I only study for a maximum of three hours a day. When I tell people this, I am met with a handful of different reactions, the majority expressed in a confused and negative light. “That’s not enough studying!”, “You can’t possibly get good marks doing that”, and “You should work harder”, are a few of the remarks I’ve heard in response to my daily study routine. I’ve been a university student for three years, and this method is tried and true. Hear me out.
I attended a public high school in a small town called Fargo in North Dakota. The public education system in North Dakota is one of the best. However, the rigour of the most challenging class I took in high school was straight forward compared to the most basic level class I took at St Andrews. The weekly mountain-pile of readings, mandatory tutorial work, high-standard essays and nerve inducing French speeches… I was in the deep end. If I didn’t want to drown, I knew I had to buckle up and get myself to work ASAP.
Like many of my fellow students, with my laptop and coffee in hand, I would head under the bright fluorescent lights of the St Andrews University Library. I would study at every opportunity. Twenty minutes in between classes, during late hours of the night after a tennis social, heck, I’d even be doing my work on the crowded bus journey from my accommodation into town. Every spare moment, I studied. I remember receiving my first IR essay grade, and I was unpleasantly shocked. The mark did not reflect my tedious efforts. I had spent hours at crazy hours of the morning and evening working on my essay that I’d expected a first class (A+ or A for any Americans out there). Let’s just say, it was not even close to that.
Finding out that my best work does not, in fact, come from a seven-hour stretch in the library was a long road for me. It first began at the classic end-of-semester burnout that we’ve all experienced. I was drained. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. To spend hours of dedicated study time, and not achieve rewarding marks, made me confused and exhausted. I play for the tennis team at St Andrews, but besides our training, I wasn’t taking any time to take care of my body. I was not doing anything beneficial for my mental health either, as I religiously swapped my computer screen for a phone screen at night. Add to that the familiar first-year FOMO, where I took on too many roles in different places. I had myself a combination of being overworked, overcommitted and being simply overtired. The bittersweet recipe for burnout.
As I said, it was a long and bumpy route to conquering my ideal study routine. Now as a third-year, I am confident that to achieve my best work, I should spend around three hours a day with my head in the books. I’ve found that prioritising my mental, physical and emotional health over spending long hours in the library, actually makes my quality of work better. Now, when I sit down to do the work, it actually flows. On a typical day, I’ll wake up at around 8am. I’ve found that sleeping for around 8 hours and 45 minutes each night brings out my most energised self. I’ll make a healthy breakfast, go to the gym, and then get ready for the day. I’ve found that after a healthy lunch, 1pm-4pm is my optimal time frame to get work done. After that, I’ll do yoga, make dinner, and have a well-deserved relaxing night in. Not every day looks exactly like this – to be honest, some days, with class and extracurriculars, I don’t even have time to study at all.
From an outside perspective, my daily routine may sound academically unproductive. As students, we’re taught to believe that we must have our heads in books within each waking minute, and if we don’t, guilt will creep in. The current movement of students on Instagram and TikTok promoting a ‘grind culture’ of constant work, has made us think that every hour must be strategically planned around studying. But from my experience, that doesn’t hold true for me. Being successful, in my eyes, is being balanced. If I don’t move my body, do yoga, or journal, I can guarantee I will be ten times more stressed. Being glued to a desk all day can be counterproductive. Following a healthy and balanced schedule at university is not easy to master. Once you learn the importance of prioritising yourself across all areas in life, you may realise three hours a day of studying can be just as productive.