Effective study habits

Are your current study habits effective? Or are you inviting interruptions and distractions? Have you thought about where and how you waste time?

Sometimes heading for the tea room or checking your email is valid networking or a well-earned break. And sometimes it's just procrastination - putting off doing the task that you're supposed to be doing.

People procrastinate for a range of reasons. For students, it often happens:

  • When you don't know exactly what the next step is or how to do it
  • When that step is difficult, laborious or time-consuming
  • When there will be no immediate outcome or product from the work
  • When you've forgotten why the task was important in the first place

To help stay on task and keep your project on track, consider the following tips, then:

Establish work routines

It's easier to settle into work on a given day if you work at roughly the same time, day after day. You need breaks and regular days off, of course, but you don't want to be deciding on a daily basis whether this is a day off or a work-day.

Establishing work routines may involve thinking about regular arrival and departure times, settling procedures and lunch arrangements. How many coffee breaks in one day are reasonable? How much time did you spend actually working today.

Create an association between working and your workspace

Try saying to yourself: 'When I sit at this desk, it's to work.' Try not to listen to music, jot emails or chat on the phone to friends, play computer games or otherwise enjoy leisure activities at what is supposed to be your workstation. What you want to avoid is giving yourself the option of doing things that are not work related at your desk or bench. The aim is to establish an association: I sit at this desk, and my brain starts working. If that doesn't happen and you're not getting anything done, walk into another room and take a short break.

Take advantage of the times of day when you work best

Most people are able to identify themselves as better able to concentrate in the morning, the afternoon or the evening. If you're a morning person and you're not settling to work before 11am, you will not be as productive as you might be.

Once you've identified when you can concentrate best, plan to work on tasks that require a high concentration level at those times. Other tasks can wait until you're not so alert and still be performed satisfactorily!

Break tasks into manageable 'chunks'

You're more likely to put a task off if it seems big or unmanageable. 'Write a literature review' on your timetable will make you dread Monday morning, as will 'resolve equation' or 'analyse data'.

If you have a couple of hours, it will be more reasonable and achievable if you plan to: 'read and take notes on 2 journal articles' or 'analyse responses to question 3'.

Plan rewards for getting the job done

Precisely because many of the tasks involved in postgraduate study do not have immediate or tangible results that you can enjoy, plan to do something that you will enjoy - after finishing the work.

All kinds of activities can function as rewards for getting a task done: talking on the phone, writing an email, eating lunch or getting a drink, visiting the common room or going for a walk. Just make sure you earn the reward!