Studying for exams can be usually hard as many of us tend to lose focus easily. Sometimes, during the final exam week, many students need to study for an extended period of time due to a large number of subjects. However, due to the emerging technology platforms, students lose focus very easily.
I’m sure many of us have faced situations where we wasted too much time doing things other than studying, leading to a sleepless night. However, it is important to note that there are ways to change our study routine by not losing focus.
How to Study for Long Hours Without Getting Bored?
1. Set Achievable Goals and Tasks
Firstly, it is crucial to set practical goals. Start off by listing the goals and tasks that need to be completed. Then, set a practical schedule with achievable tasks. For each task that needs to be completed, link resources that are needed. By putting together all the links and resources, in the beginning, no time will be wasted during the study hours.
2. Learn to Prioritize
Secondly, it is important to know which subjects to focus more attention on. It is recommended to study for approximately 45 to 60 minutes before switching subjects. Whenever you feel bored studying a particular subject, swap to a subject that interests you more. This combination of subjects can help increase attention span.
3. Create the Best Focused Environment to Study
Working in an environment that allows you to focus with ease is essential for studying and minimizing distractions. Thus, before studying, it is important to find a place where you won’t be disturbed for a long time. Based on preferences, one should put on some peaceful study music.
4. Incorporate Breaks
Studying for long hours can get very tiring for people. Thus, it is important to incorporate short breaks to relax. Although these breaks can help increase efficiency and productivity, make sure to put on a timer on these breaks.
5. Add Some Fun to your Study Sessions
Study sessions don't always have to be boring and tedious. You can try to make study sessions fun by asking a friend to study alongside you or add music. However, it is important to note that selecting the person that you are studying with is crucial; preferably, you should pick someone who has the same motives as you. If you are studying with someone who gets distracted very easily, it can impact your productivity significantly.
6. Nap when Needed
Napping can be essential for improving focus and recharging our brains. You should nap less than 30 minutes between study sessions. Especially during the times when you switch subjects, you should take a nap. It is always better to take naps during this time than take naps when focusing on one particular subject.
7. Active not Passive Study
Passive study means studying without realizing that we didn’t take away much from our study session. Thus, we should focus on studying actively, where we take notes, make flashcards, or learn through the memory palace technique. To absorb everything that we learn, you must stay involved.
Why is Sleeping Between Study Sessions Important?
Stephanie Mazza, a psychological scientist at the University of Lyon, explains that sleeping between study sessions has a twofold advantage. Without sleeping between study sessions, extra time needs to be spent relearning the information. Sleeping in between study sessions can help prevent that.
In Mazza’s study, where 40 French adults participated, each person was assigned to either the “wake” group or the “sleep” group. The first study session included all the participants, who were shown 16 French-Swahili random word pairs. Each of them could study the words for 7 seconds. After that, the pair of words disappeared and only the Swahili word was shown. The participants then had to recall which French word matched with the Swahili term. In the end, the correct word pair was shown for 4 more seconds and any words not matched correctly were shown again until the word pairs were put correctly.
The participants then repeated the task 12 hours later by matching the words together until it was matched correctly.
For the wake group, they completed both sessions within the same day. For the sleep group, they completed the first session in the evening, went to sleep, and then completed the second session the next morning.
In the end, all participants recalled the word pairs. Despite that, the sleep group was able to complete the task in less effort and less time. For the first session, both groups showed a difference in their ability to recall the words and the number of times that they needed to see the words.
However, 12 hours later, those in the sleep group can recall an average of 10 of the 16-word pairs. On the other hand, for the wake group, they recalled an average of 7.5 words.