Throughout social media, students have expressed their lack of knowledge on how to properly study.
Studying has become increasingly harder for students primarily due to the abundance of distractions and experiencing burnout. In today’s world, there are so many things that can divert attention. It also takes time to figure out what methods work for you personally. However, here are some methods that can help you reanalyze your study habits.
Here are just some of the reasons you might be struggling to reach your academic goals.
You don’t have a designated study space
Social media has allowed for so much content sharing that TikTok has given birth to #Studytok. This is a tag that creators share their study methods as well as what motivates them. One of the most popular methods is making sure your study space is personalized to you. Surrounding yourself with things that are going to help your focus.
Whether it be just your laptop and a notebook, a cup of tea, or music, make sure it is something that helps you. The environment you are in is crucial to how you focus. Licensed psychotherapist April Snow says, in an article published by VeryWellMind, that cluttered spaces can create feelings of overwhelm and anxiety.
Not Getting Enough Sleep
Cramming for hours or staying up all night to study has become common for college students. However, sleep is not only good for your physical well-being but also improves brain health.
Neuroscientist Merrill Mitler stated, in an article by News In Health, that,
“sleep services all aspects of your body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function.”
Merrill Mitler
It is imperative to your physical and mental well-being that you get enough sleep.
Too Many Stressors
One of the most common problems students face is having too many things on their plate. Studying at any level requires good time management. Websites and apps such as Google Calendar, Notion, and Trello are designed to help you manage your tasks or even just your schedule. Having a physical planner is also a great way to go. Not only can they help you organize assignments, but they can help you keep track of everything on your schedule like extracurriculars.
CEO of S4 Study Skills Michelle Sagalyn, tells the students she works with that having a planner is one of the best methods of managing your time and making sure you don’t overwork yourself.
Notion is another great app to help you organize, with it you can set up individual to-do lists for each class. You can also have a class notes section and organize them by each course. Oxford Royale highly recommends having a filing system either online or on paper, as it allows for stronger time management skills.
Low Motivation
This is a common problem students seem to face. The subreddit r/GetStudying has multiple posts from users asking how they can find motivation. Within this subreddit fellow students can help share their methods with each other. However, gaining motivation relies heavily on the individual. Discovering what works for you is the ultimate study hack. For example, calming music can help one stay focused, but others might prefer silence.
Not Knowing Where to Begin
Many students have expressed they don’t even know where to begin when it comes to studying. Limiting distractions is not easy to do, especially nowadays. Students, like the one in the Reddit post above, have noticed their study patterns have changed as they got older. Students are finding it harder to study now than it used to be for them in earlier school years. Even after trying everything, procrastination is still impossible to avoid.
Many other Reddit users shared their methods in the comments, for example, pushing yourself, white noise, venting about your frustrations to close friends, etc. Online forums like this are a great way to expose yourself to methods that are a bit more unconventional. Quora is another example of an online discussion forum where you can ask questions and receive feedback from everyone around the world. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
These are just some of the things that could be keeping you from reaching your academic goals. However, the presence of social media and other technologies has been argued to be the reason students are struggling. Students now have so many more things to distract them compared to previous generations. Powering off your cell phone and using site blockers are a great way to eliminate distractions.
Use Online Study Tools
Successful Study Skills 4 Students is an online tutoring website, designed to help students of all ages. Founder and CEO Michelle Sagalyn is dedicated to helping students overcome any challenges they face in the classroom. She works to teach them study skills as well as executive functioning strategies. Sagalyn understands how technology has negatively affected students’ study skills and works to help students work through those challenges.
“Adults and kids are so use to the instant gratification of receiving a text message that when they don’t get it, they seek it out,” she says. “It’s hard to focus when you are constantly getting pinged and dinged”.
Michelle Sagalyn
Sagalyn started her website 14 years ago when her first son was struggling in school. After a psych assessment revealed he had ADHD she worked with a college professor to get S4 Study Skills up and running. However, it is open for all students to use. She says that there are primarily two groups of kids, the ones who work too hard or the ones who work too little. The best methods to help both types of students she says are note-taking and planning.
“Taking notes makes students more engaged and focused on what they’re reading or hearing, she says, it also gives you a good basis to start a study guide for a test or quiz”.
Michelle Sagalyn
These are all just recommendations, of course, but applying these to your life could help you discover what works best.
In Conclusion
Overall there are multiple methods and things to work on in order to better your academic schedule and create better study skills. You must find what works for you and that might require some testing. Finding those methods and getting a little extra inspiration can be done via social media, TikTok is constantly creating new trends or sharing existing ones. Some viral trends have actually been shown to be providing students with motivation. Now as long as you can create a balance and not let social media keep you distracted, use it to your advantage. Trill Mag writer Danielle Sullivan writes more about these trends and how they are helpful.
