Once you set foot into your first lecture at university, you’ll probably already find yourself juggling multiple assignments, tests, projects, in-class activities and more. It feels like you’re ALWAYS catching up on one thing or the other. Most students take at least 4 courses in a semester, but some take up to 6 or even 7 if they’re crazy like that. Of course, the more courses you rack on, the more work, the less time to dedicate to all the classes you’re taking. So, that’s why today, I’ll be talking about the solution to dealing with this: Making a study schedule and plan that actually will help keep you motivated, help you retain information, and help you ace those exams.This is all about studying not harder, but smarter.
I graduated from university not too long ago with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance, but I had studied in other fields before that, so I’ve learned quite a bit about the different styles and strategies that worked, and so here’s what I took away from my university experience:
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Understanding Your Learning Style
Before you begin creating a study schedule, you need to think about how exactly you learn best and what methods and/or strategies have worked for you in the past when you were in high school.
Everyone is different in what their preference may be, and knowing your own may make all the difference in productivity.
There are some major learning styles out there and the biggest ones are listed below:
- Visual: You learn from seeing through charts, diagrams, and mind maps.
- Auditory: You learn quite well by just listening to lectures, discussions, or podcasts.
- Reading/Writing: You learn best through taking notes, reading textbooks, and writing down key points in outline form.
- Kinesthetic: You know you have learned something when you get to participate in experiments or re-enact it in some kind of role-playing activity in order to learn information.
Determine above which of the above styles best describes you, then incorporate that into your study time. If you are a visual learner for example, try to make summary maps or flashcards. Auditory learners may find their studying more effective by recording lectures and replaying them at another time.
If you’re not sure which style is best for you, I recommend that you try a different one out for each class and then quiz yourself later to determine which one seemed to help you out the best.
Setting Realistic Goals
When you go to study, you should focus your studying plans around realistic and achievable targets and goals. Very often, you can easily get tempted to try and form an ambitious plan, such as “I want to study 8 hours every day.” The issue is that this just isn’t really achievable for most people. Life exists, we get bored, and sometimes studying is just annoying and we don’t feel like sitting there all day just studying. So, you need to chop your goals up into plausible and smaller chunks so that you can actually get things done without burning out and overwhelming yourself by the second week of class.
In order to determine how you should split your work and what sort of goals you want to set, try to ask yourself these questions:
- What are my academic priorities this week?
- What chapters or assignments need to be finished first?
- How much time can I realistically devote to each task?
These questions will help put things easily into perspective and you’ll be able to see what exactly you need to do and when. Furthermore, you will also allow yourself time to work at a steady pace so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute. You can’t really achieve a perfect strategy, but a realistic and doable one makes sense to work towards.
Time Management Techniques
Poor use of time is perhaps one of the largest barriers to effective studying. Fortunately, there are several time management techniques that can help you plan your day without feeling overwhelmed.
There are lots of well-known studying techniques out there, and I’ve actually discussed some of these before for writers, but here are some more for students:
- Pomodoro Technique: You work in focused 25-minute blocks of time followed by a 5-minute break. After four rounds, longer breaks can be taken, ranging from 15 to 30 minutes. In this case, you will be able to maintain your focus and not become too tired.
- Time Blocking: You split your work load into blocks or chunks of time as though you were scheduling a work shift. For example, you can block out 9 AM to 11 AM for one class and maybe 11:30 AM to 1 PM for another class and so on. Make sure to schedule breaks so you don’t get bored.
- Batching: This is basically about grouping similar tasks together. For example, you spend one session purely reviewing your notes while another session is entirely working out practice problems. This is great for a class that has more math-based work involved.
Try out each technique for a different study session and see which one(s) clicks with you the best and then stick to it for the rest of the semester.
Your Study Environment Matters
Even if you have a great study plan and you know 100% that you’ll be able to work with it, you may find yourself losing time or messing up because of a messy, noisy, distracting environment around you.
One of the best tips that I can give is to find an environment for you to study in where you find yourself focusing the best and where you can get your work done and be productive. It’s also important to try and eliminate any distractions in that environment.
You want to find a spot that’s going to be quiet or at least where you can focus the best. This could be your room, your home office, the library, or some place else that you find yourself being the most productive in.
You also want to try and keep your phone away from you while you’re studying. If you need to use a laptop or some sort of device like that, then ensure that you are only using it when you need to. If you are writing an essay for instance, then try and full-screen the essay so that it’s the only thing that you can actually see as you’re working.
You want to try and keep your area organized as well, since a messy and disorderly space can easily distract or frustrate you and you may find yourself pushing pens and books off the table more often than not.
With a proper environment, you’ll find that you’re more productive and that you can actually get your work done faster and easier.
Structuring Your Study Sessions
You can certainly set a time of the day to study and you can definitely find a great place to study, but there is more to it than just that. You need to actually work with time in a way that can actually help ensure full focus and retention so that you can succeed in your exams later down the line.
When you sit down to study, start off with the hardest task, that way, you can work on something complicated when your focus is at its peak. Later on in your session, you’ll find your ability to be productive has gone down, so you’ll be less able to complete more complicated tasks.
You should also try and break things up into smaller tasks and take regular breaks. If you have 50 pages to read for a class, try to break it up into sections and after each section, write down what you learned. Take a break. These things can help you stay focused when you have a lot to go through in your studying.
You also want to ensure that you aren’t studying for too long. After a few hours, you’re not going to be productive anymore and that’s not going to be helpful in the long-run. Know when to stop and come back tomorrow to finish up. If you’re studying while you’re not at your best, you’re going to be frustrated and will not put in the necessary effort into your work.
Setting a study time is only half the way to success; one has to frame the time in such a way that it would ensure full focus and retention. How? Well,
Consistency in Your Study Routine
Another really big thing about studying in university is to maintain a level of consistency. In most things in life, you really need to be consistent. At work, you have to be consistent. In life, consistency is really a key thing, especially when it comes to school. Studying regularly and at a consistent pace is great. Instead of bunching everything up into one last day before the exam, you want to spread things over time and take a little bit of time each day to study. This way, once you get to exam season, you’re actually relaxing and not worrying about studying like everyone else might be.
Procrastination is really your enemy when it comes to studying and I can attest to this. I would study regularly (even if I really didn’t want to) so that when it came time for my exams, I was just relaxing and playing video games the day before. This wasn’t the case for every class, but a lot of classes were like this for me.
You need to be consistent and try and create a sort of rhythm for your brain so that you can get into the mood for studying. Maybe you focus best with coffee or tea and maybe you like having some quiet music in the background. Creating and setting up your environment will allow your brain to understand that it needs to go into studying mode basically.
If you feel like something is missing or you’re not achieving your goals the way you want to, then readjust and remember to be flexible because life happens and sometimes, we just can’t do the same thing every single day the way we want to.
Take Advantage of Study Tools
Technology has definitely presented us with a lot of study tools and aids that have really helped make studying more interactive and easier. For instance, if you need active recall for a class like anatomy, Quizlet is a great option to use. There’s also Anki if you want something less connected to the internet for distraction reasons.
If you need to create a schedule and write it down somewhere, Google Calendar is your best friend. You can also use Apple’s Calendar app if you’re more of an Apple user and find it easier to use.
Grammarly is a tool that I always recommended students use when I worked as a writing assistant at my university. It’s great to help you fix up your assignments and check your spelling issues. Your university may also have a tool that you can use in the library.
ChatGPT is also not too bad if you need some help with studying. I don’t recommend using it for writing essays or anything crazy like that, because that’s plagiarism, but if you want it to make a test for you based on your notes, then it can be a great study resource as well when used correctly.
There’s also stuff like CourseHero and Chegg if you need to find textbook solutions or want to find practice tests before your big exam. Studocu is great as well because students often upload things like assignments and outlines so you can see what some professors expect from their courses.
I also used an iPad to take my notes because of the Apple Pencil and the ability to also be able to type up my notes. If you want, you can check out this post where I discuss the best apps for taking notes on the iPad!
Motivate Yourself!
I think for some people, studying is hard because it doesn’t feel like there’s an active reward. It’s hard to motivate yourself to do something that you really don’t want to do, and I would know. I have never been a fan of studying and I’ve always been bored by school. However, I had to keep myself motivated in university and that’s a big thing. You want to actually reward yourself for finishing big tasks or take breaks to allow yourself time to breathe.
Another way I motivated myself was by imagining when I wouldn’t have to take another exam or deal with another grade notification. That idea alone was enough to push me to finish as fast as possible. Now, I’m sitting with a degree in finance and no more exams! That’s motivation enough, I’d say.
Consider Forming Study Groups
One thing I found works for a lot of students is actually forming study groups. These are basically people you know in your class or friends that you know that form a group and get together to practice the material, study together, and back each other up. Group studying is great because some people might have different approaches that help make things easier and some students may have known someone in the class before you so that you can get an accurate idea of what the exams will be like.
Group study sessions can be a bit distracting and it’s easy to forget about studying and just start having random conversations. The important thing is to try and stay on-task and then have fun afterwards.
Self-Care is Important Too
I have a confession to make: I have never pulled an all-nighter for university before. I think there was one day where I stayed up to 5 AM, but this isn’t that crazy. My average sleeping time ranges from 3 AM to 4 AM on a good day. So, yeah, I never pulled all nighters because guess what? They’re stupid.
Alright, maybe that sounded harsh, but seriously, if you’re pulling an all-nighter, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Refusing to get sleep so that you can keep studying is not going to help you in the long-run because your brain will eventually stop being productive and it doesn’t matter how many hours you’ve studied–you won’t retain anything.
You also need to make sure that you’re eating and staying hydrated. Starving yourself and pulling an all-nighter while you down Red Bulls and coffee is a terrible way to treat your body. If you plan ahead of time, have a proper study plan, and ensure that you are taking care of yourself at the same time, you won’t have to pull an all-nighter and knock off years of your life from stress.
You also want to make sure that you’re getting some form of exercise in your day. You don’t need to hit the gym and bench press 200 Lbs or anything like that, but you should take a 20 minute walk or do some stretches as well to help keep your blood flowing. This will keep your brain sharp and awake.
Conclusion
There is no one study plan and strategy that works for everyone and everybody will have a different preference. At the end of the day, however, it’s important to learn from yourself, see what works for you, and formulate a strategy that actually makes sense and can help you in the long run. Studying is a skill that you have to build and nobody is born amazing at studying. You just need to have patience and you need to be aware of your strengths and limitations.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on all my latest WIPs, book releases, posts and more!