The Art of the Study Habit

When people ask me what my "spirit animal" is, I honestly don’t know what to tell them. It’s a question that’s arrested me more times than I’d like to admit, but I feel like there isn’t one animal that completely captures who I am. Perhaps a freakish hybrid of some sort would be best.

But I can definitely tell you that when it comes to studying, my spirit animal is 100% a cat. I prefer warm, cozy places, always need to be well-fed or else all hell breaks loose, and more often than not end up sprawled across my keyboard for a nice, neck-cramping nap.

It’s not easy to develop healthy study habits—in fact, I’m yet to meet someone who’s got one down perfectly. Maybe mastering study habits is more like an art form, where every idea of perfect is different and it ultimately reflects your own tastes and preferences.

I come from a school that, in its culture, glorifies the all-nighter, surviving off caffeine, skipping meals to study in the library. And while we’re all painfully aware of it, it’s a difficult mentality to work your way out of—because if someone is doing more work than you, you suddenly feel as if you should be doing more too. It’s peer pressure in the most unconventional of ways. 

At Hertford, not only is the workload different, but so is the method of teaching. “Classes” are instead one-on-one meetings (at most, maybe four other people join you) for an hour-long discussion with a tutor about the topic of your choice. These tutorials are either every week or every 2 weeks, and require an essay of some sort at each of them—but other than that, you’re left to your own devices. Independence, initiative, proactivity, self-awareness: all things I am sorely lacking, but are essential in order to avoid spiraling down the drain.

Simpkins (or me, honestly) the College's cat in Hertford Library

Under these circumstances you would think that there also exists some overhanging stress culture; an essay every week? 500+ page readings? Sophisticated British people?? But here we are, exactly halfway through the first term (yikes!!), and I've thus far made it out alive, if a little under the weather. And while I have not indeed perfected the study habit, I thought I'd share a few of my ~techniques~, whether you're looking for a change of pace, have nothing better to do, or are just plain curious:

- Time yourself. I know for me, sitting down and preparing to study for an interminable amount of time can actually make me more agitated and less likely to focus. Especially when it comes to reading or writing papers, setting a definite time in which you’re going to do work may actually help you get stuff done. I started in 30-minute intervals, then 45, then 1 hour. Or, if that doesn’t help…

- Set checkpoints. I don’t know how long I’ve been doing this, but I always read in increments of 25 pages. It seems less straining than 50 pages, more satisfying than 10, and for books that can go on for hundreds of pages (looking at you, Dickens), I’d like to think it’s a pretty steady pace. Basically, if you pick up the book four times in a day, you already knock out 100 pages. Amazing! 

- TAKE BREAKS. You've heard this one before, guaranteed. But seriously. And not just breaks that involve you sitting on your phone, scrolling through Instagram (that Explore tab, though), but stuff that involves interacting with the real world, too. Go for a walk. Get a coffee. CALL YOUR PARENTS. The beauty of giving yourself free time is that you can do whatever you want. The more it refreshes and recharges you, the readier you’ll be to sit back at your desk.

- Find a new study space. Your environment determines how much you’ll get stuff done, and for everyone it’s different. As I’ve already mentioned, I am a big fan of the warm and cozy. If I’m the opposite, I find it hard to concentrate and even feel myself getting a little down. Oxford has over 100 study spaces (and 101 of them are libraries!), so I have a feeling I'll find a new one that fits my tastes every couple of weeks or so. Whether it’s a library, a coffee shop, or your own room, you’re working so hard; why not do it in a place where you’re comfortable? 

- Sleep. I love sleep. I could go on about how much I love it (maybe my true spirit animal really is a cat). It energizes you. It makes you live longer. It's a time machine to food (think about it). Something I had to accept very recently is that there is no shame in going to bed when it's late, you're beat, but you've still got work on the table. I've found that if I go to bed at a reasonable hour, I wake up ready and determined to finish the work that I've "put off" the night before.

I’ve realized it’s also okay if you don’t always stick to your routine. I, for example, took a nice lil nap today in my effort to get rid of a sudden fever. Didn’t work, but nonetheless there’s nothing wrong with changing it up a little, especially if it’s for your own mental and physical health. No point in working if you're half-conscious and ready to throw your laptop out the window, as the old saying goes.

Most importantly—sappy content warning—it’s important to remember that there’s always a whole world outside your bubble. There are times, when work is overwhelming and not a single second can be spared, that I can’t even imagine myself out of this situation. All I can see in my near future is work, I feel destined for failure, I’m tempted to stay up one more hour: side effects that lead to the afore-mentioned spiral. Sometimes I have to forcibly remind myself of the above suggestions, especially taking a step back. Sometimes I do end up talking about it with a friend; not all conversation about work has to be self-deprecating or disheartening. Sometimes I try thinking about what it’ll be like when I’ve done it, when I’ve made it all the way to the end of what’s daunting me. As simple as it sounds, it can be pretty uplifting to look back and think, “Wow, I did that.”

And now, I should probably be getting back Bleak House—or at least 25 pages of it.