Aug 28, 20231 min read

Study Habits

Waiting till the last day to study and having to cram for a test, everyone’s been there. This happens from building bad study habits. Teenagers for decades have chosen to procrastinate and create bad study habits instead of creating healthy ones. Why would one study when they can spend their time having fun? Research has shown why not to do this, and that procrastination can have severe consequences.

Annette Nunez psychotherapist and founder and director of Breakthrough Interventions

says people, specifically students, procrastinate because they have so much to do and so little time.

Delaying the task and focusing on less demanding activities can be more pleasant, but detrimental in the long run. When one crams to finish a task, the work will be substandard and/or completed late. The more these unhealthy habits are built, the harder they are to break.

B.J. Fogg, a Stanford University researcher explains that drastic changes require lots of motivation, and most of the time cannot be achieved. Starting to build small habits is much more tolerable.

Keeping these habits consistent is also needed to have successful study habits. The European Journal of Social Psychology did a study that showed a task took about 66 days to become a habit.

Once these habits are formed, work can be less stressful and procrastination is a thing of the past. Breaking these actions can be difficult, but with time and following these few tips, it’s simple to accomplish.

Sources

Parker-Pope, Tara. “How to Build Healthy Habits.” The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/well/mind/how-to-build-healthy-habits.html.

Caceres, Vanessa. “When Is Procrastination a Matter of Mental Health?” US News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2021, health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/is-your-chronic-procrastination-actually-a-matter-of-mental-health.

“8 Evidence-Based Study Habits: What Research Says Works.” Psych Central, 24 June 2022, psychcentral.com/health/highly-effective-study-habits#why-it-matters. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023.