Studying from home, can be a challenge for a lot of students - especially when we have no structure to our day anymore, no classes to go to and no other place to study than home. Now that exams, intermediates, and credits are all approaching, we all want to be able to just focus and spent our days productively. But it is so hard!
Don‘t panic just yet! Here is a list of tips on how to plan out your study day and build your motivation to study. Below you will also find some resources provided by University Counselling Services and a youtube video on How to Stop Procrastinating.
1. Get dressed I can’t stress this enough but don’t spend your whole day in your pyjamas. The temptation to cuddle up with a blanket to watch some shows is so much bigger. As soon as you get up in the morning (or afternoon if you’re a night owl), make your bed and change your clothes, brush your teeth, comb your hair as if you would get ready for class. Use the same morning routine that you used prior to the pandemic.
2. Have a designated study area
Make sure you have a study area at home (preferably not your bed or couch). Try to keep your study space neat and tidy with minimal distractions. And importantly, avoid using the space for watching youtube videos, talking to your friends or your study breaks. Try to think of this study area as your table at the library, so this means when it is time for your break or you’d like to talk to a friend, leave your desk. This will train your brain to associate this designated space with studying and nothing else.
Side Note: If you live with your family in a small space and have no other options but to study at the kitchen table or in a shared room with your siblings, kindly ask your family members to respect your study time. Be honest about your trouble to study at home and explain that you need a quiet space for certain times of the day. If there is a lot of noise in your surroundings, you can look up some relaxing instrumental music on youtube and wear your headphones. On the plus side, it might even help you to stay focused!
3. Study with a Routine Create your own daily agenda and treat it like your regular class schedule. So before you go to bed, set an agenda for the next day. Not only will it ease your anxiety of all the things you have to do the next day, but you will also wake up with a planned out day in mind. Another tip is, when you create your daily plan, divide your day into time blocks of study time, breaks, self-care time including workouts, meals and chores instead of creating a to-do list. Assigning time slots to your tasks, will make your to-do list seem more managable, less discouraging AND you will not forget about your breaks! AND it’ll help you to stay focused for a set period of time. Doesn’t aiming for a 1hr study session sound better than setting yourself a goal of finishing a 130 slide ppt presentation with no images 😭?? You can find more tips on how to schedule and divide your study time in the pdfs below. Remember, that your daily schedule might vary depending on how you feel or amount of non-university tasks that you might have to do that day. Be realistic! Especially, if you have been struggling with depression or anxiety, your motivation level might be really low at the moment. Do not schedule a 2 hr study block, but study in small chunks (i.e. 30 min intervals) with more short self-care breaks. Side Note: And If you’re just like me and have sometimes a difficult time sticking to your own timetable, let everyone around you know about your schedule. Not only will your family members or room mates know, not to disturb you during this time, but they also might help you follow through with your plan. And if you need some more motivation, ask a friend to study with you at a scheduled time on video chat - almost like you used to at the library.
4. Attend Online Lectures
And I mean ATTEND online lectures and seminars. Avoid listening to your professors while folding laundry, playing games on your phone and eating dinner. Pretend like you are actually sitting in class. Sit down at a table with a notebook and pen to take notes. Not only do these online seminars create some structure to your day but they are also the only interaction you will have with your professors before your exams. This is your time to ask any questions about topics you are unsure about. This way, when you go over lecture topics during your own study time, it will not seem as foreign to you and you might even be more motivated to study!
5. Create a distraction list
Now that all of our classes are online, it is so easy to get distracted for “a moment” by going on facebook or checking out some youtube videos. However, this moment often times turns into a couple of hours. I consider myself a master procrastinator and I believe that I have already tried out all the tips that are available online. The majority of them with a low success rate. But one anti-procrastination trick tends to help me the most - THE DISTRACTION LIST.
There are so many reasons why we get distracted when studying: we feel anxious and have so many thoughts racing through our mind, we suddenly remember that we forgot to write an email, or we simply get bored with the current task at hand. So before you start studying, prepare a distraction list with two columns: Things to do and Take a Break & Breathe.
Things to do: In this column, you will write down any tasks or thoughts that might be going through your mind now. Do you need to message a friend? Write it down for later. Do you suddenly remember that you need to do laundry? Write it on the list for later. With this technique, we acknowledge our distraction and signal to our mind that we will take care of these tacks once we are finished with the current one.
Take a break & Breathe: Whenever we get bored, we are looking for anything to do. As a result, we pick up our phone and end up scrolling through instagram posts without even paying attention to what we are looking. (Can you name all the instagram posts you looked at today while trying to study 😜). We will do anything just so we don’t have to keep studying! So instead of clicking on a new website or looking at your phone, take your pen and draw a check mark in this column. This check mark is not to keep track of your procrastination habits but rather a reminder for yourself that your brain needs a break. So now that your mind acknowledged that you are getting bored with your task, leave your desk and set a 5 minute timer. Do some jumping jacks, take a few deep breaths or stretch. Doing a couple of minutes of physical activity will energize you and help you focus. Check out this youtube video with some tips on how to beat distractions and procrastination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp5ghCVNAM.
Please do not be discouraged if this list does not work for you but rather keep trying out some other study techniques until you develop your own study habits.
Here are a few links to informational flyers on study techniques which were put together by psychologistst at MUW University Counselling Services.
Study Techniques: General Ideas
http://www.ucs.wum.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Study-Techniques_General-Ideas.pdf
Memorization Techniques
Time Management and Procrastination
Check out this youtube video with some tips on how to beat distractions and procrastination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp5ghCVNAM.
Good luck with your classes :)
Author: PSYCHE
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