We all know that studying can be difficult. It’s hard to get down to work that you don’t want to do. Not to mention that extended period of studying can be very tedious. We either lose concentration or burn out before we really do anything.
Studying is incredibly stressful right now, as we are approaching the final exams and essays of the term (shout out to everryone who has two 3,000-word essays to complete in 3 weeks time like i do 
). But after years of studying, I think I’ve found some useful life hacks to help myself to survive! Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I didn’t share my tips with fellow students, here they are for you too:
Make lists, stay focused.
When I try to do a lot of things, I often jump from one to another. Therefore, in order to stay focused, I organise myself and make a general order of what I need to do. Sometimes I do the most difficult tasks first to get them out of the way. In other cases, I will be doing tasks that will take less time to finish (this way getting rid of many small tasks to focus on big ones next). It just depends on what I have to do and what mood I’m in. Like honestly, I have trouble concentrating on boring things. So if I don’t like the current task or if I want to do something else, I will be distracted and put things off until the last minute. So making a schedule helps me not to lose my way.
There is no studying where I sleep!
The biggest thing I do is try to study outside of my room/living space. Studies have shown that you should not study where you sleep, because the stress and energy from work will persist while you try to relax and fall asleep. So I try to study in the kitchen or go to Costa, Starbucks or Barnes & Noble, depending on the work I need to do. I eliminate distraction from the comfort of my home. I also try not to get into the phone. When I study outside of home, I am less distracted because it seems to me that I am wasting my time if I spend time in one of these places.
What do I really need to do?
So this next hack may seem obvious, but I try to prioritise the work I need to do. Sometimes I find myself doing things I don’t need to do because I feel more fulfilled. In my head, these minor tasks seem important, but I won’t do things that are urgent. It can be anything from organising my textbook to organising future travels (i do travel quite a lot to be honest, but wouldn’t say that booking these should be a priority). So, for example, I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I finished a lot of small tasks that day but still didn’t pass the test or didn’t manage to finish my esay the next day.
Reward yourself!
The next life hack is my favorite because it uses psychology. I reward myself depending on how much work I’ve done. I tell myself that when I finish my assignments for one class, I can watch two YouTube videos or get 20 minutes to scroll through an Instagram page. I will set a timer or a screen time limit. I love coffee, so I tell myself that I can’t get coffee unless I do something to earn it. This helps me stay purposeful and focused on my goal and does not allow me to be distracted while studying.
As always, share you life hacks in the comments below! Let’s try to help each other out, as you never know - maybe your tips will help someone else too 
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