10 Study Habits of Good Students

It is proven that having good study habits is a guarantee that you will be a good student and get good grades.  On the other hand, lack of study habits brings students closer to poor results.  It doesn't matter if you are an ESO, secondary, high school, university student or you are preparing for an opposition.  Incorporating the right study habits will get you closer to achieving your goals.

It is possible that in many cases you received a grade that did not do justice to the time you devoted to study and this is something very frustrating.  Have you considered that the strategy you follow while studying is not correct?  Are your study habits improvable?  Planning and organizing your studies, taking breaks from time to time, avoiding distractions or staying motivated are some of the aspects that you must take into consideration while studying.

Be clear that if you are able to incorporate good study habits into your daily routine, you will be halfway to your goal.  That's why we're going to give you some advice and tips that will help you acquire some of the study habits that good students, successful students have.  Now you can be one of them.

What are study habits?

Let's start by clarifying what a habit is.  RAE states that a habit is "a particular way of proceeding or behaving acquired by repetition of the same or similar actions or an inherent tendency."  Colloquially, a habit is the regular and persistent practice of some activity until an effective routine is formed.

If we extrapolate this to study, we can confirm that study habits are the regular practice of specific study routines, which, when achieved, help us improve our learning abilities exponentially.  Therefore, having good study habits will be decisive in achieving the academic goals you have set for yourself, whatever they may be.

It is proven that having good study habits is much more decisive in achieving your goals than the retention capacity of each student, intelligence or the center where you are trained.  Always remember that the time we devote daily to improving our training, clearing doubts or expanding our knowledge, done effectively, will lead us to the future we have set for ourselves.

Study habits that will make you a better student

Do you want to know what study habits will make you a better student?  Perfect!  Here are 10 study habits that will help you study smarter and more effectively.

1. Set a goal

Before you start studying every day you must be clear about what you want to achieve with all this.  Being clear about your purpose and your motivation for taking this path will be the key to getting you to your goals, motivating you and helping you avoid procrastination.

2. Good planning is essential

Having a proper plan is essential if you want to achieve a goal.  It is your roadmap, the foundation that will keep you on a certain path and you will definitely not deviate from the path when adversity comes.

Study planning and organization is very important while studying.  In this article we explain how you can organize yourself better by creating your study calendar.  We assure you that there will be a time before and after you create your study calendar and organize the hours you are going to dedicate to study.

3. Study at the same time every day

To get a good study habit it is recommended that the study is always done at the same time.  This will make your brain integrate those moments as study time and be more inclined to understand the information during this time span.

Do you have very little time to study and you have to take advantage of every gap that you have to face every day with different obligations?  It's normal.  don't worry  As far as possible, try to study at the same time every day.  Surely these gaps that you take advantage of to study follow a pattern in the schedule that repeats itself day after day.

4. Avoid study binges

Studying for long periods of time without a break is counterproductive for your memorization.  The best way to study is little by little, short sessions well spent.  The brain is much better at absorbing the information you expose it to in a short amount of time.  It is proven that studying ten sessions of one hour is better than one session of ten hours.

5. Rest is a priority

Many times, either because we have very little time to study or because we start studying too late for exams, we substitute hours of sleep for hours of studying.  But you have to remember that whatever happens, you should sleep between 7 and 8 hours.

Your body and mind need rest, and if you deprive them of that rest, their performance will decrease.  So if you want to maintain good performance while studying, you should get enough sleep so that when you wake up the next day you are at 100% of your capacity.

Also, did you know that while you sleep, your brain continues to integrate information and even solve unresolved questions or problems?  Has it ever happened to you that you were unable to solve a problem and the next morning, when you woke up, suddenly, by magic, you found the key that allowed you to solve it?

6. Always study in the same place

It doesn't matter if you do it in the library, your room or your aunt's house, one in town.  The important thing is that you always study in the same place, as this will help you avoid unnecessary distractions.  When you get used to a place, the stimuli of that place are part of the routine, so you don't hear noises or get distracted by the environment.  Having a suitable place to study every day will improve your concentration and therefore, your performance.

7. Set small goals every day

Setting yourself a small goal every day will help you focus and study more.  If you know you have a goal to learn the periodic table today, don't get up until you achieve it.  Setting small goals will help you stay motivated, increase your concentration and prevent you from getting distracted.

8. Learn to teach.

One of the best habits you can acquire to improve as a student is to learn to teach.  This means that you must present an oral presentation of what you are studying in your routine.  To make it more effective you must approach it as if you were explaining it to another person.  It does not matter how much information you have studied today.  If you do this every day and include it in your routine, it will give you a clear vision of the knowledge you have on the subject, it will help you mentally structure, integrate and internalize the information you have studied.

9. Forget mobile devices.

No smartphone while studying.  Yes, what you hear.  Either way, even if you don't want to admit it, mobile devices are a constant source of distraction.  If you are one of those who can't live without your smartphone nearby, you should put it on airplane mode while you study.

10. Reward your efforts every day.

Just like you set small daily goals that you must accomplish, you need to reward yourself with something after achieving your daily goals.  No need for a big reward: a coffee, a few pages of that book or a walk with your dog can be the reward.  Doing something you love every day after achieving your goal will help you stay motivated and develop a good study habit.

How to create or acquire study habits

How can you incorporate a study habit into your daily life?  How long does it take to acquire a study habit?  We are going to answer all these questions and we are going to explain how you can create or acquire a study habit.

Let's start by explaining how study habits are acquired.  To create a habit, we must be clear that we need two things: persistence and determination.  The only way to form a habit, whatever it is, is to repeat it consistently, whatever it is, with determination.  Why is it so important?  Because it has been found that only by repeating a certain action every day our brain is able to assimilate it as a habit.

There are experts who claim that it takes 21 days to form a study habit, but it is scientifically proven that to acquire a habit, be it study or otherwise, you need to repeat the routine for 66 days.

For example, imagine you propose that you have dinner every day at 8:00 p.m., and right after dinner, approx.  8:30 p.m., you study till 11:00 p.m., go to bed for some reading and sleep.  This assumes a change in habits, since until now you had dinner at 9:00 PM and after dinner you watched TV until 12:00 PM.  It will take some effort at first to make this change of habit and incorporate this study habit into your life, but as you repeat this routine day after day, that effort will diminish and you will do it almost without thinking, instinctively.

In order to acquire a habit, in this case a study habit, it is important that you do not miss a day when conducting your routine, especially during the first phase of 66 days.  There may be times when this is difficult for you, but get some perspective.  What if the only thing that separates you from your dreams, from what you really want to do for the rest of your life, is a simple routine?  A routine!  Is it not worth the initial effort to achieve your goal, which you have always dreamed of?  So what are you waiting for to get started?