By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.
Weekends are for sleeping in, seeing friends, doing life-maintenance things (chores, errands, etc.) and Netflix. Yes, yes – all of this is true.
However, weekends are also for (prepare to gasp) studying. You may not love to hear this from me, but I’m being real. Once you hit high school, it’s just a fact that you’ll have to spend some of your precious weekend time on school things. Accept this, and then move on to the rest of the post.
Below, I share a few tips for studying on the weekends in a way that still lets you enjoy your well-deserved break from school. The goal for weekend studying is to get it done efficiently and correctly so that you can move on to more interesting things … like brunch and friends.
4 tips for studying on the weekends
1. Schedule study time carefully
Be insanely deliberate about planning your weekend study time. Don’t wing it, and don’t just “see how you feel.” Pick which day you’re going to dedicate to studying – either Saturday or Sunday – and nail down the time. If you have a ton of studying and anticipate you’ll need both days, I suggest you plan a larger study session on one day, and a much shorter session on the other day. If you’re following my 5-day study plan, work Saturday and Sunday into that plan. If you have more than 5 days to prepare (woo hoo!), then this is the study plan you should follow.
2. Study when you’re least likely to be interrupted
If you plan a 3:00 PM study session on Saturday, and you anticipate seeing your friends on Saturday evening, your study session will probably be interrupted with multiple texts about the evening. Unless you’re super diligent about putting your phone on do-not-disturb, a 3:00 PM study session might not be a good idea. Figure out the time of day when people are less likely to interrupt or need you – and do your work then.
3. Make it novel
Another tip for studying on the weekends is to make these study sessions different from your Monday-Friday routine. Go somewhere new, like these places. Study in a cafe. Go to the public library in the town next to you. Make something different so that you tap into the motivating power of novelty. (Novelty means “newness.”)
4. Start each study session with clarity
Weekend study sessions should be focused and to the point. If you have a two-hour window, you don’t want to spend 45-minutes of that time figuring out what to study. Do the prep work beforehand (the day before, perhaps) so that you can spend all your time doing the work.
Studying on the weekends isn’t anyone’s favorite activity, but these 4 simple tips (guys, come on – how simple are these tips?!) can help you optimize your time so that you can get in, get out, and move on.
If you’ve planned your weekend study time but are stuck on how to actually study for exams, start here.
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