Where and When to Study

The obvious answer, especially at MIT, is "wherever and whenever you can." The more accurate answer is, "where and when you can be most productive." Consider the following:

Where to Study

Seven criteria for a good place to study:

• Available whenever you need it: not a lounge or classroom subject to frequent use by others.
• Free from interruptions and distractions. Probably not in your room, unless you have a single and can keep the door closed. Try instead the 5th floor Student Center Reading Room; any of MIT's libraries such as Barker, Dewey, or Humanities; classrooms not in use; a dorm or ILG study room—if the atmosphere allows you to concentrate.
• Has all the materials you need. Check before leaving home to make sure you have the right notebooks, textbooks, handouts, paper, pencils, etc. An extra trip back and forth is study time lost.
• Has a large enough desk or table. If you can spread out everything you need, you won't waste time moving things around.
• Has a comfortable chair. Comfortable enough to let you sit for an hour without getting stiff or fidgety; not so comfortable that you'll nod off!
• Has enough light. Straining to see the page or screen burns through your energy more quickly.
• Has a comfortable temperature. Like your chair, warm enough (or cool enough, depending on the season) not to distract you; not so warm that you'll nod off, again.

When to Study

Eight general principles:

• Study when you're likely to feel energetic. Morning or evening according to your nature. Do something active for half an hour after meals to avoid drowsiness, then settle in to study when your metabolism is running high.
• Use daylight hours (as much as possible). Research shows that 60 minutes of study during the day is the equivalent of 90 minutes of study at night (Pauk 1989).
• Study soon after lecture. You'll remember and understand more if you review your lecture notes immediately after class. If you only have 15 minutes, that's better than nothing.
• Study for blocks of time. For reading, psets, and writing, one-hour blocks are most effective (50 minutes of study with a ten-minute break).
• Make studying a regular part of your schedule. Let it become routine like brushing your teeth or tying your shoes. For example, start the Physics psets every Tuesday from 2 to 4 pm and tackle HASS reading from 8:30 to 10:30 pm every Wednesday. Once you find a schedule that works for you, stick to it. Some days you may not feel like studying at the appointed time, but habit will help you settle down.
• Set an agenda for each study period. Be specific, and plan ahead so that you know exactly what task you will accomplish during each study period.
• Start long or involved assignments ahead of time. In your heart you know it's true: cramming and rushing = poor quality work.
• List and do tasks according to priorities. Remember Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” If you allot two hours to read ten pages, it will probably take you the full two hours to complete this 30-minute task. 

Variety is the Spice of Life

Check out a New York Times article called "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits". It summarizes recent research showing that:

• studying the same material in two different places increases retention of the material;
• studying different aspects of the same material in sequence works better than focusing intensely on one thing for a long time (think of a circuit in the Z-Center weight room).

Detailed Information

For more on study skills, visit Teach Yourself to Learn. Also, check out material on the Prentice-Hall Student Success site.