Well sure, I’m about a week and a half late to say so, but it didn’t occur to me until our friends at College Candy blogged about how to survive the last stretch of the semester. The key is to utilize these next two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday so that you aren’t scrambling to finish your pile of projects, homework, and tests among other things before the late night study sessions for finals. I highly recommend take the tips highlighted by College Candy, and if you’re still feeling a little anxious – here are my few go-to activities to not only make sure I’m on top of my school load, but to ensure that my sanity is in tact.

1. Go for  morning runs – Especially with this nice fall, Texas (a.k.a nonexistent cold weather, I ain’t complaining) weather, morning runs will give you the energy you need to last throughout the rest of the day.

2. Double check your planners – sometimes professors will change their assignment calendars throughout the semesters, and chances are, you weren’t listening in lecture when they made these changes. Make sure your dates in your planner matches theirs just to be sure you don’t have a minor meltdown when that ten page paper is due in two days and not two weeks.

3. Take advantage of your professor’s office hours - Don’t wait until the last minute to ask questions when all the stragglers will hog up copious amounts of office hour time right before final exams. Get your questions answered now and make use of emailing them for follow up questions.

4. Ditch the energy drinks, coffee, and soda – Quite hypocritical for me to say considering I have tendencies to live off the three aforementioned drinks, but it really is a terrible habit that I need to wean myself off of. Opt out of those and go for b-complex vitamins and plenty of sleep (while you can) to get on top of your grind.

5. Skip one night of going out to get ahead - Disturbing to hear, I know. But hear me out. Proven from my recent Halloween weekend in, I caught up on my school work AND got ahead so that I would be stress free while my boyfriend is in town this week. It pays off to stay in for one night and get some homework done. Plus that’s one less day of hangovers and unnecessary caloric intake!

I know all this is all easier said than done, but just think of it this way – the more you push through, the closer you are to the sweet taste of warm eggnog, six weeks of no school, and overwhelming Christmas spirit (which I LOVE). Good luck!