Study Smart, Not Hard

At Free Laptop College, we’ve compiled a list that can help you study more effectively.  Follow these tips to maximize your time and energy.  A wise person once told me that studying is about working smart, not hard.

First make sure you’re not distracted.  College life has many distractions that can keep you from the work at hand.  Think about distractions like your phone, TV, radio and computer.  If you have a roommate or live in the dorm, it’s easy to be distracted by friends coming in or people making noises.  Find a place where you can be alone, make sure it’s quiet and void of people talking or noise.

The distractions in a study environment are one thing, but your comfort is a whole other concern.  If the temperature of a room makes you uncomfortable you might want to rethink your location.  If you’re acclimated to a 72 degree room, you’ve associated comfort with that temperature in your brain.  It is key, to make the most use your time, to think about the temperature of your environment.  What about the light?  Can you see well?  Is it so dark that it makes you sleepy?   Also note the area around you.  Is the desk free of clutter?  is your chair comfortable?  If you can’t work in your space or your chair is hard as a rock, you’ll lose focus easily.

How many breaks do you take while studying?  We recommend studying in increments of 30 to 60 minutes with 10 to 15 minute breaks in between.  If you start to feel burnt out, push yourself for another 10 minutes to comprehend the difficult material and then back off.  Make it a hard and fast rule with no exceptions.  Free your brain and try to relax.  Breathing through your nose with your tongue on the roof of your mouth helps wonders.

Studying is a discipline, like anything else in life.  The more hours you put in, the more success you’ll see.  Make a plan to do it at least 3 or 4 days a week.  If you can do 5, it’s much better.  Create a schedule and stick to it.  If you’re having trouble, commit to a certain time frame and push when you don’t like it.  Success is relative to the hours you put in, it’s that simple.