By The academic journey of students is not always a walk in the park. Meeting tight deadlines, staying up late studying for exams, and handling complex assignments feels like swimming upstream.
Moreover, the majority of college, undergraduate, and postgraduate students face the same issues in their academic journey.
So if you also face challenges while studying, then this blog is for you! Let’s discuss common study problems and concrete solutions so you can get back on track.
7 Challenges Students Encounter While Studying: How To Deal With Them?
1. Lack Of Motivation: Not Feeling Like Studying:
Motivation is the driving force influencing the student’s desire to learn. If you lack motivation, even simple and little tasks feel challenging. The common reasons for lack of motivation in students are: finding the subject boring and difficult, no clear goals, feeling tired, stressed and overwhelmed, comparing your grades with others, and losing confidence
The lack of motivation is the most challenging aspect students have to face while studying because it leads to their academic progress declining, increased procrastination, poor academic performance and loss of interest in their studies.
How To Deal With A Lack Of Motivation?
Dealing with a lack of motivation includes setting meaningful goals. You must know what you want to achieve academically and professionally, set goals such as I want to secure an A+ grade in my finals, or I want to enter the medicine field, which requires at least 95% in high school. Also, if you are in university, you can make goals regarding keeping your CGPA above 3.5.
Then, break your tasks into smaller sections. Completing smaller tasks one by one can help you feel your progress. Next, track your progress as it boosts confidence. At last, remind yourself how your degree or course will help you achieve future plans.
2. Procrastination: Putting Off The Tasks Until The Last Minute:
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 80% to 95% of college students procrastinate on their coursework. Distracting notifications, looming deadlines, busy schedules and overwhelming workloads are the top reasons for delaying the studying time.
You might be wondering why procrastination happens. Let me tell you. It happens when students feel that the tasks are too large and complicated, a fear of not doing the task effectively, lack of motivation, difficulty starting assignments, and distractions such as phones, social media etc. Procrastination often leads to last-minute cramming, low-quality assignments, increased stress as the deadline approaches, no time for revisions or research, and piles of incomplete work.
How To Deal With Procrastination?
- Dividing the tasks into smaller sections: when you break the assignment into small and manageable sections, your mental barrier reduces and you can start with the task.
- Give yourself a short countdown: set a timer for 10 minutes work. Once you start working, you don’t feel right stopping it.
- Set up a quiet and distraction-free study area: A survey of high school students revealed 52% believed their smartphone negatively impacted their ability to study or complete homework. Therefore, it is better to keep your phone away, turn notifications off, and set a clear study area.
- Use early deadlines: create your own deadlines before the final one to avoid last-minute pressure.
- Reward yourself: once you complete a major task, reward yourself by taking a break or treating yourself.
3. Poor Time Management: Not Knowing How To Manage Study Hours?
One of the biggest academic challenges for students is time management. With so many personal, academic and professional duties, students feel overwhelmed. Moreover, they struggle with managing time for studying for exams, assignments and taking classes.
If you are also the one who feels the day goes by quickly without you completing the task, rushing to complete the assignments, then poor time management is the reason. One major reason for stress in students is poor time management and heavy academic pressure.
Why Cannot Students Manage Time Effectively?
This is because they have no study plan, they feel tasks will take just a few minutes, balancing personal, professional, and academic commitments is not for the weak, they have last-minute studying habits, and they overcommit socially or academically.
As a result, students have to face missed deadlines, continuous stress or burnout, reduced academic progress and no balance between academic and personal life, such as studying for the whole day without breaks and the next day just spending time lying in bed.
Tips For Effective Time Management:
- Plan your week early: include classes, study sessions, breaks and deadlines.
- Prioritize tasks: first complete the important and urgent tasks.
- Use pomodoro technique: it is a time management technique which breaks work into 25-minute intervals separated by 5-minute breaks.
- Avoid multitasking: focus on one task at a time. This leads to improved concentration and accuracy.
- Review your schedule weekly: by the end of the week, adjust plans based on what was effective and what was not.
4. Stress & Anxiety: Mentally Exhausted & Overwhelmed:
The problem of stress is natural for students. When deadlines approach, exams are near, and a pile of incomplete assignments is in front of students, they feel there is no way out.
Moreover, in such situations, stress affects concentration, motivation, memory and overall well-being of students, leading to their poor academic performance.
Students may feel stressed mainly because of demanding workloads, high expectations from family, tight deadlines, not being able to balance work and study, and lack of sleep.
However, there are some stress management techniques that you practice as students:
- Maintain a healthy routine: sleep 7-8 hours, eat balanced meals and stay hydrated.
- Take regular study breaks: don’t study continuously for the whole day or night ,as it affects your productivity. It is beneficial to take short breaks.
- Talk to someone: you can share your thoughts with a friend, counselor or family member. It freshens your mind.
- Break your tasks into smaller sections: managing workload in small sections makes you feel less overwhelmed.
- Practice relaxation techniques: light workout, walking, journaling, and meditation can reduce your stress.
5. Using Ineffective Study Methods: Working Hard But Not Smart:
Are you one of the students who studies for many hours but still you feel unprepared, then the problem is your ineffective study methods. Moreover, this means that your study method doesn’t align with how your brain learns.
Ineffective study methods:
- Passive re-reading the same material repeatedly.
- Highlighting large portions of text.
- Memorization without understanding concepts.
- Cramming the night before an exam.
- Multitasking whilst studying.
These methods may be effective in the short term but not in the long term.
How To Handle This Problem?
Utilize better study techniques such as active recalling, spaced repetition instead of cramming, practice past papers, and teaching material to someone else to show how well you understood it, and use visual tools such as mindmaps, diagrams, and charts to simplify complex topics.
6. Work Overload; Having So Much To Do At Once:
Students have to complete multiple assignments , research papers, exams, group projects, and sometimes even part-time jobs. Moreover, the pressure of doing everything at once can become overwhelming.
This is not a common issue for college students, but for university students, as they have to complete complex and lengthy assignments one by one, such as essays, dissertations, etc. For essays, you can seek assistance from Essay Writing Services UAE.
Also, they accept too many commitments, fail to follow a study schedule, and struggle to manage their time effectively.
This impacts the students in a way that students have to rush with assignments with no effective learning, as a result, they face constant fatigue and high stress levels.
How To Handle Workload?
The key tip to handle workload is to prioritize tasks based on deadlines and importance, use a weekly study plan to avoid last-minute panics, don’t multitask; one task at a time, and you can also ask for help from tutors, classmates, study groups, or services, like Assignment Help Dubai as they simplify complex topics and can help you with sections like research, editing etc.
7. Ignoring Health & Well-Being:
When deadlines are near, students sacrifice their sleep, skip meals and study continuously without breaks. This is not an effective way of studying. It leads to mental exhaustion. When you ignore your health, it can lead to lower energy, poor concentration, weak memory, mood swings, and increased stress.
How To Deal With This Problem?
One of the best ways to maintain well-being is to sleep properly. This is because it makes the brain active, leading to faster learning and better retention.
Next, take short breaks and stay hydrated. Eat balanced meals and stay active. Don’t study for the whole day and night, instead, include relaxation and social activities in your schedule.
Final Thoughts:
The academic journey is not easy. There are various problems you encounter, such as procrastination, time management, lack of motivation, ineffective study habits, workloads, and stress.
Moreover, these problems are natural. So, don’t worry. Just practice the strategies mentioned above and improve your academic performance.
Success is not about studying continuously but studying with confidence, clarity and balance!