How to study long hours without being burnt out or getting bored?

Question

I can't continuously study more than 2.5 hours. After that, I become exhausted. If I continue to study after that time limit, I read something but the materials seem to be not entering my head. I just read and can not pick any meaning from the texts.

If I still continue to study, I become burnt out and can not study again for the next 5-7 days.

My head can be freed off by sleeping. But the problem is, when exam is knocking at the door, I lose valuable hours if I sleep.

How to solve my problem?

Answer 1

Take breaks. Study for an hour and then a break, then another hour, etc. Never continue studying when you are no longer comprehending the material. Sleep. You will perform better on exams if you sleep well before the exam.

Answer 2

Sleep is necessary for long term memory. It defrags your brain so more information can go in. The more you learn, the drowsier you get, and that's telling you to take a break. Have been there and scored straight A's, I've never seen sleep as a waste of time.

The worst possible thing you can do is using methods other than sleep (e.g. caffeine, TV, games) to stay awake and study longer.

Think of your brain like your stomach. If you wanted to get fat, you can't just keep stuffing yourself. You'd have to wait a while and digest the information.

Answer 3

Try getting up and teaching the material to a willing-to-listen friend, someone else in the class, a study group, or even an empty classroom (real or imaginary).

Teaching the material can help you study more effectively in several ways:

• If you're able to teach to a group of people who are also learning the material, then while they benefit (hearing you go over the material, explain points, etc.), you also benefit from being "called out" if you're wrong on / misunderstanding something.
• Whether you're teaching real people or not, if you're trying to explain the material as a teacher would, you can quickly gauge how well you actually understand it. For example, can you explain topic X clearly to yourself or others clearly, confidently, and convincingly without hesitating, backtracking, struggling to provide examples, etc.? Or if you try to explain topic X, do you throw up your hands and say, "I didn't get this in the first place!?" This can help you figure out what you understand and just need to remember vs. what you need help on by way of listening to a lecture again, talking to the professor, getting help from another student, etc.
• Finally, teaching—i.e., by actually standing, speaking out loud, writing on a chalk/white board, gesturing wildly to emphasize points—can help keep you awake and energized while going over the material—the opposite of sitting or even lying while studying, which aids sleepiness rather than combatting it.

Plus all of this gives you more empathy for the professor!

Finally, I should note that if you're having trouble staying awake while studying, you're not getting enough sleep, period. If you're getting sufficient sleep, boring material will make you bored but not tired—and the best cure for that is to take short, planned breaks and reward yourself for a job well done (small rewards after successful study sessions and a big(ger) reward after a successful exam).

Answer 4

2.5 hours is a lot. I think that there are many people who can't even deal with that.

Break it down.

I have learned during a self-help program developed by an expert in learning that learning 30 minutes and then taking a 5-minutes break, learning 30 minutes, 5 minutes break, learning 30 minutes, 20 minutes break would be the pattern our brain would take best. During those breaks you have to stretch, drink some water, leave the room you're learning in.

Also, how are you learning? Have you tried alternative ways of learning? Mindmapping? Photoreading? If you prepare now for an exam it is not a good time to learn something as complex as Photoreading, but mind mapping is extremely useful because it helps you structure the information and uses both brain hemispheres, which help long-term retention. If you want to try it, here is a free tool for mind mapping.

If you can, do your best to involve best brain hemispheres by using drawings, colors, music, anything that involves an image, a sound, a metaphor that can be associated with the information you try to take in. It takes away the boredom and increases learning efficiency.

Answer 5

Have you considered other formats of reviewing material? For example, could you make an audio clip of the material so that you are using your auditory processing rather than visual processing to take in the material. How about short videos instead of text?

Similarly, have you tried pictures instead of words to see if your visual learning style supports graphics better than words for seeing the information?

Answer 6

The best way to study, in my opinion is to take breaks and to break the material until manageable chunks. Furthermore, try to study in advance or study in bits everyday to avoid cramming in the last minute. Set up a list of the topics that you need to study within one study session and then go at it. Use the pomodoro technique, it will really help you manage your time and your study sessions. The pomodoro technique will get to work extensively for 25 minutes and then ask you to take a 5 minute break. You continue doing this until you have completed your task or to-do list. If you follow this then studying seem too much like a chore and it will be much more manageable.

Answer 7

The best way to clear your head after a study session is by taking on a vigorous physical exercise (min. 25 minutes).

The best type is aerobic; but you can do literally anything that gets your whole body moving.

Someone here mentioned you should take breaks; I only partially agree with this. If we're talking about small sessions (25 + 5 mins) then I guess it makes sense to split your work into breaks.

But after a while, you won't be able to focus just by taking a break: you need something of more physical nature to restore your mental energy

Answer 8

Breaks are very important while studying. Take a five to ten minute every half hour or so, walk away from your work, go outside, do something to take your mind off of it for a moment. Also, psychological studies have shown that it's best not to do you homework (or what ever you are doing) in your bedroom, because you don't want to create a stressful environment. But definitely try to do your studying in different areas. I've found that working outdoors really helps in (in good weather, of course.)

Answer 9

What works for me is to switch the subjects and take frequent breaks. So something like this on any given day:

1. 1 hour math reading
2. 0-30 mins break
3. then 1 hour math problem solving
4. 30 mins - 1 hour break
5. 1 hour physics reading
6. etc.

It's much easier to study 5 hours a day by rotating subjects than it is to study the same material for 5 hours straight.