What Not To Do Before You Study

Have your Phone Around

You’re about to start studying but then you wonder if you have any messages on your phone. Suddenly before you’ve noticed you’ve just spent the past half hour scrolling through Instagram. Nothing you saw was that interesting, yet you still haven’t started studying. Now you’re slightly behind what you expected and you feel bad for it, it’s a double whammy of stress.

Definitely make sure you’re committed to the task at hand. Have your phone put away and make it a reward for after. It feels a lot better when you feel you deserve it too.

Setting Expectations Unreasonably

You have that module you’re really behind on, and you know you have to rush to get it learnt. But remember that the pressure you put on yourself can actually make it harder to focus and keep you even further behind which is no fun at all.

Make sure you set reasonable goals that consider how you can stick to them. If you still don’t stick to these, try to take a think about why you didn’t and change something so it’s easier next time. See if you overestimated the challenge or if there was another way to approach it that would’ve been more effective.

Have a Messy Workplace

Something that is a very common with students is leaving things out all over their desk and room. Spend an extra five minutes to put stuff away, the less clutter in your room, the clearer your mind is.

If you’re someone who leaves things out to make sure you finish them later, consider making a “to do list” instead. Put unfinished tasks away and check your list daily to make sure you’ve gotten your responsibilities sorted.

Watch Netflix/YouTube Before Studying

We’ve all had it. You’re about to start getting some work done and then you think “one episode can’t hurt” and then next thing you know Netflix is asking if you’re still there after a series and a half of Riverdale. You feel bad and yet instead of seeing this as a sign to close Netflix, you press yes and carry on.

Save the watching as a reward for after you’ve gotten some work done. You can focus more on the show and not have to feel bad about it knowing that you’ve improved your knowledge.

Hate the Process

Studying is hard and sometimes that can put us off. You need to remember why you’re doing it and remember how good it feels once you understand a concept. Every time you make that effort you’re making it easier for the future you.

Try to make the struggle feel fun instead of only feeling happy when it goes how you want and you’ll see you make a lot more progress!