Have you ever noticed how some days you take out your books to study English and you devour them? You find yourself not looking at the clock even once. Perhaps not even thinking about the clock at all. Instead you are breezing through chapters and you’re nailing it. But then there are the days when it feels like you’re trying to pull yourself out of quicksand because, wait… Haven’t you read that paragraph already? More than once? More than twice? Wait. Did you read it at all?
Those moments are the bane of all our lives and really sour our enthusiasm to do any work at all. Instead, you end up frustrated, agitated and still with all that studying to do. We’ve all been there and there can be numerous factors so let’s look at a few common ones and see if we can smash through that study block.
A night owl or an early bird
You may or may not know these terms, but if you’ve had any English lessons involving idioms, it’s likely these appeared. A night owl is someone who stays up late and/or generally performs or works better at night time. An early bird, on the other hand, doesn’t think twice about a 5am start. They work best early in the day, often long before the rest of the world wakes up. If either of these sounds like you, then listen to your body and see what happens. If midnight or 5:30am is your time to shine, then go for it. The late night/early morning silence is all yours.
Sleep deprived and exhausted
Trying to study or work when you’re exhausted and sleep deprived isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. If you’ve had a late night you can easily feel the effects the next day. If you’ve had a few late nights recently, the chances are you need to just close the books and rest. Studies show that not only can you be in a bad mood after a poor sleep, but lots more. It makes it harder to concentrate and it effects memory so of course it impacts your studying. The result? Close the books, take the evening off and get an early night. Tomorrow is another day.
Maybe you’re just hungry
Sometimes it is that simple. Did you skip breakfast? Or lunch? Have you been putting off making dinner because you feel pressed for time? It might seem like a good idea at the time, and a time saver, but ultimately, it’s a distraction. Instead of feeling alert, all you can think about is food. Your stomach is rumbling and interrupting concentration also. So, do yourself and your body a favour and go eat something. You brain and body need nutrients from food to keep you going, just like a car needs fuel to drive.
You’re over-doing it and need a break
Simply put, sometimes we do overdo it. Stress takes over and it turns to panic which turns us into a hot mess of getting absolutely nothing done. So that creates more stress and the cycle continues. When it gets to this stage, the only solution is to take a break. A real break. Allow yourself a day off, get out and get active, go and hang out with friends, treat yourself. Whatever it takes to dump any thoughts of studying and work from your mind, do it. When you come back to study after a break, you’ll find your concentration and memory have improved. Overall, you’ll function so much better than you did before.
In conclusion? Study when you feel good!
So, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Study when you’re feeling your best. If you feel good, there’s a good chance you’ll perform well. If you feel bad, however, you can almost guarantee that you won’t. Listen to your body and respect it. Learning English is like a constant gym workout for your brain, so it gets to be exhausting. You’ll likely find that when you heed the above points, you’ll cruise by the problems you were facing. That irregular verb suddenly makes sense and vocabulary is easier to remember. Try it out and let us know how it goes!
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