How to Trick Your Brain to Enjoy Studying 🎮

Hey y’all,

I can’t believe it finally happened… I broke my newsletter streak after eighteen weeks. I attended a YouTube event last week and unfortunately couldn’t find the time to write.

Will do my best to not let that happen again.

Anyways, here’s a picture of me from the event! Was super cool to see my face in random spots throughout the venue, lol. Wouldn’t be possible without your support, so thank you!

This week, I want to talk about how you can trick your brain to enjoy studying. We’ll consider five factors: where, what, how, when, who, and why.

Where

If you always study in a dark, dingy environment, something as simple as working in a different room can make your study session much more enjoyable.

Back in college, I would love studying in different campus libraries, particularly Barker Library, which was located under the MIT dome. Here, take a look at this few picture and tell me this doesn't look mesmerizing.

But if you're not in college yet, you could study at your local library, a café, or even outside. Choose a place that's novel but not distracting.

Now if don’t feel like walking or driving somewhere to study, don't worry, you can still make it feel like you're studying somewhere new. Just go to YouTube and search up “ambiance.” You will find hundreds of videos, each between 2 and 10 hours long, that will transport you into different worlds.

For example, as I’m writing this newsletter, here’s the video that I’m playing in the background.

What

Doesn't it always feel exciting when you study with a new set of pencils or pens or a new notebook?

Back when I was taking AP Calc, I got a TI-84 Plus CE, which is one of those fancy graphing calculators with a colored screen. I remember I actually enjoyed doing my homework for the first few weeks of class because of that calculator.

Now the point here isn't that you should buy expensive items to make studying more fun. If you have the budget, sure, you could do that. But the bigger idea is to introduce a pinch of novelty—for example, by using a pen instead of a pencil or changing the style of your notes.

Changing up your study habits, even in subtle ways, can have a dramatic impact on your mood while studying.

How

The problem with how most of us study is that the payoff is at the end. Only after two, three, or four hours, when we can finally check “studying” off our to-do list, do we feel that sense of gratification. But while we study, we usually feel pretty miserable.

So we have to figure out a way to feel that sense of gratification, not just after studying, but while studying.

One trick is to create a granular to-do list and place it on your desk while studying. This way, you can feel the satisfaction of checking things off while studying, not just after.

For example, you can write down “read 5 pages,” “read 10 pages,” “read 15 pages,” or “write one paragraph,” “write two paragraphs,” “write three paragraphs.”

By having this granular to-do list, studying will start to feel like a game with checkpoints.

And if you want to gamify studying even further, you can associate a reward with each item. For example, next to “read 10 pages,” you could write down “take a five minute break” or “grab a snack.”

So now you’ll feel both the pleasure of checking things off and getting rewarded for making progress.

When

This one's up to personal preference, but I feel much better when I tackle harder tasks earlier in the day.

I can't even begin to explain how great it would feel to finish a homework assignment during study hall and not have to worry about it at home.

I would also try to squeeze in work in between classes. For example, if I got to a class a couple minutes early, or if I had a few free minutes at the end of a class, I would pull out a homework assignment and answer the first question right then and there.

This way, as I would get home, I no longer felt the burden of having to start an assignment from scratch. Instead, I just had to keep the momentum going. And that subtle change made studying much easier for me.

I will add one caveat to this, however. Numerous studies show that sleep plays a pivotal role in memory consolidation. As such, studying right before bed might enhance retention. However, I'm still going to stick to my original point: I still think you should study as early as possible in the day.

But maybe you can throw in a light review session before bed.

Who

Finding a friend to work with is one of the easiest ways to make studying more fun.

Yes, you have someone who can quiz you or explain concepts, but you also have someone who can help reduce the stress.

Some of my best college memories come from when my friends and I were studying together at 1 or 2 AM. It was during these late-night study sessions when we had some of our funniest moments.

Nevertheless, you should study with friends only for certain kinds of assignments. Studying with them the night before a big exam is a surefire recipe for disaster unless y’all have the discipline to remain focused.

Unfortunately, my friends and I did not have that discipline all the time, which is why we didn't study together for finals or midterms.

But we would always meet up to work PSETs or less important assignments.

Why

And then finally, I want you to think about why you study. Most students study for the grade, not for the sake of learning the content.

But education is a privilege. To be well-read when the world is more distracting—and distracted—than ever is a gift.

So I want you to switch your perspective. Instead of thinking, “I have to study this,” think, “I get to study this.” This perspective shift will make studying feel much more meaningful.

And yes, while I understand the individual topics might seem irrelevant, school isn't just about learning a bunch of facts and formulas.

It's instead about who you become in the process. Regardless of whether you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or entrepreneur—heck, even if you don’t want to go to college—you will need to learn how to synthesize information, think critically, and approach complex problems, all of which are skills you learn in school.

What did you think about this newsletter? DM me on Instagram (@goharsguide) to let me know!

If you want study help, come join my Discord! We have a global community of students helping each other succeed in school. I’d love to see you there.

And if you need help with college essays, check out Next Admit! We have a team of Ivy League consultants eager to help you navigate the admissions process.

I’ll see you next week!

Best,
Gohar