5 Good Study Habits For Your Career
Good Study habits
How can I stop being distracted from my studying? How do I acquire the willpower to continue studying even when I find it tedious and unrewarding?
Success in dealing with these problems can be achieved by asking yourself a few very basic questions:
(1) What are my current study patterns? – are they likely to support studying or to disrupt it?
(2) When I study, do I clearly define what I want to achieve in that study session? And
(3) How can I motivate myself to study?
The following sections explain how to answer these questions and should enable you to construct your own efficient and effective study plan.
1.What are my current study patterns?
It is quite likely that your current study patterns have developed in a rather haphazard way. This includes where you study, when you study and how long you study for. You need to be fully aware of these patterns before you can change them effectively.
1.1 Am I aware of how much I study each week?
If you were asked how much you studied last week, would you be able to give an accurate reply? Could you even say with any real accuracy how long you studied for yesterday? This is important because it is difficult to change a behaviour if you have very little awareness or recollection of it.
You can increase self-awareness of your behaviour by keeping a detailed diary for a couple of weeks of exactly how long you study for, what times of day you study and where you study. You may find that each week you want to try and improve on the amount you studied in the previous week.
1.2 What kinds of environments do I study in?
Where you study is as important as how long you study for. Make a note of where you study because it maybe somewhere where there are distractions.
1.3 What events tend to precede or follow a study session?
You should also keep a note of what events precede a period of studying and what events end a period of studying. These can be important determinants of your ability to persist with a period of study. You may find some events that consistently precede studying (and so maybe events that facilitate studying) and some that consistently follow studying (and may have an important influence on whether you found that study session enjoyable or not).
2. What do I want to achieve?
Whenever you sit down to study you should have a very clear idea of what it is you want to achieve in that session. This means making some clear decisions about the goals of the session
2.1 How do I decide what the goals are for a study session?
If you are tackling an essay question, then make sure that you have a clear idea in your head of the sequence of things you need to do before you start. This might be:
(a) collect together suitable reading material,
(b) read and make notes,
(c) structure my essay, and
(d) write my essay.
Each of these is a separate task and so defines a separate goal. You should attempt each in turn and reward yourself when you have completed each (e.g. take a cup of tea/coffee/milk).
2.2 You must set yourself attainable goals.
Don’t sit down to start studying saying to yourself “I’m going to sit here until I’ve finished this piece of work – whatever it takes!” The chances are that you’ll probably give up well before you’ve finished what you intended – especially if it’s a difficult and lengthy piece of work.
An ‘attainable’ goal is one that you are 100% certain you can achieve. This may be something like reading for just 15 minutes! That may sound trivial, but doing this successfully makes it much easier to continue studying later.
3. What things do I need to do to achieve my study goals?
Once you’ve set some attainable goals for your study sessions, there are several things you can do to help achieve those goals.
Everyone knows from experience that when you sit down to study it’s that first sentence that is the most difficult to write and the first page that is the most difficult to read. However, you can get started on a study session much easier if you ensure that there is something ‘easy’ for you to do when you start.
· For example, if you are carrying on from some work you did yesterday, always make sure you quit that previous session at a point where the next bit of work is relatively easy to do.
· There is always a temptation to end a study session when you have completed a significant piece of work. But before you quit that session completely, take some time to think about what your next study session will be and how you will start it. This will get you into the next study session more easily.
3.2 How do I stop myself getting bored or distracted?
Be organized. First, make sure you have in front of you only those notes, books, articles etc. that you will need for the study session.
Develop a routine. It helps to begin each study session in the same way and to proceed through a study session routinely. This can involve being routine about simple things such as how you get your book out of your bag, where you place your pens and papers on the table, using the same study environment as often as possible, and so on.
4. How do I minimise distractions whenI’m studying?
Common experiences during a period of studying are such things as lack of ability to concentrate, beginning to feel bored, distracting thoughts. There are several simple steps you can take to try and control these experiences.
4.1 Where should I study?
· Many people end up studying in whatever suitable space they can find – at their kitchen table, in their study-bedroom, in the Library, or on thesofa in their lounge.
· The best environment to study in is one in which you do nothing else other than study. A good example is a room set aside specifically and solely as a study.
· Having only one environment in which you exclusively study also has positive advantages. It will enable you to settle down to studying more quickly.
4.2 How can I minimise physical distractions?
In addition to working in an environment that is used exclusively for studying, you can take a few basic precautions to minimize physical distractions.
Studying next to a window with a stimulating view may be OK but you don’t want a view that is likely toinclude movement and distraction. Any movement across your field of view will automatically be distracting and take attention away from the studying task.
Keep your mobile phone silent during a study session. The vast majority of calls are not that important that you need to answer them immediately.
Learn to say “No” at least while you are studying. You can make sure you’ve dealt with any possible distracting issues before you start studying, and stick to a “closed-door” policy while you are studying.
4.3 How can I focus my attention on my work during a study session?
To help you focus on your work during a study session, make sure that you’ve got all the books, articles, notes, stationery materials, etc. you need before you start.
Have a motivational poster up on the wall or even a poster giving the dates of your examinations. Don’t forget, you are trying to create a truly academic atmosphere which stimulates academic thought.
If your mind is beginning to wander, go back and read what you have already written, or re-read a section of a book that you are familiar with and understand – this will retain your attention on academic matters.
5. How do I develop my study programme?
Study Organiser: View real-time preparation with Progress Meter
When students and parents should know the result?
X After the exam (then everything is over and irreversible)
OR
ü Before the exam (there is enough time to improve marks)
"How is your study going on?" - Ask any student and you’ll get the prompt reply "it is fine". There is no reason to doubt until the exam is finished and results are in hands but then it is too late.
Our research shows the following characteristics:
(a) Many students create a routine in their copies and resolve to study as per the time-table but most of them never follow it from the next day.
(b) For the first half of the year, students keep a casual approach towards their studies and at a later stage, they hastily try to achieve more in less time, sometimes reading lessons the first time on the previous night of the exam.
(c) Due to the absence of a proper study plan, students give more attention to a few subjects of their interest and set aside other books which they consider either difficult or boring.
(d) Tuition and coaching culture is doing more harm than help. It makes students dependent on others and devoid their minds from intellectual curiosity.
(e) Parents find it very difficult to keep a constant tab on their children’s studies. Nagging, coercing and pressurising to study hard generally give adverse effects.
The Study Organiser is aboon for such students who are not paying proper attention to studies. It creates a personalised subject wise schedule as per its difficulty level by calculating the appropriate study time required to finish and revise each subject.
Green:the student is doing well
Yellow:the student is lagging and
Red:thestudent has to work hardas it is difficult to pass the exam.
It also indicates the percentage of marks a student can obtain in the forthcoming exam with ± 5% accuracy just like a thermometer.
Study Organiser helps students to manage and self-monitor study as per its difficulty level and time available to get 100% consistent marks in all the papers of the exam.
Progress Meter is equally useful for parents, teachers and school administrators who wish to monitor and compare the performance of all the students with minimum interference.
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