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3 Steps to Break Your Bad Study Habits and Stop Procrastination, Cramming, and Distractions

Student Life

June 27, 2024

For most of us, the school year is over, but in less than a few months, the onslaught of homework, quizzes, tests, and projects will inevitably begin again. Each coming year will present a journey more difficult than the last. Thus, in order to succeed, students need to practice effective study skills and just as importantly, break their bad study habits.

We have all been plagued at some point in our studying careers by the diseases known as procrastination, cramming, and distractions. In this article, we will dissect those poor habits and discuss how you can go about avoiding them.

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The Art of Procrastination

Procrastination has become so common that many of us wear it as a gauntlet, an emblem acknowledging our bad habit. To start off, what is procrastination exactly? When a parent tells you to take out the trash, most of us will undoubtedly say something along the lines of, “Yeah I will do it soon.” Then hours go by and somehow, this simple task you've been assigned has been pushed to the deepest part of your psyche.

And all the while, you carry on with your day blissfully; maybe you even sit down to get some reading down. Right then and there, you hear the door open and the one who assigned you the job is back. In an infinitesimal time, the memory that was lost gets transported to your frontal lobe and that is when the alarms start blaring. Now this was probably an unnecessarily long anecdote to illustrate procrastination (that may have been the point), but procrastination is defined as follows: “The act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline."

So how can you stop yourself from doing this? For starters, if it is a small assignment, do NOT waste a second in getting it done. Homework would be a good example.

Compared to the “big” assessments like tests and projects, homework can often seem insignificant. One thing will lead to another and eventually, you will have pushed your “I'll do it later” to past the deadline. If you have time in class, try to knock out the homework as soon as you get it. If you have time during your daily commutes, try to complete some of your homework.

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Cramming

One notable thing procrastination leads to is cramming. In the context of school, cramming is when you do everything last minute, usually the night before an exam or presentation. Here is the number one tip to defeating this exhilarating, but also terrible, habit.

Division of Labor

It can be daunting when you are studying for a big exam that covers topics A, B, C, D, E, and F (the whole course for that matter). As soon as you learn of the testing date, start making your game plan instantly. Say you have 4 days to prepare for this assessment. One schedule you can follow is this:

Day 1: Cover half of the topics and pick the ones you are most unfamiliar with.

Day 2: Cover the other half

Day 3: Bring it all together. Skim your notes and try your best to draw connections to really cement the knowledge in your mind.

Day 4: Take a mock test; see what you got wrong and understand the solution.

For projects or essays, this strategy also works. A possible roadmap one could use is to

  1. Outline your project/essay into all its components so you know exactly what you need to get done
  2. Brainstorm what topic you wish to research/collect themes and points you want to discuss
  3. Adhere to your outline and finish the milestones according to your timeline.
  4. (Optional) I always find it helpful to leave a day for revision. One day you might write something that you think is fine, but the next day, with a new set of eyes, you shock yourself by what you have crafted.
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Getting Distracted

With so many platforms at your disposal to chat with friends, watch entertaining content, and play video games, there is no wonder why getting work done can feel downright impossible sometimes. That is why minimizing distractions is so vital to your academic success.

One piece of general advice is to put all cellular devices as far away as possible (with the exception of the device you need to complete your work). This is good since it limits the temptation from an easy act such as scrolling through insta reels on your phone. Trust me, I have been in that position.

Another key thing is to silence your devices. When you hear a ding from your phone, it triggers a series of responses. The first could be a thought like “Oh, my friend must have responded to that funny video I sent. Let's go see their response.” From there, you feel compelled to dash towards your phone. The urge is so strong that you just do it. But as soon as you open up your phone, you see a ton of other notifications: a new video by your favorite YouTuber has just been uploaded and your favorite sports player signed with a new team. Ultimately, an endeavor that should have taken you 2 minutes max has led you into a perpetual cycle of online discovery. Although this may seem far-fetched, there is no denying the addictive nature of everything screen-related.

A personal piece of advice I would give is to not listen to music while studying. I know this goes against what many many people do, but my reason is just. When you are vibing to your favorite pop song or concerto piece, you are probably more focused on enjoying the music rather than concentrating on your work.

Just the noise is enough to partially divide your attention. Music is wonderful, and I think it is more enjoyable when you can lay back and listen. But in a studying setting, your goal is to optimize the content you retain and that requires you to put all your concentration into it.

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Good Luck!

I hope these tips will help you the next time you encounter another school challenge. It is tough, but remember that you are human so mistakes will always be made. Do not beat yourself up over a poor grade.

What is more important is that you analyze what you should have done differently and go from there. To put it simply, you should make mistakes in school rather than after it. Rest up this summer because you are going to need it this coming year. Use what I have discussed, and to employ the phrase that is now commonly said, lock in.

Jason Hao

Writer since Apr, 2024 · 4 published articles

Jason is an 11th grader from northern Virginia. He loves creative writing, math, and biology. In his free time, he enjoys playing badminton with his friends or watching a Netflix show.

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