Three study tips for your Easter break

aat comment

As an AAT student you can become overwhelmed by conflicts between your academic demands, your job and your social life. When you manage your time effectively, you get more done, the quality of your work improves and there’s more time for the fun stuff –  like eating yourself into a chocolate coma or watching that whole box set of The Walking Dead. Here are three tips to help you study more effectively:

1. Fuel your productivity

By maximising your productivity you will work to a higher standard and spend less time doing it.

As you study, your brain consumes glucose, which can make your tired and irritable. To combat this take a five minute break every hour, have a bottle of water constantly on your desk (your brain needs to be hydrated to work efficiently) and eat healthy snacks like nuts and fruit.

You also need to make sure you’re getting enough sleep. As tempting as staying up late and cramming is, it’s likely you’ll be less focused and take longer to complete the task. Try Sleep Genius – a NASA supported app that helps you find your natural sleep cycle and encourage a more restful sleep.

2. Be ruthless with your time management

Booking time into your calendar is one of the most effective ways of making sure you commit to a schedule. Allocate yourself a realistic block of time for each study project. Don’t be tempted to allow yourself more time than needed as you will work less productively and fritter away the whole time slot. We like Study Checker to help track study time.

Write yourself lists and set goals. If you are able to tick something off a list, this gives you a sense of achievement and will motivate you to take on the next piece of work. Try the Any.do app to help you set up your day.

3. Beware of distractions

Procrastination can be a killer when it comes to studying. The best way to stop yourself procrastinating is to eliminate as many distractions as possible. Switch off your phone. Avoid social media.Once you decide to ‘quickly’ check Facebook you’re going to end up losing half an hour of your study time.

While we recommend switching off your phone, the one exception is to use apps that can optimise your study and help you organise your time. Evernote is useful for collecting all your notes, PDFs and to-do lists in one spot. It syncs from your phone to your computer as well. We also like Flashcards, which allows you create your own customisable flash cards.

You also need to find the environment in which you work best. Work out what you find distracting and then get rid of it. Do you have background noise from a TV or email alerts popping up on your computer? Find a calm sanctuary that is quiet and peaceful to help you study better. Consider an ambient noise app to boost productivity such as Noisli.

Good luck!

AAT study support

AAT has a range of resources and runs an number of events to help you with your studies. Find out more at aat.org.uk/studysupport

Polly Mainds is a former writer for AAT Comment.

Related articles