This text was originally published on my former blog typeoneminimalist.com. The website has been offline since 2020. This is an archive version.

Being a student is great! However, there are always those few weeks in every semester that stress the hell out of everybody. Add a side job, personal duties and social life and you’re left with a near-24-hour day. Every day. I probably don’t have to explain how this impacts one’s quality of life.

These times are hard. But at the same time, they’re not. They shouldn’t be. You’re going to base your whole future life on these experiences. So how can you make these studying times more enjoyable?

Get interested

Seriously. If you’re going to study – choose something that interests you. At least in some way. Without interest, studying will always be a chore. With, however, it can be fun. Sure, there will always be lectures that just don’t make sense and add no value whatsoever to your life. But every university should offer at least some courses that align with your interests.

When you made the decision to go to university you made the decision to learn something. So you should naturally have some level of motivation. Use this motivation! Choose the lectures that interest you. Engage in them. Read the optional material. Use their potential to the fullest.

And for other lectures you don’t like: Just do what’s mandatory. If you feel like you don’t benefit from them there’s no point in digging deeper. But mandatory work needs to be done. There’s no way around that.

There certainly is a way to make boring classes a bit more exciting. For example, I visited a class in Intercultural Communication the past few months. It sounded interesting at first but the lessons turned out to be so theoretical that I came out asking myself if I was still alive every time. Then our teacher showed us an online-tool with which we could compare the cultures of different countries. I loved it. It was so interesting. This single online tool switched the perception of the whole class for me. I wanted to know what every number on the scale meant. So I dug into the theoretical notes we talked about before in class. It wasn’t that boring anymore.

To put it short: Focus on the interesting aspects of your studies. Prioritize. This makes studying more fun and easier.

Become a strategist like Napoleon

Let’s say you’re in a situation where you have to deliver four assignments and accomplish one exam in the course of a week. Sounds horrifying, right? However, this can be easily managed – given one fact: You started early enough.

As soon as you get an assignment or an exam date: Start planning. When will you do what? This is key. Planning cuts out a ton of unnecessary studying time. Have you ever spent 30 minutes looking through a long document when starting to study? I certainly have. And I could’ve used this 30 minutes for something way better. That’s why I believe in planning.

Don’t overcomplicate stuff

When I study something, I always ask myself: Will I benefit from that information? Will I ever need the exact birth and death dates of the communication scientist Geert Hofstede? I guess no – and if I do, I can look it up in my notes.

Studying is a game of efficiency. Understanding the whole concept and how the single parts of it work together is way more important than remembering plain facts. Often times, it’s all you need for the exam and uses up less time.

Eliminate distractions

What’s beautiful about minimalism is that it eliminates distraction. A minimalist’s desk is ordered and clean most of the time; a minimalist filesystem on your computer makes wasting time way harder; having fewer apps on your phone has less potential for distraction; and most importantly: A minimalist mindset makes you focus one thing at a time.

Multitasking doesn’t work. Yes, you can pull it off but it won’t make you more efficient. You will remember less from what you study and spend more time studying in total. There are several studies that prove that. So in case you’re conquering way too many tasks at a time: It might be a good idea to rethink your multitasking habits.

Focus on the important stuff when studying. Spend time on what you find interesting. Plan your studying time. Eliminate distractions and make your environment more minimalist. Avoid getting lost between papers and lines.