Coping During Finals Season: Territory

As the semester comes to an end many of us may have started feeling the stress of exams, final projects, and final papers. I felt stressed even writing that sentence. Juggling final assignments is definitely not an easy task especially taking into considering that all assignments are going to be due around the same time. In my opinion, finals season is one of the greatest tests to the human ability to withstand a stressful, attention depleting, non-prefered environment. Without proper cognitive care, we risk the inability to pass this test.

Luckily, there are many things we can do to help us be mentally successful during finals season. Coping interventions such as restorative settings, supportive settings, wise management, mindfulness, territory, community, and interpretation help us function better in non-preferred environments like that of finals season. Many of these coping interventions we have studied before and are already familiar with.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I thought it’d be appropriate to discuss the coping intervention of territory. The method of territory coping is associated with the manipulation of our physical environments. Since many of us are going home, or staying with family or friends over Thanksgiving break, this could be thought of as a manipulation of our physical environments. We are going from the high-speed, academic world of campus to a low-speed, family oriented world.

For optimal coping within our physical environment, we require a few basic features. Firstly, the environment needs to be a place where we don’t feel the need to be vigilant. The homes of our family and friends are safe and trustworthy, so we don’t ever need to be on constant lookout. Secondly, the environment must be a place of refuge where we can restore and being away from the tasks and stresses of campus life is key. Thirdly, spending Thanksgiving with our family and friends is a familiar setting for most of us. We can easily predict the schedule of the day and who we plan to encounter. This saves on directed attention that can be used elsewhere, such as on our final exams and projects. Lastly, the environment needs to be one in which we can function effectively in the short term. Since break is a set number of days and being spent in a restorative environment, it shouldn’t be hard to function well short term.

This is just one example of how our breaks could be used to help cope with the stresses of finals. Whether or not you are spending it with friends and family, I hope we all use this time to rest our minds. What coping methods other than territory could be used during Thanksgiving break?