Studying is probably one of the most boring, time consuming activities of any college student’s academic career. It’s so boring in fact, that we would do anything that would distract us from the task at hand, or at least try to find a way to make the hours of memorizing fly by. Besides the usual bouts of procrastination and cramming, here are a few other bad study habits that may surprise you.
1. Studying with music
Some studies have shown that studying with music doesn’t help most people learn better or faster. In fact, for some people, it can be very counterproductive. Listening to music is a task that requires at least some part of your brain’s focus. If you are trying to study and listen to music at the same time, you are trying to multitask which is something that humans just can’t do well. If you must listen to music, listen to slow instrumentals (like classical music or jazz if that’s your thing) to make sure you don’t get too distracted.
2. Studying with alcohol
There are many college students who like to have at least one glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage while studying. If you’re one of those students, here are several reasons why studying under the influence is a bad idea. For starters, even in small amounts beverages like wine are known to cause drowsiness. Plus, the more you drink the less information you retain. Why stay up all night studying, if you’re not going to remember most of it the next day anyway?
3. Studying with your friends
For some people, studying alone is much easier than studying in a group, while other people (especially those who are very social) like to study in groups, preferably among friends. While studying with people you like to hang out with may seem like a good idea, it can actually be quite distracting. Unless you are planning on studying with a group of people who are truly dedicated to studying and staying focused, you should probably hang with your friends AFTER you leave the library.
4. Highlighting
Surprise! Highlighting is something just about anyone who has picked up a book to study has done. However, is highlighting really helpful? Highlighting forces you to focus on certain aspects of what you are reading and memorizing what’s been highlighted instead of truly learning and understanding the material. If memorizing facts is your only goal, highlighting may help but if you’re trying to learn and retain information for an extended period of time, it isn’t very useful at all.
There are many healthy study habits that can help ensure you make the best grades possible on your exams but most of the practices listed above if not all of them, are less than ideal. If you really want to make sure you are prepared, find a nice quiet place to study for at least an hour to an hour and a half. Read the information and not just memorize it, and give yourself enough time ahead of your quiz or exam to study in short bursts rather than cramming the night before. The sooner you put these bad study habits to rest, the better your studying experience will be!