As an online physics tutor, I know that students face many challenges when learning alongside their busy lives. In particular, students can struggle to progress through course material, especially if there is a lot to read or learn for an exam.
I have made a list of tips that students may find useful to help them focus on their studies and prepare for big assignments and exams.
These tips could be useful to any student studying any subject, whether you are an undergrad or postgrad, taking classes in person or remotely. In fact, these are things I often use to help me to focus myself.
How to stay organised
• Make lists of things to do each day. Number them in terms of priority. Try to work to that order of priority.
• Try using a timer (eg. the countdown timer available on Windows) to block out a certain amount of time to work. Using something like the Pomodoro technique (working for 25 minutes at a time, then a break, then 25 minutes again, etc) can be helpful. It can avoid the feeling of studying endlessly while making little effective progress. You then have a regular chance to check in with yourself on where you are up to with things.
• Be ready to adapt your study plans. You may not have time to finish everything you thought you might or one task may take longer than you expected.
• If you realise you have lost a lot of time to distractions, don’t despair. Adapt your plans again. Check your list and how much time you have to do what you set out to do and be honest about what you can achieve in that time. Sometimes you just need to step away altogether to refresh your mind.
• Establish work routines. Try to find a time of day that works well for you to study. This may not always be possible but at least you are giving yourself a good chance by identifying when you are most productive.
Your learning environment
• Some people’s brains crave distraction and impulsively look around for something else to do. Put your mobile phone in a different room to where you work, or at least completely out of sight. Consider any other distractions and try to limit your access to them.
• Some people find it helpful to keep some healthy snacks nearby or something to drink; this can help satisfy that impulsive need to reach out for something else and allow you to maintain focus on the work a bit more easily.
• If you have a friend or family member nearby you can tell them what you’re planning to work on and update them later about how it went. You could even organise and/or participate in mini study groups where you study together with others.
Study tips
• Some modules contain a lot of content to read through. Break up the reading if you can and don’t spend too long rereading the same paragraphs if you don’t fully understand them. Write down your questions and then you can go back and check them or ask your lecturer or a classmate to help you understand.
• Try regularly reading a few chapters of a set text first thing in the morning (before the daily distractions begin). This can help set you up for the day and allow you to get through a lot of your reading in smaller chunks.
• Reading textbooks on a comfortable chair can help you avoid the distractions that are always present on the computer (eg. constantly checking email; going down a Youtube rabbit hole to learn about neutron stars, etc).
In summary, scheduling, flexibility and accountability are some of the things that could help you focus on your studies.
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