To focus on studying, put your phone in another room, decide exactly what you will do and when, and study by testing yourself instead of rereading. Work in fixed blocks with real breaks, spread sessions over several days, and sleep well in the weeks before an exam. Studying next to other people helps many students start and keep going.
That is the short version. Below are 15 tips, each with one line on why it works and a source you can check. They are grouped by when you use them: before you sit down, while you study, when motivation is low, and with other people. At the end there is a sample two hour plan you can copy for finals.
Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. We make it, and studying with others is one of the tips, so we mention it there and at the end. The rest has nothing to do with us.
Set up before you start
1. Put your phone in another room
Why it works: in two experiments, simply having your own smartphone nearby reduced the mental capacity people had available, even when they did not check it, and the cost was biggest for people most dependent on their phones [1].
Face down on the desk is not enough. Put it in another room, in a bag in the hall, or with a friend. If you need it for two factor login, fetch it and put it back.
2. Close everything except the one thing you are studying
Why it works: in a simulated lecture, students who multitasked on a laptop scored lower on a test of the material, and so did students who could simply see a classmate multitasking [2].
One window, one tab. If you study on a laptop, use full screen mode for the document or the practice questions. Quit chat apps instead of muting them.
3. Decide what you will do, when and where
Why it works: across 94 independent tests, plans in the form "if situation X, then I will do Y" had a medium to large effect on reaching goals [3].
Write it down as a sentence: "At 4 pm, at the kitchen table, I will do the 20 practice questions from chapter 6." "Study biology" is a topic. "Do questions 1 to 20" is a task you can finish.
4. Protect your sleep in the weeks before the exam
Why it works: in a study of 88 college chemistry students wearing activity trackers, better quality, longer and more consistent sleep went with better grades. Sleep over the month and the week before a test mattered; sleep on the single night before did not show a link [4].
So an all nighter does not rescue you, and steady sleep through the term is part of studying. Plan the last week so you are not trading sleep for hours.
While you study: techniques that work
5. Test yourself instead of rereading
Why it works: students who took recall tests on a text remembered substantially more two days or a week later than students who reread it, even though rereading made them feel more confident [5].
Close the book and write down everything you remember, then check. Use flashcards, past papers, or questions you write for yourself. It feels harder than rereading. That difficulty is the point.
6. Space your study over several days
Why it works: a review of 317 experiments found that spreading study over time beats cramming, and that the best gap between sessions grows the longer you need to remember the material [6].
Three one hour sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will usually do more than three hours on Thursday night. Come back to old topics briefly while you learn new ones.
7. Swap highlighting and rereading for practice questions
Why it works: a large review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and spacing as high utility, and rated highlighting and rereading as low utility because they do not consistently improve performance. The authors suggest using practice testing in place of rereading [7].
Highlighting is not banned; it just should not be the main event. If you highlight, turn each highlight into a question afterwards.
8. Ask yourself why, and explain it in your own words
Why it works: the same review rated asking "why is this true?" (elaborative interrogation) and explaining steps to yourself (self explanation) as moderate utility: promising, with less evidence from real classrooms [7].
After each paragraph or worked example, say out loud why it works or how it links to something you already know. Explaining it to a friend counts.
9. Mix different types of problems
Why it works: mixing problem types in one session (interleaving) also got a moderate utility rating; the evidence is promising but newer [7].
Instead of 20 questions on one formula, do a mixed set from three chapters. You have to work out which method fits each question, which is what the exam asks of you too.
10. Work in fixed blocks with planned breaks
Why it works: in a study of 87 university students, those who took breaks on a fixed schedule felt less tired and distracted and more concentrated and motivated than those who decided for themselves when to stop, and got about as much done in less time [8].
The classic rhythm is 25 minutes of study and 5 minutes off. For reading and essays, 50 and 10 often fits better. You can use our free Pomodoro timer or a 50 minute timer.
11. Make your breaks real breaks
Why it works: a review of short breaks at work found small benefits for energy and fatigue. The effect on performance overall was not significant, but longer breaks gave a bigger boost [9].
Stand up, drink water, move, look out of a window. A break spent scrolling is not a break for your attention. Keep it short enough that coming back is easy.
When motivation is low
12. Write down what you got done after each block
Why it works: a review of 138 studies with nearly 20,000 people found that monitoring your progress helps you reach goals, especially when the progress is written down or shared with others [10].
One line is enough: "Did 15 of 20 questions, stuck on 16." It shows you that the hours went somewhere, and it tells you where to start next time.
13. Start for five minutes, not for the whole task
Why it works: researchers describe procrastination as a way to escape a bad mood about a task in the short term, at the cost of your future self [11].
That makes the feeling about the task the thing to work on. Lower the bar until starting feels fine: open the file, do one question, set a five minute timer. Once you are moving, the mood usually follows. If this is a constant fight and you have ADHD, our guide on how to focus with ADHD goes deeper.
Studying with other people
14. Study next to someone
Why it works: in a survey of 220 people, many said working while someone else was present, often called body doubling, helped them build momentum and stay on task [12]. A review of 241 older studies adds a caution: other people around you tend to speed up simple tasks and slow down complex ones [13].
Use company for getting started and for routine work like flashcards and practice sets. For the hardest new material, sit with people who are quiet. You can do this at a library, on a call, with a study with me video, or with friends online. Our guide to studying with friends online compares the options.
15. Make your study group depend on each other
Why it works: in two studies with 320 and 193 students, people reported less procrastination when they imagined group work where everyone relied on each other than when they imagined working alone, and the effect was stronger when they had actively committed to finishing on time [14].
Split the work so each person owns a part the others need, such as one chapter summary each or one set of practice questions each. Agree on a time and say out loud that you will have yours done.
A sample two hour study plan
Here is a plan for one evening in the run up to finals. It uses tips 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12.
If you have more time, add a long break of 20 to 30 minutes and repeat. If you have less, keep blocks 1 and 2.
Where Roomie Cafe fits
Roomie Cafe is one way to try tips 12 and 14 together. You press start, pick what you are studying, and you see which friends are focusing right now and on what. There is no webcam, no microphone and nothing to book. When the timer ends you write a line about what you got done; it goes into your history, and if you like, into your friends' feeds where they can cheer you on.
Your history shows a heat calendar, totals per subject and your weekly goal. A study group can share one focus area with a running total and a team goal. On iPhone, Focus Shield can block distracting apps while your session runs. It is free with no session limit, on the web and as an iPhone, iPad and Mac app. There is more on our page for students.
FAQ
How can I focus on studying when I keep getting distracted?
Put your phone in another room, close every window except the one you need, and study in fixed blocks of 25 or 50 minutes. Write down what you will do in each block before you start.
How long should I study before taking a break?
Many students use 25 minutes with a 5 minute break, or 50 minutes with a 10 minute break. In one study, fixed breaks left students less tired and more focused than breaks they chose as they went [8].
What is the most effective way to study?
Testing yourself and spacing your study over several days have the strongest evidence. A major review rated both as high utility and rated rereading and highlighting as low [7].
How do I get motivated to study?
Start very small: one question or five minutes. Write down what you got done after each block, and study with other people if being around others helps you start.
Why can't I focus when I study?
Common reasons are a phone within reach, too many open tabs, a vague goal, too little sleep, or a task that feels bad to start. If trouble focusing affects most of your life and not only studying, talk to a doctor.
References
- Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140 to 154.
- Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education, 62, 24 to 31.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69 to 119.
- Okano, K., Kaczmarzyk, J. R., Dave, N., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Grossman, J. C. (2019). Sleep quality, duration, and consistency are associated with better academic performance in college students. npj Science of Learning, 4, 16.
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249 to 255.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354 to 380.
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4 to 58.
- Biwer, F., Wiradhany, W., oude Egbrink, M. G. A., & de Bruin, A. B. H. (2023). Understanding effort regulation: Comparing "Pomodoro" breaks and self-regulated breaks. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(S2), 353 to 367.
- Albulescu, P., Macsinga, I., Rusu, A., Sulea, C., Bodnaru, A., & Tulbure, B. T. (2022). "Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance. PLOS ONE, 17(8), e0272460.
- Harkin, B., Webb, T. L., Chang, B. P. I., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y., & Sheeran, P. (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 198 to 229.
- Sirois, F., & Pychyl, T. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115 to 127.
- Eagle, T., Baltaxe-Admony, L. B., & Ringland, K. E. (2023). Proposing body doubling as a continuum of space/time and mutuality: An investigation with neurodivergent participants. ASSETS 2023, ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
- Bond, C. F., & Titus, L. J. (1983). Social facilitation: A meta-analysis of 241 studies. Psychological Bulletin, 94(2), 265 to 292.
- Koppenborg, M., & Klingsieck, K. B. (2022). Social factors of procrastination: Group work can reduce procrastination among students. Social Psychology of Education, 25(1), 249 to 274.