Reward Yourself

Rewarding yourself for studying may be one of the best ways to train yourself to study more. I've been studying Japanese on and off for years. I know that knocking myself out with hours of study often just sours the whole process. Then when I see a textbook, I'll start to feel nauseous and avoid opening it altogether.


But I like studying kanji. So I've decided, rather than studying hardcore for a few months, then taking a few months off of studying, I should regulate my study time a little more closely. For me, maybe ninety minutes is good. The problem is setting aside the time to study.


This is where my conception of rewards comes in. I like cycling. I like watching DVDs. I like drinking single malt scotch. If I tell myself 'No scotch until I've studied Japanese,' I will sit down and study. And ninety minutes of kanji study really flies by. I can set a timer so I don't go too far. Then it's time to reward myself, yay!


I often do this with cleaning. But cleaning's not so bad. I don't have much stuff, and cleaning is very physical. It's exercise, so it feels good. It's like a meditation. Studying could possibly be like this, but it's not going to get your body in shape. It's well-documented in studies that your brain works better, not only if you're in good physical condition, but especially right after exercise. If you go for a jog, or go cycling, you'll get more out of your study time if you do it immediately afterwards.


You don't have to make a set schedule, but it means that there should be some order to your activities. If you set your study time before you eat, you may be too hungry to concentrate (and not enough glucose for your brain.) Immediately after you eat, you may feel drowsy. I do. So I recommend really thinking about how you order your activities in the day. Simply changing the order of a couple things can help you maximize your productivity. Finally, don't forget to reward yourself after studying. This will positively reinforce your study habits, and you won't cringe every time you see the cover of your textbook.

▼▽▼▼【講師】Sandy先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【Just Relax】2009.09.02 (Wed)