Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going – Former track Olympian, Jim Ryun.
To find the pure benefits of keeping a routine in life in general, we can spot well known people who brought medals home, broke world records, and set the bar higher for others behind them. Whatever the field of expertise, strong routines are common among high achievers.
In our study routine, how do we even find the motivation to begin with? How many times do we fail in our habits before we actually produce a study routine that promises a sure grade and an even surer career? It doesn’t seem easy getting there.
We have put together practical guidance for you to construct a study routine without getting overwhelmed by the uphill task. Let’s begin by taking a look at how routines of famous people can inspire us.
Famous people with famous routines
More often than not, we are simply impressed by the routines of famous people we admire for their hard work, focus, and success. Frequently mentioned by motivational speakers, teachers, and parents, achievements won by routines are definitely a source of inspiration.
Simone Biles, undoubtedly one of the best (or maybe, the best) gymnasts in world history, used to crush her routine by working out 5 times a day at exactly the same time everyday. Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Stephen King, Tim Cook and many others are well known for keeping certain schedules.
But here is a catch: Other’s exact routine can’t be your routine. You can draw a fine line between motivation you can receive from the famous names and their core routines but at the end of the day, you will design one for yourself.
So, do get to know about notable politicians, IT giants, athletes, scientists and phenomenal writers who associate their success with routines, but what routine works for you will be unique to you.
Study routine for students – rising early
However, some things stay the same across the scientific spectrum and student output, such as waking up early as early risers tend to get better grades at school.
Study routine for students – importance of undisturbed sleep
The National Sleep Foundation recommends seven to nine hours of sleep every night. While some students may end up getting less than that and move about just fine, a general lack of energy and creativity can take a toll on the mind and body.
With the sleep basics in mind, you can read ahead to start constructing your own routine.
Brainstorming for how to develop a study routine
Here are some brainstorming points to get you started. Once you make a routine, make sure you know how it makes you feel.
- When I sleep early by 10 PM, I sleep well with less negative thoughts before bed time.
- When I wake up early by 6 AM, I feel fresh with more energy for the day.
- When I study at a fixed time everyday, I feel in control of my learning (habits are done at fixed timings)
- When I study without clutter, I feel relaxed (clutter doesn’t work for everyone)
- When I study without noise, I am better focused (noise is also a personal choice)
By adding your own questions to the list, you get an idea about how to develop your routine. If you are coming up with positive feelings after getting into a certain routine, you are on the right track.
If you are feeling upset, tired, distressed, uneasy, negative, distracted, then it is time to tap into a different routine.
Best study routine for students
There is no ideal study routine but what usually works for students on high school and college is a combination of all of the following:
- Sleep
- Play/Sports/Hobby
- Family/meals
- Chores
- Study
- Friends
In other words, it is best not to keep things like this:
- Exams are near, I will only study and sleep four hours in the morning.
- I fell asleep during the exam because I haven’t slept in two days.
- I will study later when exams are near because I will forget everything.
- I love sports, so I don’t have much time for studying.
- I have been busy doing chores around the house, so I have to skip classes.
- I oversleep only because I sleep late.
- I only study with friends. It is more fun.
- I catch up on my sleep at the weekend and sleep for 18 hours during the day.
- I have no time to see my friends and family because I plan to study 18 hours straight.
- I am free during the day because I have to pull a nighter tonight.
- I eat a lot before exams because I feel a lot of anxiety.
What went wrong here? Can you spot a problem with each of these issues?
What’s wrong with overdoing and not doing some parts of the routine?
- Students tend to burn-out, leading to complete days and nights without any productivity.
- Students tend to become needlessly stressed during tests and exams.
- Students skip classes and feel drowsy during exams because of a badly managed sleep routine.
- Some can even begin to feel alienated from family and friends because they overdo studying.
- Some study for fun and can’t study without friends, hence losing valuable time.
- Some students are wasting their time during the day, just so they can stay awake at night.
How to study for long hours?
How many hours should we study? Once in a while or during exams, we want to know how to study for long hours. It might be useful for us to find an answer but always good to consider:
- Will I retain information after long hours of studying, let’s say 4-8 hours?
- How about including some 5 minute breaks to walk or stretch after every 45 minutes?
- Can I get a good, restful sleep before or after studying for long hours?
- I am not binge eating during the study hours
- I am not missing out on any other important things at hand, such as chores, personal hygiene, sports or family time.
- I have divided work in small portions or batches. I do not feel the stress of doing it all in one go.
- If I am not focused during the study time, I will resolve the focus first.
- All my study material is organized. I won’t waste time looking for things.
- I have planned my study time without unnecessary distractions, social media, and phone calls.
How not to study for long hours?
- Taking too much caffeine to stay awake is not a good idea. It will soon make you feel even sleepier.
- Leaving a lot of course work and creating unrealistic expectations that one can finish everything under 5 hours is simply not going to work.
- Staying up late during exams to pull all-nighters is a high alert area. The fatigue of nighters with a cup of coffee in the morning is not going to help.
- Getting to ride a bike or driving a car after an all-nighter is far from a good decision.
- Binge eating during study hours to stay active is not a healthy idea.
How many hours do toppers study?
Toppers in board exams are simply not the ones who study last minute and pull the longest hours of study. Our brains need a good mix of all the things necessary to create a routine. Therefore, students who top the boards are the ones who are more organized and are able to do focus-based study.
This explains how many hours do toppers study. Some students don’t study for more than an hour and get over 90% marks in a paper. These students studied the whole year, paid attention in classes, and continued studying outside classes. In other words, the number of hours studied doesn’t really account for getting top marks.
As mentioned above, making a routine and assigning a number of hours to each task is highly personal and everyone does it their own way. How many hours should we study is dependent on your preference and learning style.
Hours can vary, but have you ever wondered how toppers study?
How do toppers actually study?
The top students, crushing athletes, chess grandmasters, innovative scientists all study nearly the same way!
Josh Whitezkin, explains to us how we can understand our learning process in The Art of Learning – An Inner Journey to to Optimal Performance:
“A basic example of this process, which applies to any discipline, can easily be illustrated through chess: A chess student must initially become immersed in the fundamentals in order to have any potential to reach a high level of skill”.
In our case, we can see this immersion in the basics of Mathematics, Science, Languages, History, and so on. “Over time the intuition learns to integrate more and more principles into a sense of flow”, writes Josh.
For students, this stage is the stage where they are not stressed out for exams and have internalized the knowledge of subjects, such that learning becomes intuition.
Through this learning process is how a student becomes a topper, how a researcher innovates, how an average author becomes a master writer.
Whitezkin’s process of learning is based on his personal experience as the greatest young chess player in the U.S history at the age of eight. From fifteen to eighteen years, he was told to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Fischer and Gasparov, but he chose a different path of Ti Chi Chuan, applied the same principles of learning, and became the world champion in 2004.
If you liked reading how you can develop a routine and go through a learning process, check out Noon Academy to explore more educational resources to assist the learner in you.
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