9 tips to help you study even when you're really bored

1. Set up a place to practice

Pupils and students do not have much choice: they are forced to sit at their desks during lectures and lessons. At home, you can find a comfortable position. Understand which option is best for you and start enjoying the benefits of online learning. Perhaps a long lecture is easier to endure in bed, and writing an essay is better at a table. Or vice versa - it all depends on your preferences.

Wherever you study, it is better to leave only the things you need to study. If you prefer to work in bed, you can get a special table to make it convenient to take notes or type on a computer. Next to your favorite sofa, you can put a shelf with books. It is worth removing unnecessary items from the desktop to make it even easier to concentrate.

It is better to study in a separate room so that you are not distracted by household members and loud noises. If you can’t do this in silence, you can go to the library or coworking.

2. Determine the time when it is easiest for you to study

How show1. F. Dzogang, S. Lightman, N. Christianini. Diurnal variations of psychometric indicators in Twitter content / PLoS ONE
2. S. Folkard. Diurnal variation in logical reasoning / British Journal of Psychology
3. M. C. Wright, b. Phillips-Bute, J. b. Mark et al. Time of day effects on the incidence of anesthetic adverse events / BMJ Quality and Safety studies, most people are most active and energetic in the morning. For example, social media users are more likely to publish new posts in the pre-lunch hours, examinees are more successful in doing tests, and surgeons are better at performing operations. Apparently, this is due to circadian rhythms - the internal clock of our body.

However, there are those for whom mental activity is better given in the evenings. In addition to physiology, the environment also influences preferences. For example, someone Like work during the day, because no one is at home and nothing distracts. Others like to be quiet so they can concentrate more easily and therefore generally prefer to deal with cases at night.

So listen to yourself and experiment by doing at different times. So you will understand when studying is the easiest for you. Just do not sacrifice sleep for the sake of comfortable activities - it is still better to sleep at night.

3. Take breaks and get distracted sometimes

People loseA. Ariga A. Lleras. Brief and rare mental “breaks” keep you focused: Deactivation and reactivation of task goals preempt vigilance decrements / Cognitionconcentrationif they do the same thing for too long. Therefore, sometimes you need to be distracted from your studies: small breaks and a change in activity, oddly enough, do not lower, but increase attention. And even if you want to study a module in an evening or a whole course in a week, it’s better to slow down and periodically makeHow to sit at your desk correctly / NHS pauses. So learning will be not only more interesting, but also more effective.

Breaks can be taken in different ways. One of the most famous techniques is Pomodoro. According to her, you need to work for 25 minutes and rest for 5, and after the fourth working segment, pause for 15-30 minutes. Another strategy is based on biological (ultradian) rhythms. She offersW. Thibodeaux. Why Working in 90‑Minute Intervals Is Powerful for Your Body and Job, According to Science / Inc engage in one and a half hour sprints, after each of which you need to interrupt for half an hour. To track time, you can use special applications.

During pauses, it is worth doing a little warm-up: the flow of oxygen to the brain will improve and it will become easier to deal with complex tasks.

And study should not absorb all your free time. Studying too much, you risk not remembering anything, because the topics get mixed up in your head. So it’s not worth spending all the weekend studying - it’s important to have fun and move sometimes. For example, play sports. Exercise is not only good for health, but also show1. C. W. Cotman, N. C. Berchtold, L-A. Christie. Exercise builds brain health: key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation / Trends in Neurosciences
2. É. W. Griffin, S. Mullally, C. Foley et al. Aerobic exercise improves hippocampal function and increases BDNF in the serum of young adult males / Physiology & Behavior
3. F. Liu, S. Sulpizio, S. Kornpetpanee et al. It takes biking to learn: Physical activity improves learning a second language / PLoS ONE
4. M. Schmidt Kassow, M. Deusser, C. Thiel et al. Physical Exercise during Encoding Improves Vocabulary Learning in Young Female Adults: A Neuroendocrinological Study / PLoS ONE many studies have a beneficial effect on brain activity, which means they help in learning.

4. Consider your level of preparation

If the course is too easy, it will become boring, if it is too difficult, too.

No one will be interested in listening to detailed lectures on what is already well known. For example, an experienced SMM specialist will get bored in a beginner class where they talk about the difference between Facebook and TikTok.

Solution difficult tasks, which we have not encountered before, requires concentration and strength. Our brain seeks to saveM. Conrad, E. English, R. b. Jolivet. Energy use constraints brain information processing / 2017 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting energy and simply succumbs to unnecessarily complex questions. Therefore, a person who has just mastered the layout of web pages in HTML and CSS, but came to the course for advanced masters with knowledge of PHP and MySQL, will quickly get tired and drop out of school.

5. Use optimal teaching methods depending on the subject

You can learn in different ways: cramming new words with textbooks or watching a series with subtitles, trying to remember the phrases of the characters. An interesting and convenient format is a great way to enjoy learning.

Yes, some research showD. Willingham, E. Hughes, D. G. Dobolyi. The Scientific Status of Learning Styles Theories / Teaching of Psychologythat the effectiveness of teaching methods does not depend on whether people like them or not. For example, reading anyway helps to rememberD. b. Daniel, W. D. woody. They Hear, But Do Not Listen: Retention for Podcasted Material in a Classroom Context / Teaching of Psychology stuff is better than listening to podcasts. But the lower efficiency of your favorite formats can be compensated by greater interest. It is likely that, thanks to the love of foreign TV series, a person will study more often and more attentively.

6. Repeat wisely

If you do not do this, you can only complicate your life. After all, sooner or later, you still have to dig into the notes, review the lectures, or even even understand the subject again or look for information on your own. It's unbearably boring. So it's better sometimes to repeat already passed.

If you do it right, learning will become even easier and more interesting. So, in many textbooks and courses, control questions are provided at the end of each lesson. Do not be lazy to answer them - so you will immediately notice if something is not sorted out. And it doesn’t hurt to sometimes return to old topics and solve tasks based on the materials covered.

You can also combine business with pleasure and discuss the knowledge gained with other people. For example, with friends or family members. You will understand the subject better when you explain complex topics in simple terms.

Another good way to repeat is practice. It will help to better understand the theory, and at the same time make learning more diverse.

But mechanically rereading records or reviewing video lectures is only a last resort, because the effectiveness of these methods is quite lowJ. Dunlosky, K. A. Rawson, E. J. Marsh et al. Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology / Psychological Science in the Public Interestand it's easy to get tired of it.

7. Set achievable goals and deadlines

Without a clear goal, we quickly we loseD. Ariely, K. Wertenbroch. Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self‑Control by Precommitment / Psychological science motivation and forget why we went to a particular course. Therefore, you should immediately decide what and when you want to achieve.

However, there are several nuances here. Global goals like “I want to read English without an interpreter” do not help to understand what needs to be done right now. It leads to procrastination. So it's better to break large tasks into smaller specific steps. For example, “learn so many words”, “repeat the last lesson”, “read and translate the text”. Achieving mini-goals will create a feeling of constant progress and help track progress.

Deadlines also need to be set wisely. Too optimistic (and obviously unrealizable) deadlines are scary and give the impression that it is impossible to be on time - because of this, it is easy to lose interest. Try to soberly estimate how many hours or days a week you are ready to devote to training, create a trial schedule and work on it for 7-10 days. This way you will understand how much time you need and set achievable goals.

8. Turn learning into a game

So it will be much more interesting to study: the process will become more interactive and diverse. You can use educational apps or games. For instance, Duolingo and Lingualeo for learning languages, Ratatype for touch typing and Rocksmith for playing the guitar.

Game mechanics can really be added and done by yourself gamification learning. For example, by analogy with video games, create a system of achievements to mark completed tasks with their help. You can even come up with funny names: “Subscriber is unavailable” (never be distracted by the phone during the lecture), “Marathon runner” (do every day for a week), "Perfectionist" (complete all classes, read all additional literature, pass all tests for the highest score). For each achievement you complete, it’s worth rewarding yourself with small bonuses – for example, watching your favorite series or a new manicure.

Also, study can sometimes be turned into a test to get an adrenaline rush. In such cases, it is worth setting tasks with different conditions. For example, complete the test twice as fast as the allotted time or translate the text without looking into the dictionary.

9. Find like-minded people or rivals

How writeP. b. Carr, G. M. walton. Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation / Journal of Experimental Social Psychology researchers at Stanford University, collaborative work motivates people and brings them more pleasure from the process.

Studying with someone is more interesting and easier: this way you can discuss the material covered, share your impressions and opinions. If the second person understands the subject better, this can be additional help and motivation. And joint activities create competition for the right to be considered the best, which will also add interest to study.

Even when you study on your own, finding a company is not that difficult: most online courses and educational apps have chats or forums where students communicate. You can also ask a close friend or partner to start exercising with you.