How to keep your productivity on a high level for better study?
November 07, 2017
Guest Post by Chris Mercer
Finding a perfect way to study is something that every student struggles with at some point. The sheer amount of materials that need to be read, revised and actually learned is astonishing no matter what college you are attending.
Luckily, there are some tried and tested ways of making sure that your productivity stays high while studying. Let’s take a look at some of the tips that can help everyone who needs to learn how to study better and prepare exams or papers effectively.
Set daily goals
Before starting to work on anything, put all of your obligations on paper. How many tests, papers and assignments do you need to prepare and in what time? Putting all of it in front of you will help you construct a better schedule later on.
It will also remind you of everything and make sure you don’t forget an assignment or an upcoming test. Daily study goals should revolve around how many pages you have read/written each day until your assignment is due. This is a good way to think less about the stress and more about the productivity of the work you are doing.
Find your learning spot
Some people like to study in crowded areas such as libraries or coffee shops. Others prefer solitude and soft music in order to focus on what they are doing. Find your perfect spot by trying different methods and seeing what feels the best for you.
Don’t study with your friends in the same room if this is something that makes you unfocused and uncomfortable. While practical subjects are easier to study for in groups, theoretical exams are better prepared alone. Explore what works and doesn’t work for you and don’t be afraid to go for it in the name of productivity.
Eliminate distractions
It’s easy to get distracted from statistical or theoretical subjects that go on forever. Studying for some exams will always be more difficult than studying for those that you like, but you still need to pass all of them. Eliminate any distractions that can keep you away from studying.
These can include your phone, laptop or internet access in general. Checking your social media feeds and texting friends for a couple of minutes at a time will always be more interesting than some analytical subject that you can’t comprehend. Do what is best for your academic studies and eliminate anything that can distract you from studying.
Develop a strict schedule
While some people like studying at night, some prefer doing it in the morning or before sundown. Find your perfect time of day and develop a schedule that revolves around your productive time.
Even if you are best at studying when everyone else is asleep, you should indulge in your preferences and prepare your exams any way you can. You will easily fix your schedule once exams and papers are done with, but until then you should do everything you can to work out a functioning schedule for yourself.
Plan frequent breaks
While your goals and schedule should be strict and professional, you should also be aware of taking regular breaks. These breaks will help your brain readjust and prepare for more learning later on.
Take 20 minutes off for every hour you spend studying to make sure you are rejuvenated and ready for more work. Overworking yourself is a very serious problem for college students, and no exam is as important as your personal wellbeing.
Don’t re-read notes until later
Going over same materials again and again is a good way to memorize your exam materials. It’s also a good way to get bored out of your mind and quit studying for the day altogether.
Don’t reread notes until you have gone through everything from top to bottom at least twice. This will give you a sense of organization and let your mind map out which note is where in the sequence. Once you are done reading the notes a couple of times, start going through the ones that make the least sense to you.
Rehearse materials aloud
A good way to stay focused when studying for a long time is to rehearse what you have learned aloud. It will keep you away from becoming sleepy or bored with what you are reading.
Rehearsing aloud is also a good way to check how much you have learned so far, preparing you for the test or exam itself. Don’t be afraid of your own voice and speak up freely when rehearsing. You can even ask your friend or colleague to follow along and correct each other while going over the notes you just studied from.
In conclusion
Staying productive over extended periods of studying is difficult no matter what subject you are working on. People, who tell you that studying is easy are most probably lying about their own troubles with learning, so don’t pay much attention to self-confident students.
Focus on your own ability to learn as much as possible in the time you were given by your professor. The only thing you can do is give it your best shot without risking your health or wellbeing in the process, which is the last thing you should sacrifice as a college student.
Author’s bio: Chris Mercer, pro writer, developer and founder of Citatior, a powerful academic formatting tool for the students.
1 comments
A lot of these tips are great in general for productivity! I'm trying to set some small little daily goals for myself now :D
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