What do you do when you run out of steam and motivation to study?

I generally smoke during study breaks.

Television

do something fun, that completely takes your mind off it for a bit…then get back to it.

…... the pub.

Take a break for a short while to clear your head and reconnect with the outside world before you get back to the desk.

Just remember: short-term pain, long-term gain!

wha.. studying?

I only study under pressure, ie 2–3 weeks before the exams :D. Somehow that’s managed to get me to 2nd year in uni, but I doubt it’ll bring me a first honours.

Take a short nap. Get up. Take a shower. Start at the work again.

Personally, I like to take break opportunities to catch up on all the sleep I’m missing.

Take a break and exercise ;)

Take a short walk in the fresh air…change locations too. Go to the library or a coffee shop where you can get a fresh start. A little snack or cup of your favorite beverage will help get you going again too.

I give up, get a C, realise that I must not ever have a C after my name, (unless, by the grace of Her Majesty, for God and the Empire, preceding a BE), cram for one night, retake, get an A.

Did that on all of my exams so far.

CBE? Such small potatoes. Why not a peerage? Doesn’t Idler, Duke of Leighton Buzzard simply roll off the tongue?

Great question.

Generally productivity curves are short over time. You can only be at a high productivity level for an X amount of time, I’m at about 45 minutes – find your interval. After which I do something else – do some chores, exercise, but usually something physical because you were sitting down while studying – and you have a physical body that needs to move. If you don’t do that, you’ll only be more frustrated when trying to focus.

What’s more important to me is why – why am I learning this? My brain refuses to withhold information, well unless you beat it in there with countless repetition – unless that information is pertinent. So the simple answer is, making that information important, connecting with it. Thinking about it, making it a part of your mind – a resource. One way to do that is to connect with your identity, what you want to do with this knowledge, pretend you had to work on a problem tomorrow that depended on that – something in your line of preferred work.

Other tips, figure out a nutrition package that works for you. Omega 3’s for a stable competent brain among other things. Eat regularly but smaller portions to keep your blood-sugar stable throughout. Don’t forget, that big hunk of fat and tissue (brain) uses a LOT of glucose when thinking.
For me it seems to help a great deal to see a friend, even for 40 mins. Social time increases your happiness level substantially, then you can go back to studying. Don’t give in to hanging out more than that though :)

S’all. Oh, exams, they’re just lame ways to measure how your memory works, and whether you’re good at taking tests. Don’t take them too seriously – be prepared, but so because you find use for the material. Then, ace them anyway – or try, regardless, it doesn’t reaaally matter. What matters most is what you make yours in your mind, not your ability to prove it – but your ability to actually use it.

go and hang with your friends for a bit, get a laugh in and then go back and get to that studyin’! or watch a tv show and relax, then go back… but don’t get too caught up in the tv… thats why i generally just go and hang out with friends =)