Studying is equally necessary and tiring for the students! But to secure a good mark and get into the positions that one desires, dedication and perseverance both are needed. So, no matter how much tiring it is to study or finish the homework, we all need to get up and sit on the table to finish our lessons.
So, here’s the question arises, how long one should study in one sitting?
You can study for 50-55 minutes and then take a short break of 5-10 minutes; then again repeat the session!
However, many legends can increase the elasticity by practicing focus and effective learning. But scientists normally claim that it is generally difficult for human brain to keep its focus longer than one hour.
What Is Effective Learning?
As we stated before, scientists have a claim on human brain have a limited time to focus on lessons to effectively learn anything. What makes effective learning so special?
Let’s take an example. Suppose you are reading a newspaper or going through a news portal online. You only read the sentences to know the information and stay updated. You don’t need to keep today’s news in mind the day after tomorrow, right?
But, when you are preparing for your exam, you have to keep that knowledge within your neurons for longer time. So, you need to
–Understand the theory.
–Memorize the formula.
–Make resemblance of the information/lesson to any of your personal life experiences.
–Compare that to real life.
When you infuse any knowledge in yourself for longer time with some simple yet handy techniques, you dive into the realm of effective learning!
Effective learning is also known as deep learning. Now, how effective learning has anything to do with how many hours you study in one sitting?
Well, if you overflow your brain with more hours but no effectiveness, it will only be a burden for sure!
Time Length vs Effective Learning
Now we know pretty much about the effective or deep learning. Let’s compare it to the length of time we design to study with full concentration.
Human brain has a complex structure and it does not store the unnecessary information in its hard disk, particularly which is known as neurons. So, in short brain filters the information you input into them and then stores only the necessary ones.
And to do this extremely tough job, human brain needs to burn a lot of calorie and cannot sustain longer if there is no break in the study sessions.
Now comes our point, can you study for hours and hours and still do effective learning? Well, it is extremely difficult for a general reader to hold the focus after one hour. That’s why the Pomodoro technique is unbelievably popular.
But with years of patience and hard work, one can gain the control to continue effective learning without being distracted. But scientists still recommend to fragmentize your study sessions in one hour or less so that you can do effective learning and stay active without losing your patience to learn more lately.
How To Study to make your Study Session Worth more?
The strongest enemy to our study sessions is; distraction! It may seem funny but it is true. We all have a lot of problem in our life and somehow we can never compartmentalize our brain to think about only one topic at a time.
As our brain thinks and develops a theory in a few steps, it always keeps thinking about the facts and events happening around us. So, it is generally seen that we sit to study one subject but we wander to the weekend planning in our minds! It happens, right?
That’s the reason, scientists suggest to keep a time table to increase and fix your focus. When you have a clock ticking out just next to your book, you know however you need to finish this lesson before the time is out.
It is kind of challenging yourself against the clock. But it helps the brain not to get distracted in the midst of a lesson and helps in effective learning.
That’s why most of the top students suggest to have a timer when you have an exam knocking on door. It locks your mind to stay focused and helps to secure a good score by effective learning.
Also, they suggest to keep a notepad and pen to take notes so that you can follow up the key points later without reading the whole chapter again.
Things to Keep in Mind when studying for Long Hour
Studying is more dependent on the focus and dedication and you must have a plan for how long you should study in one sitting.
But also keep in mind to finish your lessons effectively, not superficially.
So, Keep these little things in mind and use them when you need, hopefully it can help you learn better a bit!
–Have a timer beside your desk, so that you can measure how much time you are putting in one chapter.
–Remove all the things that can distract you while studying.
–Have a proper map what you are studying and what you want to learn after finishing this.
–Stop procrastinating, it may be difficult but never impossible! Procrastination kills the most of your time.
–Maintain a proper diet if you do not want to be weak after one sitting or two.
–Keep a water bottle on your table and stay hydrated!
Conclusion
It may differ from one person to another but if you want to be in an effective studying session and learn your lessons properly, you should never prolong your study sessions more than one hour.
Take a small break and get back to the table again. Thus, you will finish your syllabus faster and will not forget your lessons easily.
Also, maintain a proper routine about what you are going to study and keep a timer on so that you don’t run out of time just before your exam. Proper planning and short breaks can save your day, trust me!
