It’s that time of year when college students are doing their best to make the most of the time left in their semester before the holidays. There are a few more weeks of classes, followed by exam preparation, and finally, a chance to make good marks and pass each course.
Every year around this time, I receive dozens of questions on how to study smarter.
Do you think 10 hours a day of study time is enough?
What’s a good way to take notes so I’m ready for exam week?
Can I pull a few all-nighters and make up for time lost because I procrastinated?
Because I feel so strongly about this topic, I want to address each question individually, and sometimes I do (here on my blog, other times on Quora). But there are so many of them!
I decided to put together an e-book kit which I called Study Different in 2023. If you’re a student who’s struggling with managing time effectively and are worried about your performance during exams, you may find it useful.
The kit consists of two e-books to make over your study habits:
Study Different in 2023 This e-book is designed to help you find out how your brain works, give you tools so you don’t overwhelm yourself, and show you how to optimize each study session so you can work less while covering more material. It includes the following sections:
7 strategies for studying more effectively in less time
A morning journal template to maximize your peak performance time
A Pomodoro sessions template for each part of the day: morning, afternoon, and evening
A sample of effective note-taking to help you prepare for exams
My 2023 Focused Study Journal This e-book is a sample of one journal entry spread across four pages. It includes the following sections:
SITREP (situation report)
The Discomfort Zone (how to build your discomfort muscle)
The Work (daily study schedule)
Push it Further (prompts for increasing your studying efforts incrementally)
Performance Review (reviewing your work and giving yourself a performance score)
You can find the kit here. It’s available in 2 different formats: Pages and PDF.
🙏 As always, thank you for your support and for following my blog. And keep those questions coming — I look forward to each one!
The idea that everything will line up perfectly, there will be no distractions, schedules won’t change, there will be plenty of time to finish everything, and everybody in your life will leave you alone to do what you want to do — it’s not realistic. If you hold on to the idea of perfect, you’ll likely be disappointed when things don’t go your way.
Instead of focusing on being perfect, be flexible.
Come up with a realistic plan to get things done.
Make it easy on your brain to tackle every single thing on your to-do list.
Here are three things you can add to your plan to have a productive day.
👉🏾 Don’t create a long list of things you “must” do.
Instead, ask yourself this question each morning: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?”
This habit has positively influenced my life in many ways. As soon as I wake up, I look forward to answering this question because I know it will boost my concentration. It simplifies my life, it helps my brain focus better, it makes me prioritize goals, and it streamlines my work so I don’t feel overwhelmed about having to accomplish too many things in a single day.
How?
Write the question down. Make it impossible to ignore — write it in big letters on a sheet of paper and hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall. The important part is that you can easily see it as you’re brushing your teeth or getting ready.
Read it out loud as you start your day, and come up with an answer on the spot. The trick is to get your eyes on it so that it becomes second nature and you don’t even think about having to glance over to it any more.
Follow up by taking action. Remind yourself throughout the day about the commitment you made. It will help with distractions that might take you away from what’s important to you.
👉🏾 Work on the toughest cognitive tasks early.
Do this by incorporating the concept of “deep work” into your day.
Deep work is any kind of analytical thinking that requires the most concentration, such as reading, writing, or problem solving. It’s one of those mental tasks that requires a different kind of focus from other things you do on a daily basis (chores, physical activity, interacting with other people). When I started doing deep work early, I noticed I rarely run out of energy or motivation.
How?
Set aside at least 2 hours after you wake up to work. Many scientists say that this is the brain’s peak performance time. If, for example, you wake up at 7, your peak times are between 9 and 11 a.m. You can extend it to lunchtime to maximize your peak performance hours.
Keep a log of what you do during your peak times. Are you focusing on important mental tasks? Are you learning new material, problem-solving or writing? Most people spend this time checking email, making phone calls, watching or listening to the news, or chatting with people.
Re-organize your peak performance time. Think how you can postpone activities that are less important. Leave listening to the news for your lunch break. Choose two blocks of time to go over emails, one mid-afternoon and one closer to the end of your workday, so you can dedicate your energy to actually getting real work done.
👉🏾 Instead of repeating “I can’t do this!” say “How about I try?”
When you reach an obstacle, don’t immediately respond in the way you typically do with words like “I can’t do this right now!” or “This is impossible, I’ll quit.”
Procrastinating is a very human reaction to a problem we find challenging or difficult. I procrastinate on small things all the time, whether it’s organizing my notes so they’re easier to read, or editing an article I’m writing so it’s easier to understand. My solution is this — I take the time to think through the problem that’s making me procrastinate.
How?
Think about what’s hiding behind procrastination. Maybe it is fear of not being able to do something successfully, or not being better at it than someone else. In many cases, it can be your pride or ego that gets in the way.
Ask yourself where the resistance is coming from. Get to the root of the matter. Maybe you’re not sure how to solve a problem and worry it will take forever to do. One solution is to break it down into smaller chunks that don’t feel overwhelming to complete.
Consider how asking the question, “How about I try?” will benefit you. You have the opportunity to defeat your fear. You’ll feel powerful when you encourage yourself to stay positive no matter what. This shift in your mindset will change how you look at problems and make them seem smaller and less troublesome.
You’ll like this part — increasing concentration is totally within your control. It’s only a matter of knowing how to optimize the time you have available.
I’ll share 5 tips that have worked well to boost my concentration.
Tip #1. Practice the 4–7–8 breathing exercise.
If you haven’t already, try this exercise today. It will change the way you feel and think. The 4–7–8 breathing exercise is simple. Here’s some background on this practice that was created by integrative medicine practitioner Dr. Andrew Weil. And, these are steps:
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 7.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a loud whoosh sound to a count of 8.
Repeat the 4–7–8 cycle four times.
Tip #2. Commit to reaching ONE study goal a day.
The best way to get your mind on board to concentrate is to start the day with a question: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?” This will encourage you to think strategically about the day, keep you focused on your top study goal, and force you to prioritize the one goal that you want to reach. Here’s how you can practice it:
Write the question in big bold letters on a sheet of paper and hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall. Pick a location where you can easily see the question as soon as you wake up (next to your bed or the bathroom mirror, for example).
Read it out loud as you start your day. Take a few moments to think what you want to prioritize, and then come up with an answer and say it out loud too.
As you go through the day, make sure you’re working on completing what you’ve identified as your study goal for that day.
Tip #3. Dedicate your morning to the most complex cognitive tasks.
Why study early? You take advantage of your circadian rhythm and maximize your brain’s peak performance which happens 2-4 hours after you wake up. Use this time to focus on what requires the most concentration — reading, writing, coding, analyzing, critical thinking, or problem solving.
When should you study? If you wake up at 8, your peak times are between 10 and 12. You can extend this time for another hour or so to maximize your peak performance and wrap up an important section, chapter, or lecture.
What are the benefits? Doing your hard work early in the day allows your brain to focus fully on the problem at hand, with fewer distractions from your environment, and with energy that you’ve gained from a restful night.
Tip #4. Use a timer for your study sessions.
For most efficient studying, you don’t need to be sitting at your desk for hours. Use a timer to better manage your study session. That way you allow your brain to focus in a more targeted and effective way. Here are some examples of how a timer can help:
Read and review study material. Set the timer to 30 or 60 minutes to maximize concentration; or, for really short bursts of study, try the Pomodoro technique which consists of 25 minute blocks of time.
Practice exam questions. Use the review questions from your textbook or professor, or create your own list based on the most important concepts from each chapter. Write the questions down. Then, use the Pomodoro technique to rehearse for the exam. Give yourself a short time to answer each question, and go down the list until you’ve covered them all.
Take breaks. When you’re done with one timed segment, step away from your desk and do something completely unrelated to work: get some fresh air, stretch, have a snack, grab a cup of coffee or tea.
Tip #5. Become a master at taking notes.
It’s not helpful to just sit and read the textbook passively for hours at a time. You need to write stuff down. Writing improves your brain’s cognitive skills, makes retention of information easier, and boosts memory. Here’s how to take effective notes:
Write down what’s relevant. This includes key concepts, ideas, and topics. Don’t waste time writing down every single word — instead, identify what’s relevant to the topic. An excellent example of how to write important information is the Cornell Method.
Use bulleted lists. This saves time, enables you to skim the material when you need it, helps you locate information faster, and makes the review process easier.
Color, color, color! Get organized with multi-colored pens, markers, or highlighters to emphasize the most important sections. Use specific colors to highlight top priority concepts, then pick other colors to identify second level priority items such as examples and additional information.
Nela's Blog 