#smart studying

As I rev up for the start of the school year in 3 weeks, I thought I would share some of the best study survival tips I have learned to help me time-manage my busy college schedule. Although I do take fewer classes per semester at Smith than I did in high-school, I’ve found that the quality and quantity of the work I produce in college is much greater than the “busy work” I had in some of my high-school courses. So, I’ve had to adjust in order to maximize my productivity in the pockets of free time that I have between classes, rehearsals, and meetings. Everyone’s study style and habits are different, so these tools may not be as effective for you as they are for me. However, I definitely recommend testing them out to see if anything sticks!

1. MyTomatoes

This pomodoro tracking website was recommended to me by a helpful staff member in the Jacobson Center for Teaching and Writing, and it has been the best resource I’ve used by far. It is a simple automatic timer that runs on a 25 minute work/5 minute break system. At the end of every 25 minutes, you log what you have accomplished in order to track your productivity. My friends and I often use the five minute break periods to have mini dance parties or stretch! It’s free, and if you sign up to create an account, your data will be saved and you can look back to see what you have accomplished every single day!

2. Break down big tasks into bite-sized goals

When I get realllllly intensely stressed, I tend to get ‘tunnel vision,’ so whatever assignment I am working on consumes all of my thoughts and I cannot stop working until it’s 100% finished. This means that I might find myself staring at a computer screen for 4 hours straight, which is not the healthiest thing for my body or brain. So, I find that if I break big projects/papers down into a multi-step process over the course of a few days (for example, write 1-2 paragraphs per night over the course of the week as opposed to the whole thing in one sitting), I can still experience the mixture of relief and satisfaction of “finishing” a mini-assignment without mentally straining myself. I feel less overwhelmed this way!

3.Change the Scenery

When I find myself starting to feel frustrated, lose concentration, or procrastinate, sometimes the best cure is to change my location, even if it’s just from one end of the library to another. I am very influenced by my external environment, so finding the right ambiance can really help me improve my studying habits (I particularly love the Josten Library mezzanine and the arts lounge in Hillyer).

I always love to hear other people’s study tips, so if you have any, send them my way!