How many hours should I study a day? Count back from the exam, plus 25 goals

How many hours should I study a day in high school?

Start small and steady on school nights, then add hours as a test gets close. For goals beyond hours, see these academic goals.

• Study for 1 hour on each school night: 5 hours a week, about 180 hours in a 36 week school year.
• Do homework on the day it is set, then add 20 minutes of review.
• Study for 2 hours on one weekend day to go over the week.
• Start 7 days before every test, with 1 hour a day for that subject.
• Keep one night a week with no study at all, and plan around it.

How many hours should I study a day in college?

Some colleges put a number on study time outside class. Find your school's own rule, then turn it into hours a day.

• If your school asks for 2 hours of study per class hour, 15 class hours means 30 hours a week: 6 hours a day on 5 days, or 5 hours on 6 days.
• With 12 class hours and the same rule, that is 24 hours a week: 4 hours a day on 6 days.
• Give each class its own study block on the same day you have it.
• Read before every class, not after it.
• Plan your week on Sunday: write down the hours for each class and tick them off.

How many hours to study a day for an exam

Pick a total for the exam, then divide it by the days you have left. The closer the date, the bigger the daily number.

• 100 hours over 50 days: 2 hours a day.
• 40 hours over the 20 weekdays of the last 4 weeks: 2 hours a day.
• An entrance exam 6 months away: 15 hours a week for 26 weeks is 390 hours.
• Take one full practice exam a week, under real time limits.
• Leave the last 2 days for light review and sleep, not new topics.

Is studying 2, 3 or 4 hours a day enough?

It depends on what you need, so look at what each one adds up to.

• 1 hour a day for a year: 365 hours.
• 2 hours a day on 5 days a week: 10 hours a week, 40 hours in 4 weeks.
• 3 hours a day for a year: 1,095 hours.
• 4 hours a day on 6 days a week: 24 hours a week.
• Going for 8 hours a day? Plan 6 blocks of 50 minutes with 10 minute breaks: 5 hours of study in 6 hours.

How long to study before taking a break

Short blocks with short breaks are easy to start and easy to count. Count blocks done, not minutes spent at a desk.

• Study for 25 minutes, then rest for 5. Four blocks is 100 minutes of study.
• Study for 50 minutes, then rest for 10.
• Do 4 blocks a day for 30 days.
• Stand up and walk during each break, away from your phone.
• End each block by writing down one thing you learned.

How many hours should you study a day?

Start with the exam or the class, not the clock. Decide how many hours it needs, count the days you have left, and divide. That gives you a number you can check each night, and a clear finish line. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Study more" is a do your best goal. "2 hours a day until the exam" is specific.

Then fill the hours well. A 2013 review of 10 learning techniques rated two of them the most useful: practice testing, which means quizzing yourself, and spaced practice, which means spreading study over days. It rated highlighting and rereading low. So 2 hours of quizzing yourself can be worth more than 4 hours of rereading.

Big totals can feel like a lot. Breaking the goal into weeks makes it smaller, and a 30 day study challenge is a gentle way to start.

Keep sleep in your plan

Late nights take hours from tomorrow. The CDC recommends 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night for teens aged 13 to 17, and 7 or more for adults aged 18 to 60. Plan your study hours around that, not the other way round.

If your plan only works by cutting sleep, the plan is too big. Start earlier, or lower the daily number.

How to track your study hours

Write down your hours on the day you study, and keep a running total. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and the effect was larger when the progress was written down.

A total also forgives a slow day. Miss an hour today, and the total is still there tomorrow. Over years, the hours add up, which is the idea behind the 10,000 hour rule.

A picture that fills with every hour shows the work adding up. In Chaltra, make a challenge with Hours as the unit, set a target like 100, and log each day's hours. A challenge of up to 30 days is free. A longer one needs Premium.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours should I study a day for exams?

Decide how many hours the exam needs, then divide by the days left. 100 hours over 50 days is 2 hours a day. 60 hours over 30 days is also 2 hours a day.

Is studying 2 hours a day enough?

It can be. 2 hours a day on 5 days is 10 hours a week, or 40 hours in 4 weeks. If your exam needs more than that, start earlier or add a day.

How many hours should you study per credit hour?

Check your school's own rule. If it asks for 2 hours of study per class hour, 15 class hours a week means 30 hours of study a week.

How long should you study before taking a break?

One simple way: blocks of 25 minutes with a 5 minute break, or 50 minutes with a 10 minute break. Pick one and count the blocks.

Is studying 8 hours a day too much?

Long days are easier in blocks with breaks: 6 blocks of 50 minutes is 5 hours of study in 6 hours. Keep time for sleep, food and moving around.

Should I track my study hours?

Yes. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often. Write the hours down each day and keep a total.