Do You Do Last Minute Studies Too?

 

This is Why You Cram And How To Do Better



 Hi, so have you ever been in a situation where you know you ought to be reading but you are out strolling with friends or “the friend” or scrolling through IG (this is the most common), and there are certain times when you know you need some rest from the long hours of reading you have done but you can’t keep your eyes away from the book.  We all at some point in our studies have experienced both of these situations

The reason for these polarized states is what psychologists basal ganglia; it is an internal situation in our brains where we vote on what the next point of action should be at a particular time. Perhaps one part of your brain wants to study, another wants to scroll through social media, another wants to have a snack, another wants to sleep, etc.

In the end, the basal ganglia only let one of these options through, based on how strongly that option has been activated.  The activation choice/option is birthed by environmental cues and innate reinforcement.

To simplify this, imagine that you have some amount of motivation to study. This can be driven by the need to achieve, fear of failure, intrinsic interest in the subject, your friends are studying, or any other factor.

Imagine you also have some aversion to studying. This can be driven by wanting to avoid mental effort, fear of lack of clarity, or simply wanting to avoid boredom.

Studying will only take place when motivation > aversion. If aversion > motivation, you’ll do something else to procrastinate instead, well until you don’t have a choice but to be motivated because of the fear of failure, which often happens days before your exams when you don’t have any choice but to cram…

This is the winning reason people cram during exam season and unfortunately end up with mediocre scores and mental fatigue.


Qhub Africa has a feature called a scheduler that helps users organize their study plans and avoid cramming making them better prepared for their exams and tests.

 

How can I study better?

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