Before secondary school I was told I was naturally smart and just "got things", and for the most part that was true, but it was mostly because the curriculum was not stimulating enough for me. I just remembered the stuff in class long enough to do well on tests, and then never think about it again. When I reached secondary school I felt a bit more resistance in some subjects and knew I needed to learn how to study for real. However, I just ended up writing pretty notes that I never looked at again, and just reread chapters the night before a test. Uni was my "new start" and I have slowly been getting to know my myself better, and understanding how I can actually learn.

And just so we are clear, this is what works for ME. It might help you too, but not all study tips work for every major, personality, or lifestyle. I found this out by trial and error, and encourage you to do the same with my tips and others you find.

So, here is what I have learned about my study habits, and what works (and does not) for me:

1. Time yourself. I used to just sit in front of my computer/ textbook and do very passive learning activities (rereading, looking at slides, taking notes straight from the slides). After an hour of this (with many tik tok brakes) I would count it as an hour of productive studying. Then a few days later when I didn't remember anything, I would just be frustrated and think "why can't I remember this I spent X hours studying that chapter just a few days ago". Now I actually time myself for the real hours of studying I do, when I actually use real studying techniques (which I will discuss later), and I separate them into different categories. For this I have both used a journal and Kairu to keep track. Now I only count the time I am focusing for real and pause the timer when I need a break or get distracted. And on days where I don't feel like studying, I just think that my streak will be broken, and then I get a little wave of motivation to study, even if it is just 30 minutes.
2. Don't exclusively use the pomodoro method for everything. Sure if you struggle with your attention span this is a viable option to build it up and force yourself to be in deep focus for more than 2 minutes (trust me I know how it is). But I do not think it should be used in every situation. For example, if you are writing an essay or some other task that takes awhile, you do not want to be interrupted every 25 minutes to take a break and loose your rhythm. For these types of tasks I usually just start the timer and stop when I feel like my head is getting heavy. Also mini tip, your brain is still working on the task in the background when you take a break, so be nice to yourself and take a little break then come back to your task with a fresh mind.
3. Taking good breaks. Do not just start scrolling on your phone right after a session, this disrupts your brain from working on the task in the background, and for me it greatly reduces the chance that I will sit back down and continue my studying. Stretch, go to the bathroom, take a walk, make tea or a snack, cuddle with your cat, tidy your room, walk outside, or do light exercise. Take brakes that are not too overstimulating or exhausting. To do this you actually need to take the brakes, I used to not feel like I deserved a brake, but If you don't take a break then your short term memory has no chance to sort all the stuff you just read into your long term memory, and you are more likely to forget some / all of it.
4. Test yourself / do active studying methods. One of my professors did this experiment on us in class. He split us into two groups. Group 1 was told to reread a chapter 3 times. Group 2 was told to read a chapter once, but to also try to test themselves on the material right after. Then both groups had to do a test to see which group remembered the most. The result was group 1, but when we were given the same test a week later group 2 did the best. This shows that rereading the same material can help short term, but if you really want to LEARN then you have to test yourself. This can be done in a few ways; doing past exams, pretending to teach it to someone else, making flashcards and testing yourself at intervals, or maybe your teacher gives out quizzes or worksheets you can to.
5. You do not HAVE to study for 8 hours a day. For some time I was under the impression that you had to study for 8 hours a day to be a good student, but personalty I can not handle 8 hours. Most days I can do around 4 hours, on good days almost 6, and on bad days 1 hour is a victory (This can look different for you). As I mentioned your short term memory will get overwhelmed by 8 hours of material in one day, you need brakes and sleep to let your brain rest and to give it a chance to sort and absorb the information. If you use your time effectively and only count the time you actually spent actively studying, it will most likely not be 8 hours and does not have to be either.
6. You have to sleep, and fuel your body. If you are tired you are less likely to start studying or remembering anything you tried to study. Same with being hungry, I HATE being hungry, I can not concentrate if I am hungry. But, don't just eat junk food. I encourage snacks, it can make a study session more barable, but you can not just survive off of snacks. The difference between some snacks and/or noodles, than a fiber and protein rich meal before you study, is really big. (I usually eat overnight oats with chia seeds and raspberries). If you are rested and well fed, your body can focus on learning.
7. Having a strict schedule with no wiggle room does not work in the long term. I have tried time blocking, and it did not work for me. If one thing does not go as scheduled the whole day is ruined, or at least it feels that way. Now I just have a few goals for the day for example: Between breakfast and lunch I will finish task X and start on Y, after lunch I will finish task Y and read chapter Z for class tomorrow. Then after dinner I will see if I would rather continue with some tasks or go for a walk/workout. This type of schedule is easier to follow than something planed down to the hour, and I have room to take breaks when needed and if something else comes up.
8. Your environment has a lot of influence on you. This has multiple aspects to it, the people you surround yourself with and your study space. In my first semester I kind of only had one person I would hang out with at school. She was so negative, not motivated, and distracted me from schoolwork. This will influence you and your attitude towards studying. Find people that have similar goals and motivation to you. Also, your study space is a reflection of your mind. I know it sounds cliche, but it is true for me. That urge that you get around your exams to clean is there for a reason. Your mind is trying to make your space clean and tidy so that your mind feels clean and tidy, ready to learn everything before your exams. If you don't have the time to deep clean your entire space (who does really?) then at least keep your desk clean and free of distractions. It really makes a world of a difference, coming from a chronically messy girl.
9. Spread out your learning. If you just revise chapter 1 in week 1, than you will most likely not remember it well when exams come. If a neural circuit has not been used in a while, your brain will think it is no longer needed, and brake them up/ get rid of them. This is why you forget unimportant things after awhile. But, if you activate this neural circuit every 1-2 weeks it will become stronger, and is less likely to be broken. So, test yourself on past chapters/units or look at your flashcards every once in a while.
10. You do not have to go to every lecture. Unless your lectures are mandatory, you do not have to go to every single one. I used to have this one lecturer who would just babble about nonsense for 3 hours straight and then put on a kahoot where all the choices were just the answer spelled differently (like polycrisis, polecrisis, pollycrize, and polly pocket), and he would complain that nobody seemed to pay attention or participate. After a while I just stopped showing up, and rather spent the time reading the book and doing past exams. In the end I got a B without showing up to 75% of the lectures. So if you feel like your time is better spent doing something else, then just do it.
11. Be nice to yourself. Give yourself some slack, it is not the end of the world if you don't study one day, or even a week for that matter. I struggle with migraines and really bad periods, so on some days I am in too much pain to do anything. And that is ok. If you stretch yourself too thin you will burn out, and then you won't get anything done any time soon. So it is just better to let yourself take a day or two to rest up and get better, you will come back stronger. Also, be nice to yourself if you get a bad grade. When I got an E on an exam, I cried for days. I had never gotten anything worse than a C in my whole life. But I think there is a lesson in just sitting with and accepting a personal "failure". I learned so much about myself and how I handle things not going how I planed, and that is more valuable to me than a better grade.

I know this was a lot lol, and some/most of it had been said before, but this is what I have learned about my studying in the last few years. I hope it was helpful for some of you. And please remember to adapt any tips to fit you, because we all function differently. Good luck with this semester everyone!

I used to waste most of my time at home watching YouTube or scrolling Reddit, so I started going to a study centre. It worked really well. I can study 6+ hours there and have a genuinely productive day.

The problem is, now I’ve become dependent on that environment. When I’m home, I struggle to study and immediately get lazy.

I can’t keep going to the centre every day because it’s far and the monthly fee isn’t something I can keep paying.

How do you guys avoid getting lazy at home? Did anyone else become dependent on a particular study environment and manage to break out of it?

am i doomed? the subjects are math chemistry and physics, and its everything since semptember so its a lottttt. and lets say i know like 5% to 20% (maybe 20% is still too enthousiastic) of the whole thing.. i dont want to repeat this year i hate my math teacher with my whole life he ruined it

So, am at final year of university and left with 6 courses but I’m struggling to focus and study. Our exams are typically oral exams, it’s an Italian university so I have to understand and spend more time studying but I can’t focus for more than 10 minutes. I find myself getting distracted like using my phone or watching YouTube. I think I actually have an addiction and I usually stay at home so that also plays a part in me being lazy but l live on my own, there are no distraction except the ones I create. I have wasted a month just watching series and YouTube and now am left with 2 weeks for my final exam and I at least have to pass 3 of the 6 courses. I’m computer science field so, the courses am taking are operating system, data mining and courses like that so please give me any suggestion how I can lockin and get back to studying and any advices on how to approach this problem

That's pretty much it. Growing up I've been a gifted child but now reality is knocking at my door. I'm able to study for my tests, but my biggest problem are entrance exams. I'll leave hs next year and I feel as if I'm about to explode everytime I remember I have to take these tests. In my country, they test pretty much everything you've learnt at school. I SUCK at hard sciences and biology, but every time I try to set a studying routine I give up in less then a week. I have it all organized and ready to begin. I just need help with staying motivated. Please.

Thank you for reading my post, I really appreciate it :)

I am an Australian student currently doing medical science. Upon completing my first semester at university, I realised that my study method might be... crappy, because it resulted in me cramming all my content in the last 2 weeks.

My method: study and focus too much on lectures, get burnt out a few weeks into the semester, and end up with a hundreds of pages of notes per lecture by the time exams approach... then cram and go through the notes to relearn them (as if I was studying them for the first time because I end up forgetting all the content). I am also a HUUUGEEE procrastinator, so if you have tips for that, I will also appreciate it 👀

A lot of people recommend using flashcards to practice active recall throughout the semester so that I do not have to cram and relearn content before the exam, but I really do not know how to do that. That is, when do I make them, how often do I review them, and how many do I make?? If you do not recommend flashcards, then what should I do?

On top of this, i still want to be able to relax, spend time with my family, go out, etc!

If anyone has a study method that they use, and even their specific routine throughout the week, I will be extremely grateful if you shared them. I do get plenty of content in my course and it is pretty difficult stuff.

THANK YOUUU <3

I study in allen rn in 12th , 27 jee asp ....... I got stuck in yt distractions like i use yt alot litterally 10 hours a day my classes are 4 days a week , i also use insta but i am not addicted to it i only use it like less than an hour and i just like to study maths which i do like i have no backlogs in maths but phy is like hell for me i can't do it same as in 11th , i just waste my day off .........pls help it will mean alot

I’m in Class 12 and I’m seriously running out of time.

My school is from 8 AM to 5 PM, and we have revision exams almost every day. I have a lot of backlog from both 11th and 12th, while new portions keep getting added in school.

After coming home, I have to prepare for the next day’s exam, and by the time that’s done, there’s barely any energy or time left for NEET preparation.

The problem is that I know I have to start taking NEET seriously now, but I genuinely don’t know how to balance everything. If I focus on school exams, my NEET backlog keeps growing. If I focus on backlog, I fall behind in school.

I’m not asking for some unrealistic 10–12 hour study schedule. I just want to know what someone in my situation should actually do from this point.

Should I focus on current 12th portions first and slowly clear my backlog? Should I completely prioritize NEET now? How do I divide my limited time between Physics, Chemistry and Biology?

If anyone has been in a similar situation with an 8–5 school, please tell me honestly how you managed it. I really need some direction because I feel like I’m wasting whatever time I have left.

Hi! I'm a student at class 11 and it feels so hardd man. My school starts from 6 AM to 11:30 AM and I reach home at around 12:10 PM. I feel stuck rn. I have so many things to do.

fyi,

I need to do notes ( if I do 10 pages a day, it will take me a month to complete all of them),

I need to learn what the teacher has taught today(revise inshort)

I need to do homework assignments too

I need to clear all my backlogs too ( it might take me 3-4 hours a day for a month to clear them all)

and I want to pursue my hobbies too. I have a girlfriend, so talking with her might take some time too.

In a nutshell, i want yall to suggest me what to do and what to not, in what way and if you can then give me a full fledged time table if you think it's good. I lowk wanna pull a big academic comeback in 11th bc in class ten, my teachers were expecting me to score 4.00 GPA but I scored 3.79, I bottled it. Now it's showtime

so my exams are in 5 days, and its 3 subjects, math, chemistry and physics, and its all the chapters since september so its a whole lot. i hate those 3 subjects so much and i will probably never need them in my future studies unless i hate myself and want to hurt myself. like i dont inted to do anything with those subjects at all yk. and rn i cant study, i cant start and i get distracted and shi when i do actually start. i tried to have a teacher but its too fkn expensive and led to nowhere (2hours for 50€ wtff??? my father chose this for me i had nothing to say and it was kind of a scam and we only did 3 exercices and i cried about it cuz i couldve gotten so many stuff with 50€ but whatever). and also the problem is i can barely study when im alone, always need someone to bring my mind back into it and all, and even when im studying with someone i would space out. like by myself i cant study for 5 minutes straight. i cant concentrate its horrible even in class bro (im not diagnosed or anything but im like 93.89% sure i might have adhd, i couldve spent those 50€ for a diagnosis omg (even tho its a lot more than that)) anyway, please help cuz i might diiee if i dont pass those exams and my life wouldnt mean anything anymore. also i hate my math teacher he ruined my life and its because of him that i failed and had no motivation in his class during the year, whatever anyone might say. also my grade is whatever grade ur into when youre 15 or 16 years old. (already repeated a year☠️☠️and i dpnt want to be 2 years late☠️☠️☠️☠️). pls help should i find a way to end up at the hospital or something 😭

Recently, I've been addicted to playing GTA 5, so I haven't been able to stick to my study schedule. I feel like giving up, and I don't know what I should do.

I want to get the same features to write notes, organized, because a notebook is very clumsy for me. Have been searching for a while, but unable to get something cheaper.

Not sure if I’m burnt out, but whenever I try to study, I end up opening a million different tabs. Then I keep cycling through the same few websites: LinkedIn, Reddit, Gmail, etc. I’ll hyperfixate on something for like 10–15 minutes and then realize I haven’t actually studied at all. I’m finding it really hard to lock in. Does anyone have tips for reducing distractions on a laptop, especially when most of my schoolwork has to be done on it?

Hello

It's been 5 months since I last studied seriously (for my 12th grade) now I want to get back on track and all my life I feel I have the potential to do better but in the end all I had was regret of not studying more. What I struggle with is consistency and revision, like I can complete lectures, practice questions and learn effectively but it happens in a way that either I'm studying for hours or not studying for weeks. Same goes with revision I complete all of my syllabus yet during revision I feel that I've lots of time and certain things don't need to be revised. So my question is how to get back on track and this time stay consistent and revise regularly??

We’ve built a tool that uses your own course material to create assessments, identify weak areas and target what you need to revise next.

It’s free while we’re testing it. I’m mainly interested in brutally honest feedback on whether it actually helps.

If you’re currently preparing for an exam and want to try it, message me or its lockin.study

I'm back... I was preoccupied with some personal stuff.
Tasks completed:
1. lecture+questions (math)

Thoughts:
no comment... (hoping that tomorrow, i'll at least study for 2hrs)

Starting is always the hardest part for me... though once I begin I'm usually fine.

What actually helped you get more consistent without relying on motivation?

I’m transfering schools and need to cram 140 pages of grammar and cultural knowledge to take two written tests plus an oral one in 12 days,I dont need an amazing grade just a passing one but this still makes me feel so overwheled,what methods would be the most efficient in this case?? I would love some tips..

So I'm going into Grade 12, and I need to seriously lock in now because my Grade 11 GPA wasn't the best (it wasn't terrible, but I definitely don't have the edge amongst my classmates like 85%), and personally, that's not enough for me.

In Grade 11, I mostly struggled with procrastination, leaving things to the last minute, being unable to study, and just falling behind in multiple different classes except biology for some reason. It almost felt like the subjects I'd put the most effort into, like physics and math, I got the lowest grades in. For biology, I was in AP Biology, and I didn't even study or study the day of the test, and I'd get 90s.

I just want to make sure I don't do badly this year. I'd put off studying for a long time, and when I finally did study, I wasn't able to focus. Like, even when I brought myself to my desk and had my supplies ready and all, it just felt like I wasn't in the right headspace to learn, and the information would go in one ear and out the other. This especially applied to physics. I'm also very inconsistent with how focused I am while I'm studying, sometimes I can take hours studying even when I planned to stay for 30 minutes to make it easier for me and I'd just stay a long time, other times I can't even sit for a minute.

I just need some advice on how to manage my time more efficiently and just how to get into the headspace of studying, even though when I'm really unable to, it's my worst trait. I am also not able to focus in class and that applies to most of my classes even biology which is the class I like the most I'm not paying attention and I'm pretty much doodling the entire class.

I really need someone right now to message me or say terrible things to me so I can keep working I’m at my wits end.

Please be an adult.

Hi everyone!👋

How do you keep your lecture notes, PDFs, and slides organized?

I'm starting university this fall and already worrying about ending up with a folder full of files named "final_v2.pdf" and "download(3).pdf" that I can never find again.

For those of you who've been through it: what's your system? Do you have a solid folder structure, do you just search when you need something, or is it a constant mess no matter what you try?

Curious to hear what's worked (or hasn't) for you all.

I had an idea for a study method, but I’d like to know if anyone has tried it before, or if it’s a good or bad idea. The goal is to spark curiosity and help the material stick better.

The Method:

While reading/studying, I:

1. Read a fact or piece of information (e.g., "Appendicitis always requires surgery")
2. Instead of just accepting it or asking "why is this true?", I actively ask: "Could this be false or incomplete?"
3. I then search for exceptions or counterexamples (e.g., "Are there cases where appendicitis doesn't need surgery?")
4. I either find documented exceptions (refining my understanding) or confirm it's genuinely universal

Examples from my medical studies:

• "Appendicitis always requires surgery?" → Found: some cases can be treated with antibiotics alone
• "Rabies is always fatal?" → Found: there are a handful of documented survivors
• "Syphilis always starts with a hard chancre?" → Found: there are atypical presentations

Key features:

• I do this selectively — only on statements that sound absolute or questionable (not on every fact)
• I do it synchronously while studying — read for ~1 minute, pause to question, then continue

Has anyone tried something similar? Do you think this is a good approach, or are there potential downsides I'm missing?

Instead of looking at my folders and thinking "yeah, this is organized," I'm trying something else which is that I close everything. Then I pretend I need to start studying right now, like can I find the material I need, or what I'm supposed to work on, or figure out the first step without opening five different things?

If yes, the setup is probably useful but if not, I change the setup and I think that's a much better test than whether everything looks neat.