There’s nothing that can make you quite as bitter than studying for that term paper, or test, or presentation; unless, of course, you’re one of those heathens who thrive on academia. If you are, I salute you, and you need read no further. Go on. Trade the newspaper for that five million word page on “Atlas Shrugged.”
No, don’t. Please. I need you. We need each other. Let’s not end it like this.
Anyway, the rest of us find ourselves struggling to keep our weary eyelids from snapping shut, inhaling energy drinks and coffee or strapping electrodes to our heads for shock therapy treatments. But does it really have to be this way? Do our nights have to be perpetually consumed by long hours of mind-numbing monotony?
Perhaps not. With these helpful hints, you’ll find yourself enjoying your study time. Yes, enjoying it. Wrap your head around that notion for awhile.
But be warned! Not all of these are for you. A certain amount of self control is required to be irresponsible.
1. Don’t put it off. That should be pretty self-explanatory. It should be common sense, too, but let’s be honest with ourselves. There’s no way you’re going to approach MLA format without some trepidation. But you will save yourself countless hours of worry if you just do it when you’re supposed to.
2. Work at night. This seems strange, but there’s science behind it. A study at the University of Liège in Belgium showed that people who wake up early show a reduction in brain activity, particularly associated with attention span after 10.5 hours. Night people, on the other hand, appeared to function more efficiently on the same timeframe. There’s a catch to this, however. Early risers exhibited a less problematic recovery period after waking, so it’s not wise to pull an all-nighter before the day of that big test.
3. Chocolate. Need I say more? Put it in your face. Did you just solve a really difficult equation? Eat some chocolate. Other feasible alternatives include: butterscotch, ice cream, or escargot for the really adventurous. But chocolate is useful for another reason: it releases serotonin, which reinforces your sense of reward and can feasibly motivate you to do better. Of course, it might just make you eat a whole box of chocolates.
4. Make it a drinking game. I’m serious. If you love a pint as much as the next fellow, have a sip every time you read the word “Nazi” in “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Be responsible, though. It’ll do you no good to wake up and turn in your paper with a hangover, wondering how the phrase “For real” ended up on the page. If you’re not the drinking type, substitute alcohol with hot cocoa. Chocolate, it seems, can substitute just about anything. Again, the idea is to reward yourself for the effort you’ve put into your assignment.
5. Exercise while you study. The reason is scientific: lifting weights while you cram may seem distracting, but the increase of blood flow will reinforce your concentration. It directly affects the development of new cells in the hippocampus, the portion of your brain that stores long-term memory and the forming thereof.
6. Be creative. Just because you’ve got five random suggestions stuffed down your throat doesn’t mean that you can’t come up with your own plot to take over the world – or your final exam.
Do you have any tips for studying? We would love to hear them.
Good night, and good luck.
-by Ben Fassett
