If you’re anything like me, then you probably find it very hard to motivate yourself to study. Sometimes, I think it’s harder to start working than it is to actually do the work. During my time in college, I’ve devoted a lot of time to finding the most effective techniques for getting and staying motivated to study. Some of the best ones are common sense – planning your study sessions ahead of time, or taking small breaks, for example. However, my personal favorite techniques that help me get the most out of my study sessions are ones that make studying more fun and allow me to romanticize it.
By romanticizing your study sessions and incorporating things that you enjoy, it’s much easier to keep a positive attitude and get work done. Who knows, you might even find yourself looking forward to the next time you study! Here are five ideas to help you get started.
- Find study spots that bring you joy!
While it’s important for study spots to be good environments for focusing, there aren’t many restraints beyond that. As long as it’s relatively quiet with good lighting, you can study just about anywhere. Not only is it great to have spots that you associate with studying to keep you focused, but it’s also great to study in places that you actually enjoy being in. It’s easy to just study in your dorm or in the nearest library, but if you make yourself study somewhere that you actually want to be, you might not dread it!
- Add study ‘sounds’ to your routine!
Some people like to listen to music while studying, and others prefer ambient noises or frequencies. But regardless, your study sounds of choice can act as a signal to your brain that it’s time to study. As I said earlier, having spaces to associate with studying can help you focus, and noise is the exact same. The trick is to make a playlist of songs or audios that you only listen to while studying. I enjoy classical music while studying, and have a playlist that I only use when I start working. It isn’t magic – I’m not able to focus immediately upon hearing the music – but it helps in that it creates mental starting and finishing lines. When I shuffle the playlist, I start working, and when I pause the playlist, I stop working.
- Use a motivating study timer app!
Using a study timer app can make a huge difference. I use Forest, and it’s been a game changer. You can use a timer to give yourself a set amount of time to work, or you can start a stopwatch if you just want to keep track of how long you study. All the while, the app will grow trees in your own little forest. It even offers a deep focus mode in which leaving the app ends your session and withers your trees, which is so helpful since I have a hard time keeping off my phone while I study. But the best part is that you can use coins that you generate during your study sessions to pay for real trees to be planted. Keep yourself focused and help the planet at the same time!
- Give yourself exciting rewards!
For me, the most rewarding part of a study session is the end, because I am so relieved the work is finished. But this is a poor reward, because it’s not easy to look forward to – thinking about how excited you are to be done with the work will probably just demotivate you because it reminds you how much you don’t want to do the work in the first place. In order to use rewards effectively to stay motivated, your excitement for the reward must overshadow the unpleasantness of studying. Make sure it is something that you don’t normally indulge in on a regular basis, or else it won’t stand out as something worth working hard for!
- Find a study buddy!
When you study by yourself, your mind will make justifications for being unproductive – “I’ll study more later,” or “I just need to check something on my phone.” This is because when we are alone, we get to spend our time how we please, and we are subconsciously aware of this. Our brains know that when we are studying alone, we can always revert to whatever other activities we like to do in our free time without repercussions. When we are with other people, the way we use our time is defined by the reasons we are with them. If you make it a habit to study with certain people or certain groups of people, especially in certain places, then you are helping your brain make associations that will keep you motivated. In addition, you and your study buddy can help hold each other accountable by keeping each other on task!
With finals creeping closer towards us, I hope these ideas are helpful to you! Just remember – studying is an art that becomes easier to master with every session!