Good study habits are healthy study habits. These top tips and tools will help you not only find balance, but be more productive.
We’ll debunk something for you right now, too: there’s no single trick or one-size-fits-all solution to making studying more bearable or less stressful. But lucky for you, today there are a ton of resources, tips, and ideas to help you manage your study habits in a way that is healthy and productive for you.
And that’s exactly what we’ve done for you here — rounding up all the most helpful ways you can create healthier study habits, not just during exam weeks, but year-round. If you do it right, you’ll learn how to incorporate these skills (which is what they really are) into your future career, too.
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Healthy study habits start with your lifestyle
It’s important to understand that you have to cultivate a healthy lifestyle around your study habits so that you can strike a balance. Some of these tips might seem obvious or what your mom tells you to do to create good study habits. But hey — mom always knows best. So, hear us out.
Eat a well-balanced diet
We understand that as a student your budget and food options can feel limited. All too often you’re reaching for quick solutions like frozen pizza and take out, and you drink so much coffee your blood type is caffeinated+. But if you’re not eating right, you could literally be starving your brain of essential nutrients, slowing down your cognitive functions. So to sharpen your focus…
Stop skipping breakfast and eat protein-packed eggs or berries, nuts and fruits to start your day
- Try eating more leafy greens and lean meats like fish.
- Try eating smaller meals throughout the day for steady energy instead of heavy meals that leave you with energy dips.
- Stay hydrated! Drink lots of water throughout the day.
- Avoid high-sugar and high-fat snacks that spike your blood sugar.
- Don’t over caffeinated yourself. While coffee can help stimulate you, studies show it can also make you more anxious.
Get a good night’s sleep
Okay, we know this is kind of asking a lot. Between studying, working and having a social life, sleep is a rare commodity for students. But, without a good night’s sleep, your brain can’t function at full capacity. So take a good hard look at your schedule and sleeping habits and look for ways you can improve. The first way? Be consistent. And don’t just give yourself a bedtime, schedule rest before bed when you can unplug from your phone, binge on Netflix or finally read something for fun.
Teach yourself stress management tools
Everyone handles stress differently. For some people, a rush of endorphins from a workout is enough to help refocus and release tension. For others, it’s taking time to disconnect and do something with their hands, like make a healthy meal. Take the time to understand what really helps you recenter, relax and manage overwhelming feelings or anxiety. Sometimes it’s as easy as a 20-minute nap or meditation or grabbing a coffee with friends that makes you feel supported.
Take breaks
It’s no coincidence that the stress management tools we mentioned above require you to disconnect and take a break. Even small micro-breaks between chapters or assignments can help you manage stress and refocus on the task at hand, like taking the time to enjoy a cup of tea, or taking a little walk to get fresh air.
Create work-life balance
In line with our last two tips, you have to find the balance between studying and living your life. Of course, as a student, studying is a huge part of your life and schedule. But without time for friends, sports, enjoying your city and school activities, you could burn out. Taking time away from studying to enrich the rest of your life is just as important as studying itself.
Take care of your body
Studying these days requires a lot of screen time which can be quite straining on your eyes — especially when you consider that you’re already in classes online, watching screens, TikTok videos on your phone and more. So, don’t forget to care for your eyes, too. That means positioning your screen at least an arms-length from your face, taking screen breaks and maybe even investing in blue-light glasses that filter computer screen light for you.
You also need to take care of your posture. How are you sitting right now? If you’re hunched over a laptop or textbook, you need to make some easy, healthy adjustments. Sit with a straight back and elevate your screen or textbook, so it is at the same level as your eyes. If you can, invest in a laptop stand, or simply prop it up on top of some books, so your screen is at eye-level. As for your textbooks, a cheap cookbook stand can easily prop it up right, allowing your shoulders and neck to sit straight as you read.
Finally, if you’re going to prop up your laptop, we definitely suggest investing in a separate keyboard and mouse, too, so that you can really keep your posture straight as you work.
The easiest ways to improve study habits: discipline and organization
Okay, admittedly, these habits take practice before they’re ever easy. But, once you learn how to teach yourself discipline and organization, all of your study habits are going to get a lot healthier and easier to manage.
Create a daily routine
We know every day is different with new assignments, study groups, workout classes and social events. But, you really need to create a daily routine so that you have a sense of control as new things are thrown your way and stress starts creeping up. That means sticking to your sleep schedule, following regular (healthy) mealtimes and scheduling free time into your day that you can use to work out or have a catch-up with friends.
Plan out your assignments and study time
A planner (whether it’s digital or physical) is a great way to lay out all of your to-do’s and get a real overview of what you have to tackle that day, week, month, or semester. Don’t forget to mark all your deadlines, too!
Using that bigger overview, you can now organize and break up your time into manageable chunks for each subject, class, or assignment. Once you have a good outlook of all you need to do study-wise, you can then easily plan your free time, social time and breaks in between. Knowing when you have time to break or relax will be key to helping you manage stress and create healthy, good study habits.
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