Want to “Study Overnight” but still be Effective?

illustration of a person who works late at night (created by canva)

Who here likes to just study the night before the exam. The solution you often take is of course studying overnight or skimming last minute, right? However, is this method really effective, or is it just panicking without maximum results? Here's the discussion. 

Studying overnight certainly requires you to study in a short time with high intensity. But, did you know that this learning technique can have a negative impact? Such as sleep deprivation, which decreases memory and concentration, stress and anxiety, which makes it difficult to understand the material and of course it is easy to forget, because the information is not absorbed properly in a short time.

However, in a pinch, there are a few tricks that can help make overnight studying effective.

Effective Overnight Studying Strategies

If you're forced to study the night before an exam, do so with a more focused strategy:

1. Focus on Priority Materials

Not all material can be studied overnight. You can try to identify which topics appear most often on the exam, or which have a high score weighting, and those are the ones you can study.

2. Use Active Recall Technique

Instead of just reading, try to test your understanding by making small questions from the material you read and ask yourself. This technique has been proven to be more effective in provoking the brain to remember information.

3. Learning with Mind Mapping

Visualizing material with concept maps or diagrams helps connect information faster than reading long texts. This is one of the quick strategies, you can read while noting down the points of the material you learning while making it into a mind mapping.

4. Avoid Multitasking

Who has a notification, immediately checks their cellphone? Don't be tempted to open social media while studying because of course your focus will be disturbed. You can try putting your cell phone in a place that is out of reach of your vision, for example in a locker, under a pillow. Full focus on one task at a time is more effective.

Studying overnight can be an emergency solution, but not a good long-term strategy. If you must, focus on the important material and avoid distractions. However, it's still best to study regularly for deeper understanding and not to rely on frantic studying the night before an exam.

So, do you still want to rely on overnight studying, or start trying out more effective methods? 😉

If you want to learn more about these effective overnight speeding tips, you can watch @DavinaAdinda's channel!