Christmas presents ample opportunity for students to get ahead of their assignments and studies. But the festive mood and family obligations keep us from being able to make the best of our free time. A traditional Christmas home has presents to get, food to make, trees to decorate, and all other things that a perfect Christmas family expects. In between all this, your opportunity to get ahead flies away like a reindeer.
To ease your motivational void, I’m going to discuss study tips and ibuyessay.com to help you stay motivated this Christmas.
1. Design and Follow a Timetable
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You need to follow a schedule every day. Many students don’t even understand the importance of a strategically designed timetable and the potential it holds to establish a study routine and set study goals.
A weekly timetable, that you revise every week depending on your assignments and subject requirements, is the most effective of all. A dynamic timetable works due to the variation it offers, but it also fails because of that; vary elements, but not the entire schedule to get the most out of it this Christmas.
- To make the best schedule, you first need to determine how many hours you presently study and do you need to increase the hours or enhance the effectiveness.
- Cut time out for entertainment like gaming, TV, and dates from studies, not the other way around.
- Set specific academic goals and do quick math to analyze how much time you need weekly to complete the curriculum. Allow yourself to give importance to the subjects that require more weightage.
2. Take Frequent Breaks
Research shows that taking frequent small breaks every 30-45 minutes of uninterrupted study enhances the experience and increases data retention, which you need the most this Christmas. You have way been out of practice and need some time to get back into the prime schedule. For that, take frequent breaks in between, and try to maximize the study time as much as possible.
But, studying for a long time at once is not a good idea in general. You should take frequent breaks even if it’s not Christmas. And, avoid social media while taking breaks. It’s detrimental.
3. Set Up a Designated Study Zone
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As a student, you may already have a designated study zone to get motivated this Christmas. While there are no rules to set up your space, following the below-mentioned elements will set you up for better focus.
- If you are a loner, choose a space isolated from distractions. Prefer company? Set it up in the bedroom. Any way that you feel motivated, is the way to go.
- Don’t make your space too comfy. Our brain doesn’t love information. Having too comfortable of a chair, too perfect of a table, may make you lose your focus too early.
- Adjust the height of your chair and table to be as comfortable as you can. A desk too low may strain your back.
- Be mindful when lighting up your study zone, effectively organize your resources, and move away from any electronics that are not required for the study.
4. Break Down the Task
You might have a lot of homework during Christmas and don’t know how to get started with the larger projects.
Start simple, detect your problem areas, and screen out the parts that seem to be the hardest. Start with those if possible. Having completed the complex ones first will leave you with less average complexity and should motivate you to go on during Christmas.
Depending on what your style of study is, break down the larger problems into smaller ones. If you have a full ten pages of math homework, cover up all but the first one and get through it before tackling the second.
You can also take the help of checklists to keep track of the progress you’ve already made to motivate yourself to go beyond.
Set deadlines for each smaller task. Deadlines are like driving forces. Not having one only relaxes you to procrastinate.
5. Don’t Leave Christmas Behind
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The stress of having homework can be overwhelming during Christmas, but that shouldn’t be the reason to spend your Christmas holidays in confinement by not spending enough time with family and friends.
Conversion is the key. Talk to your family and friends beforehand about your schedule and ask them to make plans around that. It’s not likely that you will be able to avoid your extended family during holidays, and you shouldn’t too. Just prepare your answers prior to them asking about your studies and politely tell them to not disturb you. They’ll understand.
Just a friendly reminder, don’t swim the festive flow too often. Certainly not during your scheduled time of the study.
6. Group Study during Christmas
Group studies are the worst and the best idea to study during Christmas. A festive mood can turn all education preparations into Christmas plans. Or if everyone is as serious as you are, can make the best study group. If all the participants can set aside their Christmas spirit and focus on studies, group studies during holidays can be as effective as ever.
7. Do not Multitask
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Around 60% of the students believe that watching TV or using social media doesn’t affect their ability to complete homework or assignments. Which is not the case. There have been several studies showing that multitasking while studying has negative effects like:
- Weaker information retention
- Increased stress and frustration
- Requires more time to complete each task
Multitasking during Christmas is especially a bad idea. If you can’t complete your homework within the deadline you’ve set aside for that particular task, you may not even be able to enjoy the movie night with your peers.
The Bottom Line
Christmas is special and only comes once a year. It’s already tough to spend your time more on education during the week and the day itself, so don’t bother trying to sneak in one or two hours during Christmas traditions for your homework. It won’t work. Follow your schedule and keep distractions away. If your family is trying to dissuade you from studying, make them understand your schedule and ask them to not bother.
