College life comes with many responsibilities that can create stress, and while you may be someone who is generally laid back, the studying can get to you after a while.
You may start to stress out about how hard it is to remember what you are studying, how little time you have to study, and whether you are even studying the right way. If you feel like your studying causes you to be anxious and experience increased stress, then we have some advice that can help you with that.
Use the 30/5 Rule
One of the reasons you might not feel great about your studying is because you aren’t very productive when you study. You may be studying for too long without a break or taking too long to get back to studying when you do have a rest.
If you follow the work schedule that is proven to enhance productivity, you can be more productive in your studying too.
In workplaces where people work on their computers or at home, the 30/5 rule is used to schedule work and breaks. This means working for 30 minutes with no distractions and then taking a break for 5 minutes. When your break is over, you repeat the cycle until you are finished.
You can try this with your studying so that you focus better on what you are doing, spend less time with distractions, and ensure that you are getting adequate break time. You should feel less stressed and feel like you are being more productive and focused.
Study Early
One of the reasons you feel stressed about your studying is probably because you wait until the last day to start studying. This is incredibly stress inducing, and you will find that you study with less anxiety if you start studying as soon as you have notes to go over and you know there is a test coming up.
Instead of telling yourself that you will have time to study later, make the time to study as soon as possible. Then, you won’t accidently run out of time and end up cramming for the test.
One way to make study a regular habit and get it done early on is to study a little bit each day. Give yourself a set time every day for studying and you won’t have to feel the stress of a cram session.
According to the experts, when you stress, you perform worse, so stressful cramming sessions can be very counterproductive. The method we have given you will help you avoid that.
Cut Down on Chores
Your responsibilities might be keeping you from studying as much as you should. If that’s the case, then there may be a way to hand over some of those responsibilities to someone else or to hold off on them when you need to study.
House cleaning (or dorm cleaning) can take up a lot of your time, and if your parents or roommate are always getting on you about how messy your space is, then you are going to feel stress from that. You can have a Denver maid service cover that for you to give you more time to study.
What about other responsibilities that limit your studying time?
If cooking takes you a lot of time, try cooking large portions at once and then freezing the food until you are ready to use it. If you have children or siblings to take care of, you can hire a babysitter or ask a friend to watch them while you study.
You can also put them in front of a screen for limited periods of time to get in a short study session while they are occupied.
Keep a Clean Space
How tidy your study area is will affect how stressed you feel. You may not think that you are someone who is bothered by disorganization, but your subconscious mind will experience underlying stress if there is disorder around you. That’s part of why the library is such a good place to study. Not only is it quiet, but it is usually neat and tidy.
The messes around you can signal mental distress, and it benefits your mental state and reduces stress if you keep things neat. The clutter around you can cause clutter in your mind and keep you from being focused as you try to study. This is why the most productive people tend to have very neat and orderly workspaces. If they see a mess when they come into work, they start by cleaning that up so they can focus and find things easier. If you do the same thing with your study space, you will find that your studying is more effective and you stress less.
Get Enough Rest
We mentioned cram sessions earlier and how they can be stressful, and part of the reason for that is because when you cram, you tend to not get adequate rest.
However, rest is very important for studying effectively and staying relaxed. If you are not getting enough sleep at night or rest for your mind and body, then you are more likely to be stressed. You can be irritable, lethargic, and more vulnerable to stress factors.
What would normally not stress you when you are well rested can easily stress you when you are going on very little sleep.
A regular sleep schedule is the key to good rest, and you can ensure you sleep better by turning off screens about 30 minutes before bed, doing a relaxing activity before you try to sleep, and giving yourself enough time to get a full night’s sleep.
If you feel tired, unfocused, and easily stressed while studying, try taking a nap and see if you don’t feel better when you wake up.
These are a few ways you can reduce stress when studying and make college life just a bit easier on yourself. Try putting them into practice and feel the difference in your stress levels and how productive your studies are.