After coming from an exciting Spring Break, many students find it hard to remain focused and finish the last portion of school.

Studies have shown that a positive mind-set can accomplish a lot of things.

People who think positively can accomplish more things, recover from a sickness faster and even find a healthy way of succeeding at work.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, founder of the Chopra Foundation and senior scientist for the Gallup Organization, said “thinking is real medicine, as proven by the placebo effect.”

“When given a sugar pill in place of a prescription drug, an average of 30 percent of subjects will show a positive response. Expectations are powerful. If you think you’ve been given a drug that will make you better, often that is enough to make you better,” he added.

The idea of positive thinking can be applied to working. If you have a positive attitude, then you will be more likely to perform better at work.

“In the public’s mind, being told that cancer or diabetes is genetic acts as final authority. Luckily for the positive-thinking camp, this fatalistic attitude is mistaken. Genes are dynamic, not fixed,” Chopra said.

“They respond to a person’s environment, behavior and attitudes. Indeed, a now-famous study in Sweden showed that a tendency to diabetes may be strongly affected by the diet your great-grandfather ate. A whole new field is studying how much choice we have at the genetic level,” he explained.

Positive thinking comes in many different forms. One form that is interesting to try is to identify your negative thoughts and nip them in the bud.

Make light of everyday situations, not to the extent to where you are unrealistic about actualities, but do not over think them or feel over anxious about them.

Another tip is to omit unnecessary burdens on your life.

An example can be family issues. While students are at school, they do not necessarily have to carry the burden of their situations with them. Much like a workplace, one can consider separating their personal and professional, in this case academic, lives.

Photo Illustration by Zack Applehans: “I have a manifest board,” Jasmine James, sophomore psychology major, said. “I got the idea from a show. It’s basically a collage of items that you wish to have or things you want to gain. It can be a mixture of both things attainable and some things you hope to attain: a diploma, sports car, Louboutins or new makeup brushes.”

“I have a manifest board,” Jasmine James, sophomore psychology major, said. “I got the idea from a show. It’s basically a collage of items that you wish to have or things you want to gain. It can be a mixture of both things attainable and some things you would hope to attain: a diploma, sports car, Louboutins or new makeup brushes. It can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.”

The end of the semester often seems to drag on as people are constantly thinking about the summer vacation that many students rightfully deserve. But this constant thinking will ultimately cause negative side effects.

Longing for something in the distant future, accompanied with work and stress ultimately contribute to a feeling of emptiness.

“To keep motivation, a good way is to find a friend that you can study with,” James said.

“You don’t have to share a class, just being in a productive atmosphere will help you as well. You can ask friends about information or receive help by explaining concepts and vice versa. Studies show that when you study with a person and explain the concept to some one, the more you will retain,” she added.

As the semester wraps up, it is important to set up a reward system. Reward yourself for all your hard work this semester with a trip or prize.     

One successful reward system  is saving a small portion of income then splurging on a nice item. This will allow an individual to avoid unnecessary spending and regretting the decision later.

Rewards do not have to be big though, in fact, they can be as small as going out with friends and enjoying a movie.