{"id":4040,"date":"2021-11-12T13:43:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T03:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/?p=4040"},"modified":"2022-02-02T13:51:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T03:51:24","slug":"how-much-time-should-you-spend-studying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/2021\/11\/12\/how-much-time-should-you-spend-studying\/","title":{"rendered":"How much time should you spend studying?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much time should you spend studying? Our \u2018Goldilocks Day\u2019 tool helps find the best balance of good grades and\u00a0well-being<\/span><\/h2>\n

Dot Dumuid<\/a>, University of South Australia<\/a><\/em> and Tim Olds<\/a>, University of South Australia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 

For students, as for all of us, life is a matter of balance, trade-offs and compromise. Studying for hours on end is unlikely to lead to best academic results. And it could have negative impacts on young people\u2019s physical, mental and social well-being.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our recent study<\/a> found the best way for young people to spend their time was different for mental health than for physical health, and even more different for school-related outcomes. Students needed to spend more time sitting for best cognitive and academic performance, but physical activity trumped sitting time for best physical health. For best mental health, longer sleep time was most important.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a game of rock, paper, scissors with time use. So, what is the sweet spot, or as Goldilocks put it, the \u201cjust right\u201d amount of study?<\/p>\n

Using our study data for Australian children aged 11 and 12, we are developing a time-optimisation tool that allows the user to define their own mental, physical and cognitive health priorities. Once the priorities are set, the tool provides real-time updates on what the user\u2019s estimated \u201cGoldilocks day\u201d looks like.<\/p>\n

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Because of the need to juggle conflicting demands on their time, individuals must fine-tune the daily balance of activities to match their priorities and needs. Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

More study improves grades, but not as much as you think<\/h3>\n

Over 30 years of research<\/a> shows that students doing more homework get better grades. However, extra study doesn\u2019t make as much difference as people think. An American study<\/a> found the average grades of high school boys increased by only about 1.5 percentage points for every extra hour of homework per school night.<\/p>\n

What these sorts of studies don\u2019t consider is that the relationship between time spent doing homework and academic achievement is unlikely to be linear. A high school boy doing an extra ten hours of homework per school night is unlikely to improve his grades by 15 percentage points.<\/p>\n

There is a simple explanation for this: doing an extra ten hours of homework after school would mean students couldn\u2019t go to bed until the early hours of the morning. Even if they could manage this for one day, it would be unsustainable over a week, let alone a month. In any case, adequate sleep is probably critical for memory consolidation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As we all know, there are only 24 hours in a day. Students can\u2019t devote more time to study without taking this time from other parts of their day. Excessive studying may become detrimental to learning ability when too much sleep time is lost.<\/p>\n

Another US study<\/a> found that, regardless of how long a student normally spent studying, sacrificing sleep to fit in more study led to learning problems on the following day. Among year 12s, cramming in an extra three hours of study almost doubled their academic problems. For example, students reported they \u201cdid not understand something taught in class\u201d or \u201cdid poorly on a test, quiz or homework\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Excessive study could also become unhelpful if it means students don\u2019t have time to exercise. We know exercise is important for young people\u2019s cognition<\/a>, particularly their creative thinking, working memory<\/a> and concentration.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, then, more time spent studying is beneficial for grades. On the other hand, too much time spent studying is detrimental to grades.<\/p>\n

We have to make trade-offs<\/h3>\n

Of course, how young people spend their time is not only important to their academic performance, but also to their health. Because what is the point of optimising school grades if it means compromising physical, mental and social well-being? And throwing everything at academic performance means other aspects of health will suffer.<\/p>\n

US sleep researchers<\/a> found the ideal amount of sleep for for 15-year-old boys\u2019 mental health was 8 hours 45 minutes a night, but for the best school results it was one hour less.<\/p>\n

Clearly, to find the \u201cGoldilocks Zone\u201d \u2013 the optimal balance of study, exercise and sleep \u2013 we need to think about more than just school grades and academic achievement.<\/p>\n

Looking for the Goldilocks Day<\/h3>\n

Based on our study findings<\/a>, we realised the \u201cGoldilocks Day\u201d that was the best on average for all three domains of health (mental, physical and cognitive) would require compromises. Our optimisation algorithm estimated the Goldilocks Day with the best overall compromise for 11-to-12-year-olds. The breakdown was roughly:<\/p>\n