Why I no longer follow study tips

Hello fellow students/learners of any kind!

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Recently I got this idea for a blog post during one of my study sessions, which is about a topic that I'm not entirely sure it was ever talked about in this community. Study community in general, actually. Therefore, I decided to make this b hopes of shading some light to things related to study tips and people who give them that, to be completely honest, never worked in my favor. I will also explain why these tips don't work for me and what I do instead.

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DISCLAIMER!!!

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Before I start, I do wish to emphasize that I don't want to disregard anyone who shares study tips online. I do believe any study tip offered is always in a good intention, but I find it sometimes not aimed at proper audience. What do I mean by that? Please continue reading.

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WARNING! Long post ahead.

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Concept of study tips - intro

The concept itself looks really promising and hopeful, ready to solve all your studying problems. The people who offer study tips first make intros claiming it changed their life for the better and made their academic success far more better than their peers'. I'm not saying that this is not true for them specifically, but to me it more gives of bragging vibes; how great that person is rather than actually trying to help someone. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't sit well with me.

To continue, right of the bat, your expectations from this super amazing people and their advices are sky high. It reminds me of those TV product sellers, who praise the product they want to sell you like it's the next great revolutionary discovery. You could even say it's a way to start a great intro to the story and get you all pumped up, but in reality, it's only a pretty intro to get your attention. Let's be realistic, would you even be interested in a post that said "study tips" if it didn't have that kind of super amazing intro in the first place?

Study tips that just don't work for me

Often times than not, I found myself feeling guilty that following this or that's person's study tip doesn't really work for me. I wondered why can't I effectively implement their study tips into my study routine? If I could, it would have to leave me feeling at the top of my game afterwards, right?

Here are some of the study tips that left me feeling like a failure after trying them:

1. 'Make a daily study schedule aka TO-DO list!'

I first started making these back in high school and for a while they seemed really helpful. However, when I started getting more work than usual and my workload looked like it can't be completed in the amount of time it would require before, this tip became useless and started to put extra preassure on me and my studying routine.

You can argue that with a bigger workload you just need to organize yourself better (and to some extent that may be true), but for me personally it seemed pointless as I couldn't study faster in order to compensate additional workload and stay true to my TO-DO list. It frustrated me to the max and I thought that maybe I should schedule less on the list. However, with that I wouldn't finish everything that I had to finish in due time. That also meant that often times I had to study at night and honestly, when you are that tired, the list doesn't matter anymore.

The list makes it more official and also bothersome if you don't finish everything on the list. There are simply days where you have so much to do (not just studying), that abiding by the list makes it that much harder, even impossible at times. Now as a senior in college, the only list I make is of my exams dates, where I can see when my next exam is and prepare accordingly. Now, will I study subject A for 3 hours or 5 hours on a given day is not up to a TO-DO list, but rather my daily flow, mental and physical state.

2. 'Limit your time of studying for each task!'

It is similar to the TO-DO list, but more strict, as you set up a time frame where you absolutely must achieve these tasks. I often found this study tip pretty unrealistic for myself, as my mind is that of a wanderer.

To explain further, depending on my mood, health, workload and overall stress level, I may be studying for 5 minutes and find myself with so many wandering thoughts for the next 20 minutes or so. Also, some days I can study faster and concentrate better, but some days it is harder and more straining on my mind that I can spend the entire day in front of a book without learning a single letter. It is not just me being lazy - it is also how I feel, how much stress is affecting my daily life and what other things I have on my mind that also deserve my attention.

If I were to listen to this advice, I would be putting my expectations way to high and set myself for a disappointment. Nothing feels worse in studying than not managing to do exactly what you planned. Which is why I just gave up on planning all together. Some of you may say I am crazy, but I know that planning often times doesn't produce the best results for me. Call me a rebel, but I like to study my courses without a plan and more so on how I feel, how much I am able to focus at given time and what else is occupying my mind at the moment. Mental health is very important and if you are neglecting it, your academic success will feel it's side effects too. Don't get me wrong - I always have in mind exactly what I should prepare/study for ( that exams dates list?), but I don't have strict time frame of how much time I should spend doing so. No list limits my time of how much or how long I will study every day and that's how I managed to get into my seniror year of college.

3. 'Make aesthetic/pretty notes!'

I never really understood the point of pretty notes. To me, it was only just that, pretty notes to look at, but awfully time-consuming to make. I never really felt more motivated or inspired to study if my notes were neat or pretty. Notes are just notes - their purpse is to understand the study material better. For me presonally, studying isn't an artistic form as much as it is a mental process. I understand a lot of people may not feel the same, but for me I'd much rather spend my time actually studying than trying to caligraphy my notes for a certain amount of time.

4. 'Take study breaks, but not too long!'

Again, this is smiliar to limiting your time to study. If I'm not limiting my time to study, why would I do that for my study breaks? Sometimes, your brain actually benefits from a longer study break than it would from a shorter one, and the reason being oversaturation with the study material. If for instance, you studied for 2 hours and you want to take a 30 minute or even longer study break, you shouldn't feel bad for it! Taking the study break for as long as I need is often times better, at least for me. Since I don't abide by any study plan, I tend to take my breaks as often and as long I need them. In that sense, I'm allowing my mind to rest more than it would achieve in a, let's say, 5 minute study break. , limiting your study breaks can lead to you not being able to focus more during your actual study time. Learn how to listen to your mind and when it reqires a rest.

5. 'Put your phone away/in another room!'

This one irks me because personally, my phone isn't the biggest distraction when it comes to studying and this tip is often explained as being the biggest distraction in studying community; which I find to be awfully generealized. If I had to pinpoint exactly what distracts me the most, it would have to be my wandering mind and problems/stress I experience at any given moment in my life. And to be perfectly honest, I do have a several s on social media, but I have learned to limit time spent on them since real life is happening to me, not on my social media. So, I don't really struggle with limiting my exposure to my phone and I actually tend to incorporate it into my studying habits; whether I listen to lo-fi chill music or hold a study session on this amino.

6. 'Clean up your study space, you will feel more motivated to study!'

Perhaps I am okay with having a messy study speace so it doesn't interfere with my study focus or motivation to do so. For me cleaning the study space makes me more distracted as I take cleaning very seriously and try to make it as minimalistic as possible, so it is by definition 'less distracting'. However, after doing that when I would finally sit down to study, I wouldn't really be more motivated or in the zone to study because I would feel too tired and like I already acomplished a task. That's why, I leave cleaning for times I don't want to study because it is a chore that is somewhat relaxing and will leave me in state of wanting to relax more afterwards.

7. 'Study with a study buddy!'

WAY TOO DISTRACTING. Anyone breathing in my personal space or just close to me makes me not being able to focus, especially if you are with someone who is chatty just like you. It may be helpful for some people who want to be kept able for the work they have to do, but in real life you will have to rely on yourself to be able, not the other person. That being said, I prefer to do all my studying alone.

8. 'Study every day for a better study routine maintenance and better academic results!'

I can not stress enough how wrong this is. Just like it is recommended to give your body a rest during the week by not working out every day, same goes for your brain. YOUR BRAIN NEEDS A REST. Before I thought that, if I don't mantain my studying as an every day habit, my grades will drop low fast, but actually, that never happened. When I gave myself rest days in a week, I found out that my brain worked better than it did when I used to study every day, and my academic success stayed pretty much the same. Basically, I gave my mind the freedom to have a rest, chill day without studying and the next day it felt more refreshed and ready to study. I highly recommend this to anyone since it will give you time to do things you like, like going to a cafe, cinema, on a date and really anything that you could think of.

Do have in mind that studying every day doesn't necessarily ≠ quality studying and better academic results. Quality over quantity should be your goal.

9. 'Avoid distractions/Focus more!'

Does anyone like the scolding tone that comes with tips like these? I sure don't. No matter how polite the person is saying this to you, your mind will rebel against it at first. It is even worse when your mind tells that over and over again when you are distracted and find it hard to focus at times. What I usually like to do is use some of reverse pyschology. Instead of hearing those words, I like to hear: 'It's okay to feel distracted and less focused today. My mind is tired and is telling me so by me behaving like this.' Automatically, I don't feel like I need to rebel against it and I feel more at ease knowing that what I'm experiencing at the moment is normal and human. When I have that realisation, I can go back to my work more at peace then I would be if I had this constant scolding sentence in front of me.

10. 'Snack during your studying!'

Another distraction of mine that I learned not to do anymore after a long period of doing it because I love eating so much. I simply can't multitask by eating a delicious snack (whatever it may be) and also try to learn information in front of me. At one end there is a feeling of complete bliss by eating and on the other end there is a high mental process of focusing; and for me those two don't mix together. The way I do this is snacking during study breaks or just eating normal meals during the day. It may not seem like a big deal, but for someone who gets distracted by eating food, it may be better not to eat and study at the same time.

11. 'Study right after you come back from school!'

I kid you not, not matter how many times I tried doing this, I could never make it work for me. To put it into a perspective, I usually wake up early and come home late from my classes, that the last thing I want to do is sit and study. I'm sure many students experience this too. However, some of us are simply way too tired and hungry to even think of starting a such demanding mental process that is studying. I think that, like I said many times before, your body and mind need to rest. Same goes for those who have a job, when they come home they aren't in the mood to work some more. I find studying very similar to a job, that you should do, but also give yourself time for that after job chilling.

12. 'If you follow these tips, your grades will improve significantly!'

Honestly it sounds more like a promo than an encouragement to improve your studying habits. As you could see in this blog, I'm a person who likes to tailor their studying routine based on how I like it, not on how many studying tips tell you to. Furthermore, it sets a subliminal tone of 'If these tips don't work for you, you are doing something wrong.', which I really don't approve of. Just becaus certain study tips work for someone, doesn't mean it will work for you. Please don't feel discouraged if you find yourself in this because it is normal. It's okay. There are so many different studying styles out there, you just have to find the one that suits you the best.

Conclusions

These study tips are just some of the ones I find simply working against me, rather than with me. I may be a difficult person who doesn't like discipline and having the idea of a perfect put-together study routine, but in all honesty - I know I'm not the only one.

I actually spoke to some of my college friends and they feel exactly the same. They find it more difficult to follow an exact study plan for each course and have their life be limited by tips that they can't make good use of. Sometimes, a good advice isn't good for everyone, because everyone doesn't live their life the same.

Aditionally, we came to the same conclusion:

Study tips work only if they match your personality, lifestyle and your mood of the day.

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With this blog, I merely wanted to show other side of studying, the one that most people who struggle like this wouldn't it, for the sake of not being presented like a failure in front of other people.

You are not a failure if a certain study style or tips don't work for you!

You simply have to develop your own study style that corresponds with you the best. That being said, you can listen to a study tip, but don't necessarily take it as the only way to succeed in academic sense. And please, don't feel any less of a student if your studying techinque right now isn't producing the best results. What's important is not giving up, trying to get to know your mindset better and work towards your goal at your own pace.

Peace out!

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#StudyThis

P.S. Thanks for the feature! :purple_heart: