How to Break Bad Study Habits and Stay Consistent Throughout the Year

Let’s be real, we’re all guilty of the old ‘due tomorrow, due tomorrow’

If you’re anything like most students, the time when you’re most productive is right at the start of the semester when everything is fresh and nothing is due at the same time. 

You’ve got your planner sorted out, ready to start working. 

Until it gets till about week three and everything starts to pile up, causing you to likely revert to bad study habits. 

But that’s okay! The important thing is to get organised before the chaos starts and prevent yourself from burning out halfway through the year. 

Check the unit guide or outline. 

Before classes start, download your unit guide/outline and write down every important date (when assignments are due, what date exams are, when the study free weeks are, when your uni breaks are, etc.) 

You can pop this down either in a physical planner, or you can use a digital planner on your phone – some of us at Student Edge like to use Notion because it can sync across all our devices and makes it a lot harder to miss anything important. 

Another simple trick is to create folders for all of your classes and subfolders for assignments, notes, lecture slides, etc. 

Figure out your learning style. 

At the end of the day, there’s a lot more than just one way to study and sometimes what works best for you might not work for the next person. 

A good way to find out your best study style is to take a short quiz and figure out whether you’re a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner. 

Then come back to this page and check out the different methods for your style of learning. 

Study methods for visual learners: 

• Creating mind maps 
• Colour coding notes 
• Using flashcards 
• Watching educational videos on YouTube 
• Annotating text 
• Using visual aids and graphics to represent data 

Study methods for auditory learners: 

• Turn your notes into a podcast that you can listen to 
• Record and listen to lectures 
• Read out loud to yourself 
• Verbalise concepts by teaching them to a friend, partner or even the mirror to better your understanding 
• Discuss the class topics in a study group 
• Create a song or jingle to remember specific terms or phrases 

Study methods for kinaesthetic learners: 

• Mind maps and diagrams: draw processes, flowcharts or sketches 
• Colour coding and sticky notes: move notes around physically to group concepts 
• 3D modelling  
• Read aloud or recite formulas while pacing or exercising 
• Use hand motions to represent concepts  
• Teach others to better retain and understand info 

Create a weekly plan. 

Try to plan out your week ahead of time, blocking out time for important things like work, classes and figure out times to study. 

Combine this with knowing when your assignments, tests and exams are happening and you’ll hopefully stay on top of everything for the whole year, or at least until the semester is over. 

This is also a good way of figuring out which days you have the most amount of free time so you don’t feel as overwhelmed and you can take time as needed to catch a break. 

Plus, we've got free weekly plans you can print out or use as a guide.

However, don’t forget that you should never prioritise grades over your mental or physical health. 

Staying consistent throughout the year when studying is all about getting organised in the quieter parts of the year, figuring out the best method of learning for you and staying on top of things going on in your life. 

Best of luck to all the students returning to studying for 2026! You got this.  

You can check out more studying tips for the new year here.