How much studying is enough

Here is a list of factors primarily based on my opinion and analysis that might help you determine the amount of studying you can perform effectively:. Although many of these factors are common sense, the point is that you should experiment, create your own study routine, and change it depending on the circumstances. Try to note how are you feeling that day, try to build study habits, improve your health, etc. Lastly, you can just use a simple rule of thumb, study with proper breaks for as long as you feel effective.

Once your productivity starts dropping try switching the task or just try to take some rest or even call it a day. Of course, such advice might encourage some of you to procrastinate. So to avoid that, I would suggest setting a minimum amount of hours that you have to study every day such as 3 hours because everyone can study productively at least for 2 or 3 hours. You probably have heard that there are people like Elon Musk who almost on a routine basis work 80 or 90 hours per week.

Or people like Gary Vaynerchuk, according to whom , if start-up founders want to make it, they should put in at least 18 hours a day for the first year. Students who idolize Elon I do like him myself might conclude that you should just work and study as much as possible. However, such a line of reasoning is flawed and could be harmful.

Here is why:. Firstly, research disagrees with such reasoning. As already described above, the research is quite clear — working for more than 50 hours per week is not productive. Also, as mentioned previously, the research is clear that just studying as much as possible does not work.

What matters is not how much you study, but how you study. Quality over quantity. Secondly, running a company is very different from studying. Thus, saying that because Elon musk spends 14 hours per day working you should study for 14 hours per day — is a flawed line of reasoning. Think about it — running a business involves lots of talking, making calls, going from place to place, email, etc. All of these activities do not require as much mental capacity as learning some difficult study material.

I am not saying that being an entrepreneur is easy — I am just saying that your brain can handle a lot of diverse low mental effort activities such as calls, taking, email for a prolonged time, but studying intensively for a prolonged period of time is way more taxing for your mind and for most people impossible to do.

According to well respected researchers K. Anders Ericsson , Michael J. Prietula and Edward T. Cokely — most people cannot engage in mentally demeaning activities for very long periods of time. Here is what these researchers wrote in Harvard Business Review :. Thirdly, there is plenty of other high performing famous people who spend a lot less time working. Or about Terrence Tao , a Fields Medal winner and arguably the best mathematician currently in the world. In his article on the way he manages his time he described that sometimes he is happy if he can do just 2 hours of thinking in a day:.

To sum up, the reasoning that you should just study as much as you can because Elon Musk works crazy hours is incorrect and flawed for the aforementioned three main points.

Many students hope that they can compensate all the time they have spent slacking off with just a couple days of nonstop studying. But sadly real life does not work like that. Two days of working 14 hours per day is not the same as four days working 7 hours per day. As discussed in a prior article how many hours do top students study for nothing can beat the consistency and good study habits. Rather than concentrating on quantity focus on your productivity, study techniques make sure that every day you spend at least a couple of hours studying.

You will be a lot more healthy, happy, and essentially a better student. And remember that good studying takes time, but this time is spread over a long period of days. The insights, confrontations, and sobering realities Building a New Liberal Education. This issue of Liberal Education starts off looking at who and where our future students are and Claiming the Narrative: Sharing Our Stories.

This issue explores approaches to claiming the narrative about the value of liberal education, with Covering a wide array of topics—democratic engagement between universities and communities; This issue explores the role of faculty development in creating educational spaces that welcome Taking Stock of the Assessment Movement.

Liberal Education for an Inventive America. At its best, a contemporary liberal education helps form students as creative, innovative, What Happens to Quality in an Age of Disruption? Global Learning for All. Celebrating Years of Leadership for Liberal Education. Leading Change from the Classroom.

This issue focuses on the leadership role individual faculty members can play as agents of Quality, E-Quality, and Opportunity. Also included are articles on Exploring Purpose and Vocation in College.

This special issue presents an overview of the Lilly Endowment's Programs for the Theological Massive Open Online Courses.

The authors of this issue's featured articles take a hard look at the phenomenon of the MOOC, the The Annual Meeting. This issue features annual meeting presentations on the future of diversity, gender equity, and This issue presents the findings from a new national survey of employer priorities for college Student Learning: What, Where, How. In exploring the diversity of teaching formats and strategies that different faculty members at Liberal Education for Sustainability.

Shared Futures, Difficult Choices. This issue examines underemphasized dimensions of diversity, new research about the links between The Completion Agenda. This issue presents several perspectives on the ongoing national efforts to increase college Drawing from a national symposium convened by the Bringing Theory to Practice project, this special A fresh look at several broad trends affecting the status and future of the professoriate, Integrative Learning at Home and Abroad.

An in-depth look at integrative learning, including its relation to interdisciplinary studies, its This issue presents highlights of the annual meeting.

Also included are articles on the hidden Liberal Education and Military Leadership. The Humanities. This issue features the changing role of the humanities in today's academy. It includes articles A Symposium on Effective Practice.

This issue represents the theme of the annual meeting, "Ready or Not: Global Challenges, Special Issue: Liberal Education and the Disciplines. Drawing from a recent initiative of the Teagle Foundation, this issue presents a series of reports Liberal Education and Effective Practice.

Globalization and U. Higher Education. This issue explores the potential impact of the Bologna Process on higher education in the United Science Education, Liberal Education. This issue explores undergraduate science education, including a look at curricular and pedagogical The Future of Interdisciplinary Studies.

This issue considers the role of interdisciplinary studies within the academy, in general, and Faculty Leadership and Institutional Change. This issue offers recommendations for strengthening faculty governance, examines campus practices Liberal Education and the "Big Questions".

Bringing Theory to Practice. This issue provides an overview of the Bringing Theory to Practice project, an effort to advance Faculty Work. This issue foregrounds the need for a comprehensive and transformative approach to the Academic Freedom.

Leadership in the New Academy. The theme of this issue of Liberal Education, "leadership in the new academy," explores issues Educating for Personal and Social Responsibility. The Future of Diversity. With an eye to the future, this issue explores the present state of diversity on campus. It also Beyond Computer Literacy. This issue explores how computer technology broadens the range of experiences and resources Cultural Studies and General Education. The summer issue of Liberal Education explores the field of cultural studies and its impact on the Realigning Faculty Roles.

Seen in the larger context of globalization, economic trends, and the changing academy, the nature Cognition and Student Learning. Features articles on how college students learn how to advance their intellectual and ethical A sampling of talks from the Annual Meeting illuminating what's happening in higher education Liberal education initiatives are proliferating around the world, along with other globalizing Civic Engagement.

Presidential leaders have the opportunity to contribute the resources of their institutions to Changing Course: Preparing Faculty for the Future. A review of recent studies regarding new faculty and of graduate students aspiring to a faculty With the new millennium, the focus on public values that drive institutions and empower leaders has Vital Signs: Voices from the Field. Education creates an educated citizenry capable of the leadership essential to democracy. Religion on Campus.

A qualitative analysis of religion on campus challenges prevailing assumptions about undergraduate You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you are explaining the material, use examples and make connections between concepts just as a teacher does.

It is okay even encouraged to do this with your notes in your hands. Creating a quiz for yourself will help you to think like your professor. What does your professor want you to know? Quizzing yourself is a highly effective study technique. Make a study guide and carry it with you so you can review the questions and answers periodically throughout the day and across several days.

Say your answers aloud. This will help you to retain the information and make corrections where they are needed. For technical courses, do the sample problems and explain how you got from the question to the answer. Re-do the problems that give you trouble. Learning the material in this way actively engages your brain and will significantly improve your memory Craik, Controlling your schedule and your distractions will help you to accomplish your goals.

If you are in control of your calendar, you will be able to complete your assignments and stay on top of your coursework. The following are steps to getting control of your calendar:. This is the calm before the storm. Lighter work weeks are a great time to get ahead on work or to start long projects. Use the extra hours to get ahead on assignments or start big projects or papers. In fact, it is preferable to do some work for each of your classes every day. Spending 30 minutes per class each day will add up to three hours per week, but spreading this time out over six days is more effective than cramming it all in during one long three-hour session.

If you have completed all of the work for a particular class, then use the 30 minutes to get ahead or start a longer project. Remember that you can make an appointment with an academic coach to work on implementing any of the strategies suggested in this handout.

Carrier, L. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96 1 , Craik, F. Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 3 , Davis, S. Going beyond test-taking strategies: Building self-regulated students and teachers. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 1 1 , Edwards, A.

Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction, and evaluation. Junco, R. No A 4 U: The relationship between multitasking and academic performance. Mackenzie, A. Examination preparation, anxiety and examination performance in a group of adult students. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 13 5 , McGuire, S. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Newport, C. How to become a straight-a student: the unconventional strategies real college students use to score high while studying less. Three Rivers Press. Robinson, A.