A college student must study 2-3 hours per week outside of class for every credit hour. That is 24-36 hours for a 12-credit hour course per week, which is about 5-6 hours per day, depending on if you study every day or six days per week.
Are you preparing for exams in school or professional certifications and wondering if you’re putting the right amount of time into studying?
You wonder, “How much time is enough?” One hour? Three hours? Four to six hours a day? Perhaps burning the midnight oil is better?
The truth is that the answers to these questions will depend on many factors. As such, the time needed to study varies from person to person.
That said, having a study time benchmark will help you contextualize the effort you’re putting in. It could also inspire you to do more if you’re seriously lagging.
In this article, we run the rule over the number of hours you should study daily. We also discuss the adverse effects of too much studying and provide tips to help you use your study time more wisely.
What is the number of hours you can study effectively per day?
You can study effectively from 30 minutes to six hours per day when you space out learning over a long period and integrate proven learning methods into your study time. Such methods include interleaved learning, retrieval practice, transforming notes into different formats, and self-explanation.
When studying, the phrase garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) remains salient. There’s a point of saturation where mental fatigue has set in, and you’re just going through the motions.
Many people, particularly students, struggle with study hours. How long is enough?
A wise man once said, “It’s not only how far, but how well.” You can study for long hours and accomplish very little. You can study for five hours and only be productive for two hours. So what does it mean to study effectively?
In simple terms, effectively studying is the efficient use of time and encoding course content and concepts into long-term memory.
The efficient use of time does not include cramming course content 2-3 days before the exam. You could get away with it for a course or test that does not have large quantities of information or if you have an exceptional memory. However, the average student cannot.
In essence, effectively studying is tied to what you do in a day’s study session and the cumulation of your repeated efforts over weeks.
How to study effectively
Effectively studying requires adopting two core learning methods: spaced practice and retrieval practice.
Spaced or distributed practice
Spaced practice describes studying that takes place over multiple sessions. It requires splitting the course content or syllabus into smaller chunks and then focusing on each lump per study session.
You must also distribute your study time between old and new materials. This means you’ll constantly have to revisit materials you’ve previously studied. For example, you can review what you learned in week one while studying in weeks 3 or 4.
Spaced-out learning schedule and revisiting previous lessons results in what psychologists describe as the spacing effect. Repetitions spaced in time are proven to produce stronger memories than repetitions massed closer together in time.
With this learning method, each study session may only be a few hours, except you’re studying for many courses at a time. Even at that, you’ll need to balance study time with caring for your physical and mental health.
