How to study better at home

It is that time of the term again, the time when you promise yourself “this term will be different” and that you will settle for “nothing less than HDs!” The beginning of the term might be daunting especially now that we are going fully online, but it is a great opportunity to start fresh too. And as one of the greatest minds of our times once said: “Don’t let your dreams be dreams! Just do it!” Whether you wish to achieve greatness or just keep a stable WAM this term, here are some tips and tricks to make your home study routine a little more efficient. SET A WORKSPACE:

Do not under any circumstance study in your bed! This is not just counterproductive for your own sleeping schedule but also it won’t help you focus at all. Find a space in your house that you can deem your own little library hub and stick to it. Of course, you can have more than one or experiment with different spaces until you find one that works best for you. The aim here is to make sure you can immediately relate this space with ‘work time’ making it easier to concentrate and eventually set into a rhythm.

STICK TO A SCHEDULE:

You might have heard this one a million times before, but that’s just because -unfortunately- it’s true. Scheduling time for uni work will give structure to your day and eventually create a routine for your day/week. This, complemented with your workspace, will help you channel that ‘work energy’ easier in the long run. We know it won’t be easy to start with, but we assure you that if you stick to it you will be proud of yourself by the time mid-term assignments start to pile up. After all, it takes 21 days to create a habit!

RESPECT YOUR WORKFLOWS:

So, you have a workspace and a schedule but you still don’t feel like doing any work? you‘re not alone. However, there are ways to work around these feelings to make sure you still make some progress during your scheduled work time. Try to ease into it, maybe start with listening to a lecture, do a quick reading, or just look through the content slides. Understand that if you don’t have the energy to do a big task forcing yourself to do it will only end badly. As you play around with schedule times you will get to know what your usual energy bursts are like and when they come around (or not), so work around them! For example, I know that after breakfast I am energised enough to do a reading or two and start easing into my uni work, but that no matter how hard I try once it gets dark I can’t get much done. So, that’s why I try to start my day early to make sure I have my whole evenings free to just laze around!

This new term make it your goal to find a study routine that works for you, it might take a little bit of time to find the right combinations but once you nail it, it won’t only get you through this term but it will definitely help you through your whole university experience!