Welcome to a new year, and welcome back to the grind! After a summer of break or work (I’m immensely sorry to all those who had to do summer school) it can be hard to get back into the swing of school. To help with that, here are some tricks of the trade I’ve learned over my studious career. Whether you’re a freshman getting used to university for the first time, a senior just trying to get this over with, or anything in between or beyond, following these recommendations will make your year more productive and, perhaps most importantly, just a little bit less soul sucking!
tl;dr
Don’t study in your room
Make a study schedule
Find study buddies and accountability partners
Don’t study too long
Read out loud (and in an accent!)
1. Don’t Study In Your Room
This is first on the list because, in my mind, it is the single most important idea for productive studying.
Our beautiful dorm rooms are kitted out with desks, and one would presume their intended purpose to be for studying. However, I’m sad to tell you that studying in your room is generally a bad idea.
Why? Because your room is where you:
Sleep
Eat
Watch YouTube
Get ready in the morning
Stress out
Talk with friends/roommates
Goof off with said friends/roommates
Procrastinate
Brains are especially fond of habits, good or bad. They like to fall into a rut and follow the same sequence of actions. Initiating the sequence can be any number of things, but a powerful trigger is location. At the gym → work out. At the library → study. In our room → literally do anything besides study.
Because the associations our brains make with being in our rooms are almost always things other than studying, your brain will want to do those things as long as you’re there. If you try to study, you will naturally be drawn away. Your mind will drift, making it much much easier to get distracted or simply procrastinate. Studying in a place you always go to work will have the exact opposite effect. The pattern is to come to this place and study, so your brain will follow that pattern.
So, you don’t want to study in your room; here are some alternate suggestions. The library, of course, though it can definitely get stuffy. I recommend one of their more open study spaces to avoid the claustrophobia as much as possible. Buller has a very nice study room, and the science complex has one on most, if not every, floor. The Gazebo and Rec Center can both be good places for the same reason people like working in coffee shops, as long as other people aren’t being too distracting (don’t think you can study while a movie is playing in front of you). If it’s past curfew, the dorm study rooms are still better than your room. Wherever you choose, just make sure you only study while you’re there. If you start getting distracted, take a break and go somewhere else so you don’t pollute the association in your mind.
Having designated study spots will help you focus and also help you feel more free when you finally go back to your room.
2. Make a Study Schedule
Continuing the trend of creating habits and brain associations, my next tip is to make a study schedule. This is pretty self-explanatory, but the reason behind it is to be intentional about your work. If you just study “whenever you have time”, you will a) often end up not actually having that time, or b) choose to do something fun and study later (which leads back to a). The ambiguity makes it extremely easy to put things off.
So, make a schedule of when you’re going to study (ideally this would be part of a daily schedule, but that’s a story for another day). Treat your set study times as important as classes, and go to your favourite study spot as if you were going to class. This will very quickly become a habit.
As an added bonus, a habit of studying at a certain time is also a good trigger for your brain’s study/focus sequence, just like location.
3. Find Study Buddies and Accountability Partners
This one is pretty simple: studying in a group forces you to sit down and work and makes you less likely to get distracted. There is, however, one massive caveat to this: make sure you are actually studying! Having a “study” session with friends can be a lot of fun; just be aware that that’s what you’re doing and don’t count it as actual study time.
Related, but sometimes distinct, is to have one or more accountability partners. Study with them or report to each other how much you studied that day or week. Talk to each other if either of you repeatedly skip your set study times. In short, keep each other accountable!
4. Don’t Study Too Long
This isn’t news, but I’ll reiterate it. Your brain gets tired, it gets bored, it gets distracted. There comes a point where your brain isn’t actually really studying anymore, even if you have regular small breaks. So stop. Respect your mind and take an interlude. Go get some food, some exercise, or some socialization. Your brain will refresh and you’ll be more productive in the long run (just make sure you come back to studying after, and your break doesn’t stretch indefinitely).
Try to make these “good quality” breaks. Think of small things like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, small phone games, etc., as fast food. If you think about it, they aren’t really that enjoyable or fulfilling. A meal, the gym, friends, an intentional gaming session–these are like a good home-cooked meal, leaving you satisfied, refreshed, and happier in the long run.
5. Study Out Loud (And In an Accent)
This final tip may not mesh superbly with the first, since you really need a private space. But if you do end up alone in a study room, study out loud! If you’re reading, just start reading aloud to yourself. Doing math? You can still say what you’re doing and what equations you’re using. And if you’re writing anything, saying it out loud is almost a must.
And better yet, speak in an accent! It doesn’t matter how good or bad it is; you’re by yourself, so go for it! It’s really fun, and it keeps your brain interested. Say what you’re reading or writing and occasionally comment on it. Have a conversation with yourself about the material. Say ridiculous things. Laugh at the author’s weird phrasing or voice your frustration with the assignment.
Be exaggerated, be sarcastic, and allow yourself to have fun with it! You’ll be surprised at how well it works :)
I hope these tips help you, and I wish you luck with your studying this school year!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.