Breaking Up Studying Monotony
We all know about a pub crawl. It is a chance to move around and get the most out of a new ID (real or fake). While less fun, this same principle can be applied to studying.
A study crawl involves moving around from spot to spot on campus in a stream of studying. You can do it solo, but it is far better with friends.
Start out with a familiar spot like Coe. Meet up with your friends and develop a game plan. Decide where you are going to go first and how long you are going to spend at each location. Do you want to stop by a café, like the book and bean or Elements? Are you going to try new study spots like or stay on the beaten path? Do you need to swing by the office hours of the teacher for that impossible class?
You can move to a new location each time you finish an assignment, giving yourself a little brain-break walk as a reward for ending your procrastination.
Of course, you could always go with the flow. Go where your heart takes you but, be careful that this doesn’t act as an excuse to not lock in. Setting a timer to stay at a location for 25-50 minutes before moving to the next location.
Study crawls aren’t exactly an intensive work outs, but they can help promote movement and get your step ups during long study days. Just walking around can help lift your mood and relax you during stressful exams. Adding a social aspect to this can be amazing for student well-being without sacrificing academics.
Much like the pub crawl, the highlights can be finding a hole in the wall. Look into building you have never entered. You might find your new favorite study spot and see people you might never run into.
The A&S building has window nooks that provide a cozy and aesthetic study spot perfect to study in after picking up a warm drink from a café. From there, head to the engineering building lounge. The older building on campus provides a cozy and often warmer space to study and newer buildings like Enzi, offer open air brightness to lift your energy. Try going back and forth between these two settings to balance energy and focus.
Study crawls can provide community and tie something you enjoy (hanging out with friends) and something you hate (homework and studying). Mixing fun with the dread can even have you looking forward to studying, as impossible as it may seem.
The University ought to capture and promote methods like these to incentivize school community and academic success. Making a map of places to go or giving coupons to cafes for those that are on a study crawl, could be hugely beneficial for students in academics, mental and physical health.
