to be fair

Use apps to limit your online procrastination

Cost: Maximum $1.

It's easy to say "I just need to get off of Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Tinder and then I'll be able to get some work done". But the task itself is really a lot harder, especially those notifications pop up on your laptop regardless whether you are actually on these sites. There are apps for that!

'Power Focus' is a countdown timer that includes a customisation of work session timer length, allowing users to work in manageable chunks of time and give themselves breaks (in which they can then social media to their hearts content).

Kindly leave me alone I'm trying to not fail here

Zero Willpower, another app (and the title of my autobiography) will block distracting websites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube by default. You can also personalise the websites that are blocked so if constant news notifications make you think "fuck homework, the world is burning to the ground", then CNN can be added to the list.

Study in groups

Cost: Only the emotional price of having to be sociable

Surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable for your procrastination.

Working out

Cost: The physical exertion of getting out of bed.

Before you throw your empty pizza boxes at the screen, hear me out. Exercise – in whatever form – will give you a burst of energy to get through your long days of studying and according to a study published by the University of British Columbia, aerobic exercise appears to boost the size of your hippocampus, the brain area involved with verbal memory and learning.

So head to gym (for perhaps the first time this semester). You can also check out Yoga For The People – if you really can't face enthusiastic gym-goers – which offers free yoga classes across the city and not only exercises your body but is designed to get you to calm the fuck down.

Get out of the library

Cost: Free.

LOOK AT ALL THE COLORS

And when I say get out of the library, I don't mean to then go and hide up in your room. I mean try and explore other places to study – you can't throw a stone without hitting an intentionally 'cute' coffee shop in the East Village. Wrap up in your winter layers and take a walk around your neighbourhood. They don't call it the greatest city in the world for nothing, take advantage.