You might be thinking that studying for 8 hours a day, every day, leading up to your exams is the best way to get knowledge into your head. While it is important to maintain a consistent study schedule, studying too much can cause you more harm than good. Why is that? Read on!
What is Overstudying?
First, let’s understand what overstudying is.
In general terms, overstudying is a situation where studying becomes counterproductive. It might get to a point where you are forgetting concepts that you were once confident in, you’re not answering questions correctly no matter how easy they are or nothing you’re studying makes sense to you.
If you feel like you are studying too much, you should always ask yourself why. By doing this, you can better implement measures to prevent overstudying. We’ll go through some ideas later.
- Are you spending too much time studying a day?
- Are you not taking enough rest breaks?
- Do you keep going back over content that you know well?
- Are your study breaks not helping you rejuvenate?
- Are you sacrificing sleep, work and extracurriculars for study?
Consequences of Overstudying
Overstudying can have some consequences, which is why it is important to prevent it in the first place.
Studying too much can cause burnout
Overstudying can lead to burnout, a state of exhaustion. Overcoming burnout takes time, which can hinder your exam preparation. Therefore, you should do whatever you can to avoid it! Burnout can cause a decrease in motivation, concentration, and productivity.
Digesting information takes time
Studying without breaks can reduce your ability to retain and recall information effectively. Your brain needs time to process and consolidate what you've learned! You don’t want to have to keep going over concepts just because you’re forgetting them.
You will damage your physical and mental health
Studying too much for exams can mess with your body and mind. Staring at books for hours can strain your eyes, leave you with physicals aches and cause you to feel tired all the time. The stress of trying to ace exams can mess with your head, leading to burnout and a sense of isolation. It's important to find a balance between hitting the books and taking care of yourself so you don’t feel drained both during and after your exams.
You might be too tired by exam day
To perform at your very best on exam day, you need to be adequately rested! If you’ve spent too much time studying in the lead up to the exam, your brain might be too exhausted to recall information and complete complex questions during the exam.
You need to reflect
Overstudying can limit your capacity to revisit and reflect on what you've learned.
If you spend excessive hours cramming information without breaks, its likely that you’re prioritizing quantity over quality of study time. This can hinder your ability to reflect on and truly understand the material. Reflection requires pauses between study sessions so you can digest information! Overstudying may also lead to mental fatigue, making it challenging to engage in effective reflection.
How to Prevent Overstudying
It’s not the number of hours that you sit at your desk matters, it’s what you do with them. The more time you spend studying, the more likely you will reach the point of overstudying.
To prevent overstudying, you should practise effective time management and prioritise rest breaks. The activities you do in your study breaks need to help make you more refreshed, not more drained. Therefore, in your study breaks, you should avoid spending time on your electronic devices. Take a walk outside, talk to someone or doing a relaxing activity.
Taking a break is not counterproductive – you’d rather do this than spend aimless time going over content that you know well. This will reduce your energy when you go to tackle more complex topics.
Before studying, you should also make a list of everything you want to cover in that study session. This will ensure that you stay on track and cover the topics that really need revising. If you achieve everything, take a break!
Additionally, don’t forget to get adequate sleep and maintain your physical health. As reasonable, you should also keep up with your hobbies and work commitments during revision week. Factor such activities in around your study.
At the end of the day, it is important that you find the right balance between studying and rest. You should try your very best to prepare for your exams, but not at the expense of your physical and mental health! Make sure you stay conscious of the number of hours that you spend studying for an exam, as overstudying can hinder your performance on exam day, rather than help it.
