Find your study rhythm
Find your study rhythm
How do you find your study rhythm?
Finding a study rhythm tailored to your needs and personality does not usually happen overnight, and it may require both practice and patience to find it. To find your personalised study rhythm, you can reflect upon the following:
- 1
How do I work most effectively?
Do you work most effectively during a specific time span — for instance from 08:00 to 16:00 — or do you prefer splitting up your workday into small slices? Do you prefer working during the evening, during the day, or in the morning hours? Reflect upon how you prefer working, but also on how you work most effectively.
- 2
Where do I prefer working?
Reflect upon where you study most effectively. Is it, for instance, at a library or a café? Or do you work most productively from your home office? Are you more focused when studying with others or when studying by yourself?
- 3
Structure and planning
As a student, you have much freedom and flexibility. To some extent, you are responsible for planning your day and finding out how you will meet AAU's academic demands. This means that you have to reflect upon how you prefer structuring and planning the things you need to do — for instance, do you thrive in planning from day to day or do you find it more appealing to plan a week in advance?
- 4
Reflect upon how you get most out of your lectures
Reflect upon how you get most out of your lectures. Are you, for instance, most focused during lectures when you take notes or are you more productive when you read everything prior to the lecture?
Responsibility over freedom — how to structure your time
If you find it challenging to structure your time, try opening up the calendar on your phone and finding a date and time span for all the study related things you have to pay attention to. This way you can get an overview of all the things you need to do. Remember to go through your calendar — does your planning seem realistic? If not, try and revise your calendar by asking yourself the following:
1.
Is the task important and does it have an impending deadline? If the answer is yes, try and prioritise this task first.
2.
Is the task important, but does not have a deadline in the near future? If this is the case, try and postpone the task until later.
3.
Is the task not important, but just nice to do? Postpone this task until later.
Set goals for yourself
During your studies, you will probably find that many things will compete for your time. It can be specific areas of your study, preparing for exams, or social activities. Make a habit of setting goals for yourself to make your time management easier and enjoy less stress by achieving a better balance in your student life. Goals may vary from student to student, but an example could be wanting to gain a grade of 7 in theory of science or wanting to read literature ahead of all classes for an entire semester. We encourage you to choose goals that are:
There is no one-size-fits-all
The optimal study rhythm is different from person to person. But an optimal study rhythm and proper study habits are crucial for the rest of your course of study. So, do yourself a favour and try out different “rhythms”. Find out what works for you and moves you academically and adapt accordingly.
