Have you ever studied in the library?
Do you prefer studying at home or at the library? I love going to the library for studying. But sometimes (once a week) I need a break and study at home. For studying like writing things down, summarize, etc. I grab myself a tea, some snacks, ear plugs and my utensils and I'm good to go. For studying like memorizing things I prefer home, because then I can speak out loud, wander around and have some more freedom.
Sometimes being at home is too disruptive, and I get distracted by all the stuff that I need to do around my place. At the library, any noise or mess isn't my problem to solve, so it's easier to just be in my own zone.
At home mostly. I can wear ugly comfortable pajamas and nobody is there to judge me (except my flatmates sometimes haha). I can eat and drink coffee while studying - very important! Nobody distracts me and I don't run into acquaintances who want to grab some coffee. It's also time-saving because the library is a 25 minute drive from my home.
Depends on classes. I'm roughly the same productivity at home and in the library, so it becomes a question of what is more efficient. If I have more classes I study at the library until the next class begins. Going to the library solely for it even though it is just a 10 min bike ride is a waste of energy and creates decision fatigue.
Home. I like to have a setup around me (all my books and laptop within reach, coffee, etc) and I like to play music while I work. I also tend to scatter everything all around me so I can look between my notes, my textbook, laptop and the sheet I'm writing on without fumbling on a small desk or table.
I've associated school and library with social time after a bunch of failed study sessions with friends. I also find it very distracting to have people eating food or whispering with thier friends. I also went to a very large university so finding a spot to study was very difficult. My new campus is smaller and it's easier, but I still prefer my desk by a long shot.
It depends on what I'm studying/what work I'm doing and the day. During the week, I'll do the majority of my work and studying in my dorm room simply because its more convenient, which is a pro. The other pro's are; if my work involves reading, I can lay on my bed and do it; I have the freedom of studying without clothes on; I can easily grab a snack, or make some tea or something. The weekend (usually Sunday) is when I can devote a chunk of time to going to the library, so I organize my stuff and go and stay there for a couple hours. Pros of the library are that its super quiet and makes you wanna do work, especially if there are other people around doing work. Thats a huge plus for me.
The pros are that I am not easily distracted. At home I have distractions and things that I can clean. I find that watching tv, reading books, and laying around happen at home. I am more wiling to take breaks. I also have used the library from day one. I have never "talked" or "hung out" in the library so I find myself being able to stay on task. The cons of studying at the library are surprisingly numerous. The library at my school is noisy but in a productive way. I find that it can be a little distracting towards the end of the day. The next one would be the lack of space. I probably spend about 20 good mins finding a study space. I have a lot of people at my school so its a mad rush.
Library any day - dorm is too warm and too many distractions. Always someone playing music or talking loudly, and it's on the edge of campus. Plus there's more peer pressure to study (or not lmao) and it's near the dining halls/classes
This is awesome. I want to start doing it. I even bought a lunch box and I'm going to take dinner with me so I can eat meal right after class and then head to the library right away. Without wasting time on going back and forth to my house which takes 25min one way. Congrats on keeping with CS. I dropped out CS and now I am starting from the bottom with different major...
Library. When I'm in my apartment, my brain is in "relax" mode, which usually means doing everything except my schoolwork. The library however is delightfully quiet and I've used it as a study place for so long that my mind just naturally associates it with "study" mode. I think for most people, the library will provide a better environment. I never go to the library, but I have a very good environment at home to study. I do notice change if that environment isn't as good as normal, but I rather change it then go to the library. Also, at home there are more things that can distract you. You notice a cup, so you bring that to the kitchen. In the kitchen you notice that the cereal is on the counter, so you put it away etc. That sort of things distract people and they just don't exist at the library. You lose less time that way and you keep focus better. Ok, I changed my mind, there is a slight advantage to studying at the library. Having different places for different activities can help you mentally switch gears. If you work as well as relax in your dorm room, you might have trouble switching from one thing to the other. For instance, you get to your room and need to study. You feel stressed so you take 10 minutes to play a computer game. Suddenly it's an hour later and you haven't started studying. If you only study in the library, then you go there and it's more difficult to lose focus from studying for long periods. Your location is a constant reminder of what you should be doing. Conversely, say you have some big assignment to complete and you decide to do it in the morning, get some sleep. Maybe it's harder to 'turn off' and get to sleep because your brain is still in work mode.
I bring whatever I may need that day. If it's almost lunch time, then yeah I'll bring some food with me. I usually just have my backpack (which holds my pens, notebooks, folders, etc.), any textbooks I may need, and laptop (if needed).
İt's about mentally separating space, and kind of treating it like a non-negotiable job. İ go to the library and sit down, I'm now in work mode, going for multiple breaks adds more resistance which is pain, and when I get home I can guilt free chill out. At home though i just keep putting it off to "after breakfast, when the time is at 10, ok no I'll start at 10:30, ok fine 11, ugh after lunch for sure" and it keeps going. Whereas I set a time to get to the library before 9am, and when I sit down it starts and that's it. At home I watch Netflix at my desk, İ use discord and Reddit, İ eat there, so when it's time to study i personally find it hard not to just check Reddit and discord when I'm bored. İ also go with friends which gives nice social breaks as well, you can suffer together and coffee/lunch together so it makes the whole day more bearable, but you can't talk with them whenever you want as if you were just having a study day together in someones home or a cafe.
Most people in my German medical school study at home - some go to the library, but definitely not the majority. And for all the sitcoms and ads that always show medical students form study groups that meet up in empty seminar rooms full of anatomy books and skeleton props, there is a clear lack of study groups at my uni - basically hardly anyone does it. I definitely prefer home, never sacrifice comfort. But if you live in a dorm room with multiple people, libraries simply offer more. More space to breathe, bigger desk, better lightning, way faster internet (in Turkey at least) and motivation.
OP said they were spending 8-9 hours a day studying in the library so that they don’t fall behind. So, it’s possible they are using the library as a quiet place to study, for WiFi, or for access to a computer rather than physical copies of books. I highly doubt that OP is spending 8-9 hours a day in the library because they aren’t intelligent enough to grasp how a google search works.
I've been having a lot of fun in my classes and all I've had to do was about 1 hour for my German final, since it was just a memorized scenario, and about 30 minutes for European Expansion. I feel like I understudied but I ended up passing all of my finals. Had a B- for European and A- for all of my others. I was quite proud.
I've been studying for one exam ( accelerated calculus) for about 8 -10 hours a day for over a week because I bombed the first test and now need to pass the final to pass the class. I've been studying for organic chem for about 4 -6 hours a day because I currently have a c+ I'd like to bring to a b. I already had an a+ in ethics so I studied maybe 3 hours total for that exam and I haven't studied at all for my physiology exam since I have an A and he drops our lowest test score including the final. On average I currently spend 13 hours a day studying for finals but a lot of that has to do with I'm trying to make up for bad grades at the beginning of the semester, largely because it was my first semester at university after transferring from a community college and I underestimated the rigidity of the tests in the beginning.
Halfway through the semester I created a study log and timed the time I spent studying without distractions. I stop the timer whenever I am taking a break or I get distracted. This has helped me see how much I am actually working vs. time spent sitting in the library and it really helped me get more out of the time I spend "studying". It also helps you see how much time you actually dedicated in each subject and where you might be able to spend less/more time. When studying in the library I get to a point where my brain's feeling fried so I want to take a break. I've tried just listening to an entertaining podcast for 5 min during my break but I feel like it's not the best idea sine I want the library to be a study-only place so I get into the zone whenever I'm there. I could just walk out of the room, but then I'd have to take all my stuff with me so it doesn't get stolen, and I might lose my seat. Even though most libraries are a decent walk away I find I can't focus at all in my dorm room, whether my roommate's in there or not. And while the libraries get full the study areas in my hall tend to get more crowded than the libraries so to the libraries I go, you just have to find the right hours.
I've been there a handful of times. But only because of either me holding a group study there, or being in downtown between classes because going back to the suburbs and back for my next class would be ridiculous. Even then for the latter I almost prefer the Y or a coffee shop.
I do almost everything in the library. The books are an underused resource for research you can trust an is usually more comprehensive. I like that it's quiet and being on a environment where everyone else is working puts me in the zone to work. I live across town from campus. I still go for the environment. It's easier to focus and work there. At home, I get too distracted. Hence why I have 24 hours to write 4 papers, even though I've had down time all week.
Sometimes being at home is too disruptive, and I get distracted by all the stuff that I need to do around my place. At the library, any noise or mess isn't my problem to solve, so it's easier to just be in my own zone.
At home mostly. I can wear ugly comfortable pajamas and nobody is there to judge me (except my flatmates sometimes haha). I can eat and drink coffee while studying - very important! Nobody distracts me and I don't run into acquaintances who want to grab some coffee. It's also time-saving because the library is a 25 minute drive from my home.
Depends on classes. I'm roughly the same productivity at home and in the library, so it becomes a question of what is more efficient. If I have more classes I study at the library until the next class begins. Going to the library solely for it even though it is just a 10 min bike ride is a waste of energy and creates decision fatigue.
Home. I like to have a setup around me (all my books and laptop within reach, coffee, etc) and I like to play music while I work. I also tend to scatter everything all around me so I can look between my notes, my textbook, laptop and the sheet I'm writing on without fumbling on a small desk or table.
I've associated school and library with social time after a bunch of failed study sessions with friends. I also find it very distracting to have people eating food or whispering with thier friends. I also went to a very large university so finding a spot to study was very difficult. My new campus is smaller and it's easier, but I still prefer my desk by a long shot.
It depends on what I'm studying/what work I'm doing and the day. During the week, I'll do the majority of my work and studying in my dorm room simply because its more convenient, which is a pro. The other pro's are; if my work involves reading, I can lay on my bed and do it; I have the freedom of studying without clothes on; I can easily grab a snack, or make some tea or something. The weekend (usually Sunday) is when I can devote a chunk of time to going to the library, so I organize my stuff and go and stay there for a couple hours. Pros of the library are that its super quiet and makes you wanna do work, especially if there are other people around doing work. Thats a huge plus for me.
The pros are that I am not easily distracted. At home I have distractions and things that I can clean. I find that watching tv, reading books, and laying around happen at home. I am more wiling to take breaks. I also have used the library from day one. I have never "talked" or "hung out" in the library so I find myself being able to stay on task. The cons of studying at the library are surprisingly numerous. The library at my school is noisy but in a productive way. I find that it can be a little distracting towards the end of the day. The next one would be the lack of space. I probably spend about 20 good mins finding a study space. I have a lot of people at my school so its a mad rush.
Library any day - dorm is too warm and too many distractions. Always someone playing music or talking loudly, and it's on the edge of campus. Plus there's more peer pressure to study (or not lmao) and it's near the dining halls/classes
This is awesome. I want to start doing it. I even bought a lunch box and I'm going to take dinner with me so I can eat meal right after class and then head to the library right away. Without wasting time on going back and forth to my house which takes 25min one way. Congrats on keeping with CS. I dropped out CS and now I am starting from the bottom with different major...
Library. When I'm in my apartment, my brain is in "relax" mode, which usually means doing everything except my schoolwork. The library however is delightfully quiet and I've used it as a study place for so long that my mind just naturally associates it with "study" mode. I think for most people, the library will provide a better environment. I never go to the library, but I have a very good environment at home to study. I do notice change if that environment isn't as good as normal, but I rather change it then go to the library. Also, at home there are more things that can distract you. You notice a cup, so you bring that to the kitchen. In the kitchen you notice that the cereal is on the counter, so you put it away etc. That sort of things distract people and they just don't exist at the library. You lose less time that way and you keep focus better. Ok, I changed my mind, there is a slight advantage to studying at the library. Having different places for different activities can help you mentally switch gears. If you work as well as relax in your dorm room, you might have trouble switching from one thing to the other. For instance, you get to your room and need to study. You feel stressed so you take 10 minutes to play a computer game. Suddenly it's an hour later and you haven't started studying. If you only study in the library, then you go there and it's more difficult to lose focus from studying for long periods. Your location is a constant reminder of what you should be doing. Conversely, say you have some big assignment to complete and you decide to do it in the morning, get some sleep. Maybe it's harder to 'turn off' and get to sleep because your brain is still in work mode.
I bring whatever I may need that day. If it's almost lunch time, then yeah I'll bring some food with me. I usually just have my backpack (which holds my pens, notebooks, folders, etc.), any textbooks I may need, and laptop (if needed).
İt's about mentally separating space, and kind of treating it like a non-negotiable job. İ go to the library and sit down, I'm now in work mode, going for multiple breaks adds more resistance which is pain, and when I get home I can guilt free chill out. At home though i just keep putting it off to "after breakfast, when the time is at 10, ok no I'll start at 10:30, ok fine 11, ugh after lunch for sure" and it keeps going. Whereas I set a time to get to the library before 9am, and when I sit down it starts and that's it. At home I watch Netflix at my desk, İ use discord and Reddit, İ eat there, so when it's time to study i personally find it hard not to just check Reddit and discord when I'm bored. İ also go with friends which gives nice social breaks as well, you can suffer together and coffee/lunch together so it makes the whole day more bearable, but you can't talk with them whenever you want as if you were just having a study day together in someones home or a cafe.
Most people in my German medical school study at home - some go to the library, but definitely not the majority. And for all the sitcoms and ads that always show medical students form study groups that meet up in empty seminar rooms full of anatomy books and skeleton props, there is a clear lack of study groups at my uni - basically hardly anyone does it. I definitely prefer home, never sacrifice comfort. But if you live in a dorm room with multiple people, libraries simply offer more. More space to breathe, bigger desk, better lightning, way faster internet (in Turkey at least) and motivation.
OP said they were spending 8-9 hours a day studying in the library so that they don’t fall behind. So, it’s possible they are using the library as a quiet place to study, for WiFi, or for access to a computer rather than physical copies of books. I highly doubt that OP is spending 8-9 hours a day in the library because they aren’t intelligent enough to grasp how a google search works.
I've been having a lot of fun in my classes and all I've had to do was about 1 hour for my German final, since it was just a memorized scenario, and about 30 minutes for European Expansion. I feel like I understudied but I ended up passing all of my finals. Had a B- for European and A- for all of my others. I was quite proud.
I've been studying for one exam ( accelerated calculus) for about 8 -10 hours a day for over a week because I bombed the first test and now need to pass the final to pass the class. I've been studying for organic chem for about 4 -6 hours a day because I currently have a c+ I'd like to bring to a b. I already had an a+ in ethics so I studied maybe 3 hours total for that exam and I haven't studied at all for my physiology exam since I have an A and he drops our lowest test score including the final. On average I currently spend 13 hours a day studying for finals but a lot of that has to do with I'm trying to make up for bad grades at the beginning of the semester, largely because it was my first semester at university after transferring from a community college and I underestimated the rigidity of the tests in the beginning.
Halfway through the semester I created a study log and timed the time I spent studying without distractions. I stop the timer whenever I am taking a break or I get distracted. This has helped me see how much I am actually working vs. time spent sitting in the library and it really helped me get more out of the time I spend "studying". It also helps you see how much time you actually dedicated in each subject and where you might be able to spend less/more time. When studying in the library I get to a point where my brain's feeling fried so I want to take a break. I've tried just listening to an entertaining podcast for 5 min during my break but I feel like it's not the best idea sine I want the library to be a study-only place so I get into the zone whenever I'm there. I could just walk out of the room, but then I'd have to take all my stuff with me so it doesn't get stolen, and I might lose my seat. Even though most libraries are a decent walk away I find I can't focus at all in my dorm room, whether my roommate's in there or not. And while the libraries get full the study areas in my hall tend to get more crowded than the libraries so to the libraries I go, you just have to find the right hours.
I've been there a handful of times. But only because of either me holding a group study there, or being in downtown between classes because going back to the suburbs and back for my next class would be ridiculous. Even then for the latter I almost prefer the Y or a coffee shop.
I do almost everything in the library. The books are an underused resource for research you can trust an is usually more comprehensive. I like that it's quiet and being on a environment where everyone else is working puts me in the zone to work. I live across town from campus. I still go for the environment. It's easier to focus and work there. At home, I get too distracted. Hence why I have 24 hours to write 4 papers, even though I've had down time all week.
