10 Proven Ways to Improve Your Study Habits in College

This might seem like an obvious tip – and one you probably don’t want to hear – but it’s vital. Indeed, if you want to improve your studying habits, starting to study early is integral.

Retain knowledge by starting early  

It’s substantially easier to learn and retain knowledge when it’s fresh in your mind after learning it.

With this thought in mind, trying to study everything at the last minute will inevitably be difficult; however, by taking steps to begin studying early, you’ll be able actually to spend less time trying to study overall!

Break up your studying

Spending hours studying every day can be oppressive, and this will likely leave you feeling unwilling and unmotivated to work. It’s only natural, really. With this in mind, our second tip is simple: don’t spend that long studying.

In fact, at the start of the year, spending just ten minutes a day studying can go a long way. This is just enough time to consolidate the main points you’ve learned during class; plus, as the year goes by, it becomes easier to gradually extend this as you get into the habit of studying.

Going from 10 minutes to 12 minutes to 15 minutes to 20 minutes – working your way up to longer study sessions over several weeks is a great way to study without having to go through the initial “slog.”

Try different studying techniques

Research finds that students who spend the first 15 minutes after class studying their notes retain more information compared to students who wait until days later to study. 

Break up your studying techniques by asking yourself questions about the material, talk to your peers about information, or even create your flashcards. There are plenty of ways to help you improve study habits if you are willing to learn and try something new. 

It’s so tempting when studying to have a quick look at our phones – but this can be a major mistake.

It uses up time, making your study session longer than it needs to be, but it also makes it harder to get back “into the zone” of study. Why take this chance?

Hide your phone away somewhere you can’t easily reach for it instead to bolster your study efforts.

However, if you just need to have your phone out to help improve study habits. there are several apps you can use to help you study better. 

Struggling to study? Joining a study group could be an excellent option to consider. Joining a study group helps motivate you to study when everyone else around you is doing the same, making this potentially an excellent option to try for your own studying needs.

Choose the right study group

When choosing the perfect study group to help improve study habits, make you you go with a group of individuals who compliment your "study style."

For example, if you are someone who prefers to have more social breaks while studying, it's important that those expectations are made clear by everyone in the group before you begin. 

One of the biggest limitations to effective study time is not being able to relax and clear your mind of other thoughts. With this in mind, investing in aromatherapy equipment could be an excellent option. 

Aromatherapy has been proven on multiple occasions to help with numerous different aspects of studying, including relaxation, stress relief, alertness, and so on. 

As such, this is absolutely one of our top 10 proven ways to improve your study habits – and it only takes a few moments to set up.

Getting “into a zone” is a great way to make studying easier. This helps you focus rather than being distracted by other things. As such, dedicating a certain area to study – be it your desk, the college library, or the like – can be a great way to make it easier to focus on the task at hand.

Maximize Productivity  

Try not to use this space for other activities such as chatting with friends or playing games. However, this can complicate your efforts to get into a productive mindset for studying.

It could be helpful to create a study space separate from your bedroom if you want to be most productive. 

It’s easy to feel overburdened when we think of all the different topics we need to study. However, this can rapidly lead to stress, which may make your efforts to study substantially less effective.

The power of focus

As such, we’d recommend tackling one thing at a time instead if you have been struggling to focus; dedicating one topic at a time or per night can help you consolidate the information more easily without feeling like you’re drowning in things to do.

Everyone studies and learns differently. Hence, we’d highly recommend finding the study method that works for you when it comes to your own study habits.

If you’ve been having trouble retaining knowledge from your study sessions, why not try something a little different. For example, this might be making a rhyme with the information, creating flashcards or a poster, or even (if there’s one available) playing an educational game.

There’s something for everyone!

If you’re really struggling to get in the mindset to study and work, try not to force yourself. It’s tempting to “keep pushing through,” but this can hinder your ability to work more than help.

Maximize working in the flow  

As such, if you’re finding it difficult to get in the zone and focus, take a break to regain your thoughts. Move somewhere different, go for a walk, grab a drink, or the like.

It might help you breathe and relax, helping you focus more easily on the next job.

Having motivation and working toward it is a great way to help yourself study. Therefore, if you have been finding it harder to study, give yourself something to look forward to after, be it time out with your mates, a cheeky slice of cake, or the like.

You deserve to celebrate the small wins!

Whatever it might be, you deserve it – but don’t finish until all the work’s done! By adding rewards to your routine and sticking to it, you might find that studying is less of a chore than it seemed.