3 Simple Strategies That Helped Me Survive Midterm Season

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after several brutal midterm weeks, it’s that academic success rarely comes from working harder — it comes from working smarter. Here are three strategies I started using that made a noticeable difference in both my grades and my stress levels:

1. Prioritize ruthlessly. I stopped treating every task like it had the same weight. If a quiz was worth 5%, I didn’t give it the same prep time as a major paper. It sounds obvious, but it took me a while to actually apply it.

2. Use a study timer. I started using the Pomodoro method — 25 minutes focused work, 5-minute break. It helped me stop doom-scrolling and made long tasks feel manageable.

3. Build a template library. I created my own mini-database of paper structures, citation formats, and feedback notes from past assignments. It cut my prep time in half and helped me avoid repeating old mistakes.

These changes didn’t make me a straight-A student overnight, but they gave me a system — and sometimes that’s all you need to feel in control again.