I think we need a license to read academic books because we don’t know how many students bump their heads when they doze off while reading their books. Well, it’s partly the fault of our books and mostly ours. So today we will dive into the 8 methods to avoid sleep while studying. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get going.
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But before we begin, let me emphasize that it’s very important to sleep for at least 7 hours every day. This has been consistently proven when toppers speak of how important sleep has been for them. But sometimes even after sleeping for 7 or 8 hours, we may feel sleepy while studying. So here are my 8 secret and super effective tips.
1. Dead Man’s Motive:
“Dreams are not what you see when you sleep. Dreams are those that don’t let you sleep”
Dr. A. Pj. Abdul Kalam
Do you know who said that? The former President of India, Dr. A. Pj. Abdul Kalam. This is exactly the context of this point. We don’t feel sleepy while studying. We just don’t have enough motivation to be awake. Basically, a dead man’s motive or a Superman’s motive. Yes, even a really huge unplanned goal could leave us overwhelmed and uninspired.
The best solution is to set a goal that is aspirational but achievable. If we look into the life of Dr. Abdul Kalam. Initially, all he wanted to do was to study at a good school and later at a good engineering College. All this was aspirational for him, but not impossible.
This motivated him to do countless hours of study. In school, he became so determined that he scored 100 out of 100 in mathematics. So lift your dreams and become emotionally involved with them and you will stop feeling lazy before we move to technique number two. Do let me know what method you use to avoid feeling sleepy while studying.
2. ANT Psychology:
We have two contexts for ANTs. Here is the problem and the solution. As a problem. It expands as automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). It was initially coined by Dr. Daniel Amen in the early 90s. It’s a psychological term that embeds continuous, uncontrolled negative thoughts. I will fail. I will never get 95%. I cannot complete this massive syllabus that haunts every student some of the other time.
This results in anxiety and an emotional rollercoaster. And what does an anxious and unfocused mind with books do become a sleepy cat? Interestingly, we also have the solution in another context of Ant as a noun, nobody can show us better teamwork than the ants themselves. So make a small study group of two or three students with similar goals.
Set hourly targets and share your understanding and fears with them on those topics. This social studying will help you cope with negative thoughts and emotional cycles, and ultimately an engaging study experience with shared goals will make you succeed.
3. Compound Studies to Avoid Sleep:
Do you know hydrogen is highly flammable and also oxygen? But we all know what forms when it takes two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen to coexist right water. That’s the beauty of a perfect combination. We need a similar combination in our study plans. Too much math might exhaust your brain, and too much English might bore you to sleep. So what should we do?
The perfect shuffle will be to start with practical sums for a warmup and then add theory subjects in between or start with assignments and close with revising the topic. One mental note to make here is to avoid shuffling more than two or three subjects. This might leave you unorganized and confused, so make a perfect compound of your subjects for active studying.
4. Rusting Bones:
You cannot sleep while walking. I’m glad we could say that. Imagine if it was possible, we would have to wear a helmet while walking as well. Our body can doze off only when we become physically inactive and studying is all mental activity. Unless you want it to be fun. Fun. Studying is making doodles or constructive notes. Many students like to read aloud while studying.
Well, our throat is a muscle, so use it to engage your mind. You could even choose to walk into a room while studying or my favorite technique is to chew some mint flavored sugar-free chewing gum. The idea is to keep your bones moving before they get rusted.
5. Adrenaline Meter:
A charged and energetic body is less likely to sleep easily than a lousy and lazy body. A slight adrenaline rush could give you the required charge if you start feeling sleepy while studying, adrenaline heightens our senses and triggers the release of glucose for better energy. Doctors call it the fight or flight hormone, which is basically released to combat dangers. And as it is wisely said, good things come in small doses.
We just need to feel energetic and get out of the sleepiness so a skydiving level of a rhino line may not be required. All we need is a song by Eminem or Imagine Dragons, or a clip from Annabelle to Shake up the Sleeping Dude. I find that exercising before studying helps in keeping the mind active and alive. Another great way could be to make studying interesting by competing with your siblings or giving time limits and marks for performance.
6. Sleepless Sleep:
If you’re feeling sleepy while studying, chances are you haven’t had enough sleep, or maybe you have a poor sleep cycle. And if you sleep while studying, you will be thinking of studying while sleeping because the cylinders ain’t going anywhere. This cycle will continue till you get burnt out.
One of the major reasons for such a devastating sleep cycle could be imposed study when the situation or some person demands you to study at a particular time and you have no choice but to keep studying with a sleepy head. Do you know what’s even more important than the right motivation? The right habit. They say the right motivation will help you to start, but the right habit will help you to keep going.
If you create a balanced routine of sleep and study, neither your teacher nor your parents will expect you to study more than you’re already studying. And since you’re studying regularly, no situation like a test Viva or boards will force you to zombie study. Ensure that you get at least 7 hours of sleep every day. Avoid studying during the graveyard hours. Create your own schedule and stick to it so that nothing forces you to change it.
7. The Body Season:
It all ends up with setting the right mood for the body. We cannot expect our body to feel active inside a warm blanket after a heavy dinner. The right ambiance is to have enough light in the room. Melatonin is a sleep-regulating hormone, and it is generally triggered by the lack of light, so we need a perfectly lit room with the right posture.
Yes, spreading your body on the comfortable sofa with legs flying all around might look entertaining, but will defocus you from studying the best way to sit with the right posture and take occasional breaks for movement. Another important aspect of an active body is light food and an ample amount of water in your body.
Studies say that dehydration is one of the core reasons for mental fatigue. So lock this into your mind that biryani is not light food and cool drinks are not water. Consume healthy, Study Hard.
8. Cold Water Shower:
The study had shown that cold and even icy cold shower increases alertness, anti-depression hormones, free up your mind, accelerate metabolism, and wakes you up. So next time if you dazzling up so head up and take shower and tune into the coldest setting
