The When, Where, and How of studying
When it comes to efficient studying you need to answer three simple questions: When, Where and how long. Those three questions are essential for efficient studying.
When during the day should you study?
Short answer: Early
People often overestimate the amount of hours they have for studying during the night time. Usually the night time is the time where people want to socialize the most. With that studying late at night can lead to a lot of distractions by friends. Additionally, it is not recommendable to study until right before you go to bed, since your body needs some time to calm down and get into a state of relaxation. To avoid late study sessions, you can simply carry your study material with you during the day. This helps you to make use of the small patches of free time during the day, where you otherwise would waste useful time. For instance, if you have two classes during the day and they are seperated by just an hour; you can simply look for a studyplace closely to where your next class is going to be, instead of having the gossip chat with your friends. Also, studying during the day helps to draw a clear line between your working mind-set and your relaxation mind-set. Generally, you should aim to minimize the amount of work you have to do after dinner. That is why once you have worked a lot during the day and completed most of what you wanted to accomplish, you should not lock yourself up into your room. Instead, you should use this time to enjoy your life a little more. Go out, party and Socialize!
Work hard, play hard!
Where should you go study?
Short answer: in isolation
It is very beneficial for you to identify multiple study locations in your city for two simple reasons. First, it is always handy to know a nearby studyspot, no matter where you are. Secondly, changing locations from time to time prevents burnout, as it keeps the mind more stimulated. Try to look for less-visited libraries, away from the center of the campus, as this isolation will increase the importance of your work. However, when it is absolutely not possible for you to find a “secret” studyplace you should definetly buy and wear earplugs, as they keep possible distractions from noise far from you.
How long should you study before taking a break?
Short answer: No more than one hour at a time without a break
Sometimes studying feels like being super productive and you just want to keep this feeling going for as long as you can. BUT, you definitely should take a small break after an hour, as it ensures that you keep this level of productiveness for longer. Multiple cognitive science studies show that the optimal learning period is around 55 minutes. However, this is just a rough number which you can focus on. For some it might be shorter than that and for others it might be longer than that. It really depends on you. Finding your “optimal” learning period can only be done through trial and error. After you found your optimal learning period it is important to clarify what a break is. A break shouldn’t take too long, as you then risk loosing your flow. Also during this break you should aim for doing nothing which is related to your studies.
