{"id":5482,"date":"2016-01-09T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T10:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=44612"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:19","slug":"vijf-studietips-om-het-nieuwe-jaar-goed-te-beginnen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/01\/09\/vijf-studietips-om-het-nieuwe-jaar-goed-te-beginnen\/","title":{"rendered":"5 study tips to start 2016 the right way"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPatrick Mansell<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The Christmas holidays are over and it\u2019s time to go full steam ahead with your studies. It can sometimes be quite hard to motivate yourself to get started again. We\u2019ve come up with these five tips for you with help from students.<\/p>\n

1. Switch off the phone!<\/h2>

Whether you realise it or not, your telephone is a huge distraction when you\u2019re studying<\/a>. Econometrics student Michel Pham therefore advises switching off your phone and putting it in your bag if you\u2019re planning to really work hard for a while. WhatsApp is a huge culprit. But sites including Facebook and Twitter are also a distraction. Something you recognise? It\u2019s best to put away your laptop as well as your phone. If you really need your laptop to work, use the programs that are available to block certain websites<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t study alone<\/h2>

It works for Michael Garcia, international IBA student, to sit among other students who are also studying. For example, it\u2019s good to study in the Polak building instead of at home. If other students are working hard around you, it gives you the feeling that you aren\u2019t the only one who has to study. It also works well to work together with fellow students<\/a>. For example, agree that you all go through a chapter on Wednesday evening and discuss this together on Thursday morning. This actually forces you to work through the material. What\u2019s more, everyone picks up different things from texts which means that you\u2019ll remember things that you usually wouldn\u2019t even have noticed.<\/p>\n

3.Reward yourself<\/h2>

Nothing is so demotivating as studying for hours without being able to do something nice. The materials you have to work through seem endless and at the end of the day you feel as though you\u2019ve learned nothing. Accountancy student Andrea Riul always rewards herself if she has been working really hard on her studies for a certain number of hours. This method often works well, although it works better if the reward is something you\u2019d normally not buy<\/a>.\u00a0If you buy something cheap you\u2019re more likely to just buy this without having to stick to the agreement you made with yourself.<\/p>\n

4. List your goals<\/h2>

Whether these are long-term or short-term goals, it\u2019s important to know why you\u2019re working hard. Econometrics student Jip van de Sar also agrees that goals are motivating as you have something to work towards. But do make sure that these are achievable goals<\/a> and don\u2019t immediately set yourself the goal of becoming Prime Minister. An achievable goal is for example \u201ctyping five hundred words every day for a 10,000 word paper\u201d. This keeps your goals achievable as well ensuring that you feel good about yourself. You enjoy your work more if you\u2019re successful in achieving your goals time after time, which in turn makes it easier to keep working.<\/p>\n

5. It\u2019s important to take a break<\/h2>

Carolina Perugachi, Economics and Business Economics student, says that it is important for her to take regular breaks. A good idea, because taking a break during studying has many advantages<\/a>. First of all it\u2019s good to rest. Concentrating continuously on your studies demands a lot of physical effort and after a certain number of hours of studying you hardly take in any more information. Moreover, in that short period of rest your body processes the information you\u2019ve just gone through. So it\u2019s a win-win situation. Just by taking a short break, you can often start again at full power and you feel totally refreshed. Take, for example, a five-minute break every hour and an hour-long break after four hours of studying. Don\u2019t study from seven in the morning \u2018til twelve at night; as well as being extremely demotivating it simply serves no purpose.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Latest news<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t