Before You Open the Books
Why preparing for studying isn’t just about organising the work. It’s about preparing the person doing it, too.
Have you ever noticed how the smell of popcorn can suddenly make you feel like watching a movie?
Or how a cold, rainy afternoon seems to call for a blanket, a bowl of soup and absolutely no reason to leave the house?
And then there’s summer. Sunshine, swimming pools, watermelon and that familiar feeling that life should probably be happening outdoors.
Funny how that works, isn’t it?
We don’t always consciously decide to make these connections. Our brains have simply learned them through experience.
A particular smell, sound, place or situation can remind us of something familiar. And sometimes, before we’ve even given it much thought, we’re already anticipating what comes next.
Our brains don’t only learn information. They also learn associations.
And that brings us to something we don’t talk about nearly enough when it comes to studying.
Your brain has learned something about studying, too.
Think about what happens when a teenager hears the words:
“Time to study!”
For some, it’s simply another part of the day.
For others, those three little words might as well be accompanied by dramatic background music.
Suddenly, there’s frustration. Resistance. Maybe even a little panic.
“I have SO much to do.”
“I’m never going to remember all of this.”
“What’s the point? I studied last time and still didn’t do well.”
And sometimes, the books haven’t even been opened yet!
Of course, not every teenager responds this way. But when studying has repeatedly been associated with pressure, disappointment, conflict or feeling overwhelmed, those experiences can influence what a learner expects the next study session to feel like.
Our thoughts, emotions and physical responses don’t operate independently. They influence one another.
Which means that when we sit down to study, we’re bringing more than our books to the desk.
We’re bringing ourselves.
So, what exactly are we preparing for?
When we think about preparing for a study session, we usually think about the obvious things.
Do I have my textbooks?
Where are my notes?
When is the exam?
How many chapters do I need to finish?
And, of course, the very important question: Where did I put my highlighter?
These are all useful questions.
But what if preparing to study involved a little more than organising stationery and making a timetable?
What if we also considered the person who’s about to do the learning?
At TeenUp, I like looking at study preparation from four connected perspectives.
- Preparing the body
Before we expect our brains to concentrate, it’s worth paying attention to what’s happening in our bodies.
Are we exhausted? Restless? Hungry? Tense? Have we been sitting for hours?
Our physical state can influence how alert, comfortable and ready we feel to engage with a task.
Sometimes, what looks like a lack of motivation might partly be a learner who is tired, uncomfortable or struggling to settle.
And here’s something interesting: just as our brains can learn to associate certain experiences with particular expectations, familiar routines can also become cues that help us prepare for what’s coming next.
A consistent study routine can gradually make the transition into learning feel more familiar and predictable.
Preparing the body isn’t about achieving some perfect state of calm. We don’t all need to feel completely relaxed to learn effectively.
It’s about becoming aware of our physical state and what we might need to participate in the task ahead.
- Preparing our thoughts
Have you ever tried concentrating while your mind is busy having seventeen different conversations?
It’s quite a talent.
Unfortunately, not a particularly useful one when you’re trying to remember the causes of the French Revolution.
Our thoughts and expectations influence how we approach challenges.
If a teenager repeatedly tells themselves that they’re terrible at studying, that they always fail or that there’s simply too much work, those thoughts can add to the pressure they already feel.
And sometimes, those thoughts become so familiar that we barely notice them anymore.
Learning to recognise our thoughts, question unhelpful assumptions and approach the task more constructively is a skill worth developing.
Not because we need to think positively every second of the day, but because our thoughts don’t always tell us the whole story.
And sometimes, a small change in perspective can make a challenging task feel a little more manageable.
- Preparing our emotions
Studying isn’t always an emotionally neutral activity.
There can be excitement, curiosity and satisfaction.
But there can also be disappointment, frustration, fear and the occasional overwhelming desire to throw a textbook across the room.
Our emotions can influence our attention, motivation and memory. And while some emotions can make studying more challenging, others can actually help us learn!
Think about how much easier it can be to remember something that genuinely interests or excites you.
Curiosity draws our attention, enjoyment can keep us engaged, and that wonderful feeling of accomplishment can motivate us to come back for more.
Emotionally meaningful experiences can also leave stronger impressions on our memory, although that doesn’t mean we always remember every detail accurately.
So, preparing our emotions isn’t only about managing the difficult ones. It’s also about creating opportunities for positive emotions to become part of the learning experience.
The goal isn’t to feel happy or excited every time we open a textbook.
It’s to become more aware of our emotions and learn how to work with them, rather than against them.
- Preparing the actual work
Now we get to the books!
And here’s where another important skill comes in.
Planning.
Imagine sitting down with an entire term’s worth of work in front of you.
Maths. Science. History. English.
A mountain of information, several approaching deadlines and absolutely no idea where to begin.
It’s enough to make anyone suddenly remember that their bedroom desperately needs cleaning.
But what happens when we take that mountain and break it into smaller, manageable pieces?
Instead of:
“I need to study Science.”
We might say:
“I have 25 minutes. I’m going to review one concept, explain it in my own words and test myself with five questions.”
Now we have a starting point.
We know what we’re doing, how long we have and what finishing looks like.
And when we complete that task, we have something valuable: evidence of progress.
That sense of accomplishment can be motivating. It can help us approach the next session with a little more confidence.
And that’s important, because our brains are responsive to rewarding experiences. Seeing progress, achieving a manageable goal or recognising that we’ve learned something can encourage us to return and try again.
Of course, not every study session will feel rewarding, and that’s perfectly normal.
But learning to plan realistic tasks, recognise progress and adjust when something isn’t working can make studying feel far less overwhelming.
And perhaps most importantly, planning helps us move from staring at everything we still need to do, to knowing exactly what we’re going to do next.
And this is where consistency comes in.
Here’s something worth remembering.
We don’t usually become confident at something simply because someone explained it to us once.
We practise.
Think about learning to ride a bicycle, play an instrument or master a new sporting skill.
We repeat movements. We make mistakes. We adjust. We try again.
Over time, practice can strengthen the neural connections involved in learning and help certain skills become more familiar and efficient.
Studying works with this principle too.
But repetition isn’t only important for remembering the information in our textbooks.
Consistent routines can also help us develop more familiar and supportive ways of approaching the learning process itself.
Remember our popcorn and movie nights?
Our brains are constantly learning from repeated experiences and the cues associated with them.
And while a study routine won’t magically eliminate stress, repeating helpful preparation habits can make getting started feel more familiar and predictable.
When we repeatedly practise preparing our bodies, noticing our thoughts, recognising our emotions and organising our work, those steps can gradually become habits.
And habits can reduce some of the effort involved in deciding where and how to begin.
This doesn’t mean every study session will be easy.
It doesn’t mean stress will disappear.
And it certainly doesn’t mean we need to follow a rigid routine every minute of every day.
It simply means we’re giving ourselves opportunities to practise a more intentional approach to learning.
Because consistency isn’t only about doing the work repeatedly. It’s also about practising how we prepare ourselves to do the work.
Don’t wait until the night before the exam.
We wouldn’t expect someone to become a confident swimmer by reading about swimming the night before jumping into the deep end.
Yet sometimes we expect teenagers to manage their time, regulate their emotions, concentrate, remember information and perform under pressure without having had much opportunity to practise all those skills.
And then we wonder why exam season becomes so stressful.
Preparing for exams isn’t only about how much information we can fit into our heads.
It’s also about developing the skills and routines that help us engage with that information.
And those skills take time.
The good news?
We don’t have to change everything overnight.
We can start small.
We can practise.
We can adjust.
And we can build from there.
A little food for thought
Before you rush off to create another study timetable, here’s something you can try with your teen.
Ask them:
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how effective do you think your current study routine is?”
Not how many hours they spend studying. Not how much work they manage to get through.
But how well their current routine actually works for them.
Does it help them feel prepared? Do they know where to start? Can they stay reasonably focused? Do they finish feeling that they’ve made progress?
And perhaps the most interesting question:
“What would make your study routine just one point better?”
You might be surprised by their answer!
And if there’s room for improvement, you’re in the right place.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be unpacking the different parts of study preparation, from getting our bodies ready to learn, to managing our thoughts and emotions, and finally planning study sessions that feel manageable and productive.
Because an effective study routine isn’t just about what we study.
It’s also about how we prepare ourselves to learn.
Inwards & Upwards.
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