Catch Me Studying

Chapter 3 of 6 of Catch Me Studying
Study Habits and Consequences

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Harmful study habits are detrimental to your mental health as a student. And most students are unaware of the consequences of what they do daily!

This week, we’re exploring study habits and their consequences:

1. Types of Procrastinators
2. Does Cramming Actually Work?
3. Hustle Culture is Toxic
4. Side Effects of Overworking
5. How to Take Breaks

Types of Procrastinators

🚨 Are you procrastinating right now? 🗣️

Procrastination is a familiar student habit, but did you know there are two types?

1️⃣ Passive procrastinators stick to the traditional approach of delaying tasks until the last minute, often finding themselves in a frenzy during finals or approaching deadlines!¹ 🏃💨

2️⃣ On the other hand, active procrastinators take a more strategic approach by RESCHEDULING  tasks and allocating dedicated time to complete them, even if it means working under tight deadlines.¹ 💪

*️⃣ Research suggests that active procrastinators are more likely to achieve better outcomes than their passive counterparts, despite commencing their work at a similar time.¹ 🕒

Does Cramming Actually Work?

Short answer: No. ❌

Long answer: Yes, but only for approximately six months to one year.² ⏰

Cramming study material may help you ace your exam tomorrow, but will you still remember it six months later? 🤔

Turns out, many students agree that cramming may work in the short term, but it does not do well for long-range learning!² (Which means: your cramming will be useless down the line!) 😣

Another study found that students mainly studied during the last weeks of the semester, revealing that “voluntary meetings and deadlines did not encourage more distributed practice over the semester.”³ ☝️

The study found that students with a higher GPA tend to use more effective learning strategies, such as evenly distributing their studying throughout the semester and using self-tests to ensure their understanding of the learning materials.³ 💯

Food for thought: What are you studying for? To pass an exam, or for your own learning?

Make wiser choices today, legend 🌟🔍

Hustle Culture is Toxic

📢 Yes, we said it!

Celebrating non-stop productivity— is toxic. 🚨

It pressures us to prioritise work at the expense of our well-being, leading to stress and burnout. 💢

This mindset ignores the importance of rest and self-care, ultimately harming our mental and physical health. 🧘

It’s time to reject Hustle Culture and embrace a healthier approach to success. 📈

Side Effects of Overworking

Students have tendencies to both procrastinate AND overwork. ✍️

Understandably, it’s hard to find a balance. 😥

💡 “Studyholicism” is a phrase to describe the “addiction” to studying that many students have. (Yes, it’s similar to workaholicism!)

What are some side effects of overworking or over-studying? 💭

1️⃣ Academic exhaustion⁴ 🪫

2️⃣ Poor sleep patterns¹ and a surge in sleep problems 💤 (And in certain cases, insomnia.⁵)

3️⃣ Negative academic outcomes⁶ 📉

4️⃣ Poor social life⁶, and loneliness⁷ 😞

5️⃣ Heightened worry and stress⁷ 💢

6️⃣ Lower life satisfaction⁷ ☹️

Have you experienced overworking?

How to Take Breaks

In today’s world, there are many ways to take breaks, but not all of them let you emerge rested and ready to take on more work. 🤕 (Let’s be real, when does that happen? 😭)

❌ Instead of taking “social media breaks”, which not only decreases creativity 💡 , but also decreases engagement with their work ⛓️ , and increases emotional exhaustion^{8 9} 💢 … try:

✅ Exercise 🏋️

Exercise breaks improve physical well-being and reduce pain, even if it doesn’t directly benefit objective performance.⁸

✅ Social Breaks 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Social breaks are beneficial depending on the company and the topic of conversation, as conversations unrelated to work are more likely to be relaxing and motivate temporary psychological detachment.⁸

✅ Taking a nap 😴

Taking a short nap reduces psychological tension and improves task performance.⁸ Even though it could heighten sleepiness in the short term, it is beneficial in the long run.⁸

✅ Respite activities 📖

Respite activities are low-effort, relaxing, and enjoyable, such as engaging in leisure, socialisation, and non-work activities.⁸ It leads to heightened motivation and decreased exhaustion, associated with recovery experiences as they enhance psychological detachment from work.⁸

✅ Taking a walk 🚶

More than 80% of participants in 3 tests run by Oppezzo & Schwartz revealed that creativity levels improve after taking a walk.¹⁰ The study states that walking generates novel ideas, improving performance, and suggests that walking increases associate memory activity, which allows ideas to foster better.¹⁰

👉 I shared a bit more in this thread on Twitter! 🙈

In conclusion, pushing yourself too far can have very great consequences. Neglecting your health can affect you soon, or a few years down the road. Don’t succumb to it!

Rest is NOT laziness, rest is NOT neglecting your responsibilities.

Rest is your power to go further. 🏃

Rest heals your body and brain, improving your creativity, memory, and productivity levels! 📈

Take a break today! 🧘

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References

1. Seo, EH 2012, ‘Cramming, Active Procrastination, and Academic Achievement’, Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 1333–1340. ↩︎
2. McIntyre, SH & Munson, JM 2008, ‘Exploring Cramming: Student Behaviors, Beliefs, and Learning Retention in the Principles of Marketing Course’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 226–243. ↩︎
3. Theobald, M, Bellhäuser, H & Imhof, M 2021, ‘Deadlines don’t prevent cramming: Course instruction and individual differences predict learning strategy use and exam performance’, Learning and Individual Differences, vol. 87, p. 101994. ↩︎
4. Molinaro, D, Loscalzo, Y, Buono, C, Ludovica Del Giudice, Alessio Lustro, Chiara Ghislieri & Spagnoli, P 2023, ‘Studyholism and Health Outcomes: Could Internet Addiction Make the Difference?’, Social science computer review, vol. 42, no. 2, SAGE Publishing, pp. 496–511. ↩︎
5. Alshammari, TK, Rogowska, AM, Basharahil, RF, Alomar, SF, Alseraye, SS, Al Juffali, LA, Alrasheed, NM & Alshammari, MA 2023, ‘Examining bedtime procrastination, study engagement, and studyholism in undergraduate students, and their association with insomnia’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13. ↩︎
6. Loscalzo, Y 2021, ‘Studyholism and Study Engagement: What about the Role of Perfectionism, Worry, Overstudy Climate, and Type of School in Adolescence?’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 3, p. 910. ↩︎
7. Bovornusvakool, W, Vodanovich, SJ, Ariyabuddhiphongs, K & Ngamake, ST 2012, ‘Examining the antecedents and consequences of workaholism.’, The Psychologist-Manager Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 56–70. ↩︎
8. Lyubykh, Z, Gulseren, D, Premji, Z, Wingate, TG, Deng, C, Bélanger, LJ & Turner, N 2022, ‘Role of work breaks in well-being and performance: A systematic review and future research agenda.’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, vol. 27, no. 5. ↩︎
9. Rhee, H & Kim, S 2016, ‘Effects of breaks on regaining vitality at work: An empirical comparison of “conventional” and “smart phone” breaks’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 57, pp. 160–167, viewed 27 April 2024, <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563215302703>. ↩︎
10. Oppezzo, M & Schwartz, DL 2014, ‘Give Your Ideas Some legs: the Positive Effect of Walking on Creative thinking.’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 1142–1152, viewed 27 April 2024, <https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf>. ↩︎