5 Common Study Problems and How to Deal With Them

Studying can be a real bear. From the simple act of sitting down and cracking the books open to maintaining your concentration for a sustained period of time, preparing for a quiz or a test can feel like a constant uphill battle for many students.

Fortunately, the issues related to studying struggles are mostly attitude related. It’s not so much the difficulty of the material, but rather the student’s mindset that determines how well a study session goes. With that in mind, here’s a list of common study problems and how to deal with them.

1)  Lack of Motivation

A serious obstacle to studying, not being properly motivated can make tackling the material you need to learn to seem nearly impossible. The key to dealing with your motivation issues is to first understand the reasons you can’t get going; some of these can include:

• There are simply other things you’d rather do
• You’re overburdened and stressed
• You feel there are more important things in your life to attend to
• You’re not feeling well
• You’re afraid of failure

Once you’ve identified the roots of you motivational issues, you’ll be able to work on counteracting them with focusing on the things that do motivate you; these can include:

• Getting praise from you parents or peers
• Impressing your teachers
• Personal satisfaction
• Short-term rewards, playing video games for an hour after a solid study session
• Long-term focus, good grades lead to getting into whatever college you want to go to

On top of this, having a positive mantra or keeping some motivating quotes where you study can also help spark your study sessions. Other things such as avoiding sugary foods that can cause you to crash once the initial burst of energy wears off can also help you.

2)  Reduce Distractions

The Internet, smart phones, TV, video games and friends are all potential distractions that can keep you from getting a good study session in. If you’re aware that your concentration is being compromised by these or any other distractions, you’re going to need to create a better studying environment.

Fortunately, improving your studying situation should be fairly easy.

First off, get rid of the obvious things that are taking your attention away from your work. Put your phone in the drawer, hide the TV remote, and if you have to, pick up the cat, set him down outside the room and close the door. If the internet is your weakness, consider using an app that prevents you from jumping on to Twitter or whatever other tempting sites draw you to them to burn valuable time. On top of that, if you’re trying to write an essay, there are apps such as Dark Room that will cut out all the distractions on your screen.

And remember, if all else fails, there’s always the library.

3)  Struggling To Focus

Sometimes it’s not any external distractions that are causing your studying problems, it’s the internal ones.

Having something on your mind can seriously inhibit your ability to study effectively. Some things you can do to clear your head are:

• Going for a walk
• Writing you problem or confusion down or talking about it with someone
• Getting a workout in
• For more serious problems, talking to a counselor or some other type of professional who can help you sort your thoughts out

Intimidation is another thing that can wreck your concentration. If you view the task as being overwhelming – something that a list of the best writing services can help you with - then it’s going to be tough to relax and get what you need to done. You can alleviate this issue though by changing the way you perceive the work in front of you. So instead of viewing it is one massive project, mentally break things down into small, easy to conquer goals. For instance, if you’ve fallen behind on studying for a midterm and now have 8 weeks’ worth of geometry to catch up on 3 days, don’t think about having to study the entire course; stay calm and go chapter by chapter, setting mini-chapter goals for each day without letting your mind wander ahead of where you’re at. You could say 3 chapters today, 3 chapters tomorrow, 3 chapters on day three – the point being that even though you probably won’t master things by exam time, you’ll get enough of the fundamentals down to pull out a decent grade.

4)  You Struggle To Remember Figures and Facts

Another thing that can keep your from studying is feeling like it won’t do any good. Struggling to retain all the info thrown at you over the course of a semester can be a real barrier to effective study sessions. However, absorbing the material properly as it’s taught makes things a lot easier come exam time and there are memory aids that can help you memorize what you need to know.

5)  You Just Don’t Like the Subject

Sometimes the class you’re in is such a drag that you can’t work up the will to study for it.  Maybe it’s boring, maybe it’s just a subject that’s not your strong suit, or maybe you just see it as being irrelevant towards anything that will benefit you in the long run.

Whatever the reason is, though, you’ve going to have to alter your mindset if you want to be able to still pull out a good grade.

To do this, you need to think big picture.

• Focus on how a bad grade will damage your GPA and hurt your chances of getting into your college of choice
• Think a little deeper about why you are being taught the subject. Perhaps the skills you’re learning or knowledge you’re obtaining isn’t totally relevant to your academic or career goals, but is useful in other areas or will be more beneficial in the future
• View it as improving your overall knowledge, being a well-rounded thinker or possessing a broader skill set can benefit you in ways that you don’t even realize yet.
• If you’re weak on a particular subject, view taking the course as your chance to make yourself stronger and more confident in the material.

Conclusion

Studying isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be a chore either. And the truth is that if you want not just academic success, but success in life, you’re going to have to learn to lock down and get the work done when you have to. Practicing the tips I’ve laid out above will give you a better foundation for effective study sessions, which in turn will keep you on the path to hitting your career and life goals.