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disclaimer: these are a few things that I’ve picked up over the years. They work well for me, a perpetual procrastinator who thrives on logic and tough love, but that doesn’t mean they’re a great option for everyone. 

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE WORKING FOR. I’ve seen a lot of posts that encourage people to think about their goals when they lose motivation, but for me, simply thinking about it doesn’t work. When I lose motivation, I make two lists: what I’m working for in the short term and the long term. This only works if I’m as specific as possible. For example, in the short term, I’m not just working for an A, I’m working for the feeling I get when the professor hands back an exam and I get to see a grade that makes me feel good about myself. In the long term, I’m not just working so I can get a job after graduation, I’m working so that I can get the job, the one that will make me happy to go to work every day. Really looking at where you want to be can help make the decision to study that much easier. 

DON’T THINK OF IT AS JUST ONE GRADE. First off, I’d like to say that there is definitely a hard line as to where this can be too much. You shouldn’t spend days beating yourself up over a bad grade, or sacrificing your mental health to spend all your time studying. But I often find myself thinking oh, it’s just one grade, it’s not a class related to my major, how much of a difference will it actually make if I cut down my study time a little bit? Then I proceed to let myself peruse Tumblr for a good few hours until I’ve effectively wasted my time. So save the “it’s only one grade” reminder for when you’re considering pulling an all-nighter for a quiz that accounts for a meager percentage of your grade overall. When you’ve got time to study, just study. 

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO WON’T HINDER PRODUCTIVITY. I feel like we all have that friend who doesn’t ever seem content just to let you study. They’ll invite you somewhere or try to make plans, and when you say you have to study, they continue to try to convince you to go to whatever party their going to, or see whatever movie they want to see. And for some people, it’s easy to say no. Sometimes, it’s even easy for me, procrastinator extraordinaire, to say no. But when you already don’t want to study, or you’re looking for an excuse to procrastinate, it’s near-impossible to say no. To avoid this, try to surround yourself with people who value education as much as you do. Those people are less like to pressure you into pushing aside your studying, because they understand how important it is.          ☞ If you’re the type of person who pressures people to drop their studying, please don’t!!!! It’s one thing if you’re genuinely concerned about their mental health, but it’s another if you just want someone to go to a party with you. 

CONSIDER PROS AND CONS. I’m a highly logical person, and I think this advice works best for people who are also highly logical. If you find yourself tempted to procrastinate, write down the pros and cons of doing the thing you would do in place of studying. For example, my vice is generally Tumblr. So I look at the pros for browsing instead of studying (entertaining, reading interesting thoughts, relaxation time, temporary and short term gratification) versus the cons (could do poorly on my test, have to deal with disappointed looks from my professor as he hands them back, know that I didn’t do my best, won’t get the sense of accomplishment I do when I get a great grade). It helps a lot to look at things that way, because it makes it hard to justify this activity over studying. But remember, this only works if you write down every reason. Be objective. 

I started using this study method my 2nd month of college, when I realized that it was better for study-life balance and my emotional wellbeing. It makes me feel productive and alert all day, and gives me plenty of free time to pursue hobbies, clubs, and personal interests. It sounds kind of hardcore at first, but it’s seriously wonderful if you give it a try! Here’s the game plan:

After the first few days of the semester, I sit down with all of the syllabi from all of my classes and write down every single assignment for the rest of the semester into my planner. Include exams, readings, lab report due dates, worksheets, essays, etc. Everything.

Every weekend, I set aside however much time I need to knock out every single assignment for the upcoming week that is possible to do in advance. I do my textbook readings, textbook practice problems, my humanities readings, short essays or write-ups to accompany those humanities readings, etc.

Even though I’m doing more work, I generally spend the same amount of time in the library as my friends who only do their work for Monday over the weekend. This is because if you don’t commit to doing a large number of assignments, you tend to spend a lot more time on minor assignments than is truly necessary - do I really need to spend 3 hours on this 1-page essay for my English class if it’s only graded on a 10 point scale? Couldn’t I finish this in 1 hour and then devote more time to the rest of the readings I need to do for that class this week?

I still have enough time to sleep in, have long lunch breaks, go the gym, go to parties in the evening, etc.

You can do this, no matter your workload. I am a pre-med science major taking 20 credits (max course load) a semester, with two labs, and I can get it done. My roommate is an English major with heavy novel reading assignments and she can get it done. (Disclaimer: this mostly applies to undergraduates.)

Research papers and midterm exam studying generally get their own day separate from homework assignments. I like writing essays in 1 or 2 sittings, but if you like to spread it out just break up the essay into manageable pieces and do it over multiple weekends, or do the pieces between classes (see next bullet point).

After blasting through most of my assignments over the weekend, during the week I generally only have to do busy-work that is assigned at the end of classes and continue studying for midterms that week. I easily finish these assignments in the breaks between classes during the day.

With this strategy, I always complete all of my homework well before dinnertime, and often have days when I don’t have any assignments to do. I use this free time for club meetings, hanging out with friends, going to the gym, marathoning Netflix, pursuing hobbies, working a job, whatever.

I also use this extra time to be able to study for exams much more effectively - when you don’t have busywork assignments floating in the back of your mind, it is much easier to focus. You will study more productively and effectively, and with much less stress. Exams are worth way more of your grade than the homework assignments you blast through each weekend, so it’s best to be able to focus exclusively on them Monday - Friday.

The best part about this strategy is that your workload is heavy on Sunday and sometimes Saturday, but you get to relax Monday - Friday. You basically have a 5 day weekend every week, assuming you enjoy going to class.

If anyone also uses this method, I’d love to hear from you or hear your variants/study suggestions! If anyone tries out this method for 1 or 2 weeks and finds that it works for them, I’d love to hear about it! If you try it and hate it with a fiery burning passion and loathe me for even suggesting it, I’d love to hear about it!