I’ve been mulling this idea over for the past few weeks, and will continue to do so as finals rapidly approach.

Exams ignite a nihilistic outlook in many students. What’s the point of sleeping, eating, or social interaction when you have a daunting and seemingly insurmountable mountain of research papers, group projects, and exams due, all worth anywhere between 15 to 35% of your overall grade in a course?

Admittedly, I, too, have fallen victim to this scourge of academia. The best advice that I can give to encourage successful finals are as follows:

1.  Eat.

While it may be tempting to skip meals to study a little longer for your 9 a.m. exam, according to an article by Allison Aubrey, published by NPR, entitled “A Better Breakfast Can Boost a Child’s Brainpower”, “eating breakfast really does help kids learn”.

According to Terrill Bravender, a professor of pediatrics at Duke Univerity, we need to replenish our “supply of glucose – or blood sugar. That’s the brain’s basic fuel”. Without it, “’our brain simply doesn’t operate as well. People have difficulty understanding new information…and they don’t remember things as well’”.

Studies suggest that foods with lower glycemic indexes, which would provide a “slow rise in blood sugar and enough energy to last through the morning”, are more conducive to academic success.

These foods would include products made with whole grain, for example, wheat toast or, in these studies, oatmeal, opposed to very popular sugar heavy breakfast cereals.

2. Drink water.

According to a study conducted at the University of East London, “kids who drink a glass of water before taking a test fare up to one third better than those who don’t” (Drinking Water Linked to Higher Test Scores for Kids: A Study – The New York Daily News).

By drinking one “250 ml glass of water (approximately one cup)” then taking a “test on visual attention and memory 20 minutes later, the drinkers scored 34 percent higher than the abstainers”.

Obviously, I do not recommend chugging an entire water bottle before your exam, but being adequately hydrated has many positive benefits beyond academic success.

3.  Sleep.

According “Don’t Skip Sleep to Score High on Finals”, a piece for the Huffington Post penned by Dr. Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, “Research has consistently shown that taking the time to sleep before an exam will benefit your test score more than four or five hours of staying awake staring at notes that you will not remember”.

REM sleep, the acronym for Rapid Eye Movement sleep, “which happens in the last part of the night, appears to be associated with learning and memory”. Cramming until the last minute will only leave you exhausted and inarticulate.

4. Take Breaks.

According to John P. Trougakos, “mental concentration is similar to a muscle…it becomes fatigued after sustained use and needs a rest period before it can recover” (To Stay on Schedule, Take a Brake – The New York Times).

If you have spent so much time in the bowels of the library that you shy away from sunlight, you might be interested in taking a short, but study sustaining, break.

Make goals for yourself in terms of studying – reward yourself for completing difficult tasks with incentives to encourage activity.