How to Study at Night __ Late Night Study Routine

I'll let you in on a little secret. Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone. Hi everyone, today I wanted to show you my late night study routine and what I do every night after coming home from work. However, because I want this video to be as practical as it can possibly be, versus me showing you how I brush my teeth type of thing, I structured it in a way that will answer your most popular questions. So, how can I motivate myself to study at night? Truthfully, the one thing that has always worked for me, always, is don't allow yourself to think too much about it. The more time you delay or postpone getting started, the more your mind will come up with excuses or reasons for you to just F it and go Netflix and chill instead. My routine usually involves changing clothes, washing my face, putting my hair in a bun or ponytail, eating with my fiance, and then bam, time to work. What can help if you need that extra push is study slash productivity triggers. Their role is to cue a desired behavior, such as studying, and make starting as easy and hassle-free as possible. Because our energy is already pretty low, don't just be making it rain randomly. Conserve it for study time. How can I study at night without feeling sleepy or falling asleep? This is probably the biggest struggle students are faced with when trying to study late at night. Although there are a bunch of methods or tricks you can use to stay awake, here are a few that have worked for me. Number one, don't change in your pjs just yet. Your mind associates pajamas or quote-unquote house clothes with relaxation and, hey, sleep. So if your brain creates this link between clothes and a behavior, why not use this to your advantage? Have a set of clothes dedicated to study time. Yes, even the clothes you wear can act as study triggers slash motivational boosters and cue your mind to enter productivity mode. Number two, lights. And I quote, light has a powerful effect on your internal clock, and bright light can temporarily fake the body into thinking it's not yet time for bed. So definitely have lots of light on. Oh, and if you can close the curtains so you don't see how dark it is outside, that's also a plus. Number three, stay active. Avoid passively reading textbooks or highlighting in full zombie mode because your brain needs extra, and I mean extra, stimulation to stay alert and awake. My go-to active reading techniques slash tools are the memory boost method, practice tests, and filling in my study guide as I read along. Side tip, use bright colors as they also act as external stimulation for your mind. And finally, number four, try not to eat a heavy meal before studying at night. Recommended foods that will help you stay awake are salmon, avocado, nuts, citrus, so yay to lemon water, or hey, even dark chocolate. Moving on, where should I study at night? Preferably at a desk. Why? Because a study from the journal Health Psychology found that posture can affect your energy levels. In fact, people who sit up straight report feeling more energetic and excited than those who sit slumped. So yeah, if you've watched my morning study routine, you know I'm a pretty bad example of this. However, I have been trying to change and I'm now studying at a desk as opposed to my couch. Next up is, should I drink coffee? And if yes, how much? I have never drank coffee at night and I strongly encourage you not to either. Remember, caffeine is still a drug and it takes your body between three to five hours to eliminate only half of your intake. Too much of it can actually end up making you jittery, decrease your ability to concentrate and focus, and even cause you to crash. So feeling drowsy or give you a nasty headache. For most adults, 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is considered quote-unquote safe, so you won't have the nasty side effects. It is recommended that you aim for one or two cups a day to stay within this safe zone. Should I nap during a study break? Personally, I don't, but this is just because I don't handle naps very well in general and probably never will. However, I have to tell you that napping actually helps our brain to solidify memories. Research indicates and I quote, when memory is first recorded in the brain, it's still kind of fragile and easily forgotten, especially if the brain is asked to memorize more things. Napping pushes memories to the neocortex, the brain's more permanent storage place, preventing them from being overwritten. And the last question I want to answer is, should I pull an all-nighter? Evidences show that people that stay up late at night have a higher risk for depression. And did you know that losing one night's sleep can impair reasoning and memory for up to four days? So unless you took one epic power nap, you can sleep the next day or you've slept during the day, please, for your own health, don't pull all-nighters to binge study for exams. It will hurt you more than it will do you good. So with that being said, thank you so much for watching. If there are any questions I did not answer in this video and you would like me to cover in a future vid, please leave them in the comments down below and I will address them next time. Oh, and don't forget to subscribe to me if you like what you see, because I post videos every Thursday. Bye guys, thank you for watching!