How to make the most of studying in

your lunch break

A savvy student knows how to make the most of any opportunity to hit the books.If you’re thinking about using your lunch break to study, there are a few things you’ll need to consider.

Where’s the best place to study?

What tasks are best tackled during a short break?

How can you avoid distractions and stay committed to your study session?

How convenient that you’ve stumbled across this amazing, all-inclusive guide to help you get the answers to all these questions, plus some great bonus tips!

Let’s start with

Where to study

Whether you work in an office, restaurant, supermarket or service station, it’s important to find a great spot to knuckle down and get to work.

Why not try…

A park or garden near your workplaceGreen spaces are the best place to spend your lunch break as they promote relaxation and refresh your brain faster than metropolitan environments.

If you’re heading outdoors, don’t forget your sunscreen, sunglasses and a paperweight or two.

A nearby caféResearch shows that cafés provide the ideal level of ambient noise to increase concentration and promote creative thinking.* They’re also guaranteed to sell coffee, which is a lunchtime study essential!

If you don’t have a café nearby, create your own ambient atmosphere with sound apps such as Coffitivity or Ambiance.

*Mehta, R, Zhu, R & Cheema, A 2012, ‘Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 784-799.

Bonus tip!Your lunch break still needs to involve you eating lunch… and taking a break! Don’t forget to put aside time (even just 10 minutes) to refresh and relax. Check out USQ on Pinterest for healthy and delicious lunch ideas.

The lunchroom or a common areaThese convenient locations are great because you won’t waste precious study time getting there. You might even be able to bounce ideas off your colleagues or ask them to quiz you on course material. If you find these spaces too loud or busy, see if you can negotiate an earlier or later lunch break when you’ll be less likely to have company.

Your deskIf you can’t escape the office for lunch, keep your study space sacred by closing your office door, turning off email notifications and moving work-related materials to the side. This will help you to make a physical and mental distinction between work and study time.

Give your colleagues a subtle hint that you’re hitting the books with these free printable door hangers.

Now let’s look at

What to study

It’s good to set realistic goals for what you’ll be able to achieve in a short period of time. While you probably won’t be able to whip up an entire essay during your lunch break, there are some tasks that are ideal for short study sessions.

Here are some ideas…

Your course materialsIf you’re wanting to keep up-to-date with your weekly study schedule, use your lunch break to study small blocks of your course material.

• Read through one module and the selected readings• Complete one learning activity from a course module• Listen to a recorded lecture• Read one chapter from your course textbook

Bonus tip!If you work on a computer all day, try to use printed study materials during your lunch break to give your brain (and eyes) a digital detox. If you do need to use your work computer for study, make sure you’ve cleared it with your boss first!

Your assignmentsThese bite-sized tasks fit nicely into a lunch break while helping you make valuable progress toward getting your assignment done.

• Read your assignment task sheet and marking criteria and map out the key sections or headings for your assignment

• Research 3–4 quality resources • Format and proofread your assignment draft

Your exam preparationStudying in short, spaced-out sessions can help you to retain information more effectively than long, repetitive blocks of revision. Try these efficient exam prep ideas.

• Write exam notes or revision cards from your study materials• Complete a practice exam (if available)• Revise the learning activities from each module• Read over your course forums for any extra exam tips or advice

Finally, let’s look at

How to stay focused

From customers and co-workers to email alerts and phone calls, you might be finding it hard to ignore the busy-ness of your lunch break and stay on track with study.

Give these tips a try…

Shut it downIf you’re not using your computer, phone or tablet for your study session, switch them off. This will also help to remove the temptation to procrastinate with social media scrolling or web browsing.

Block it outUse your calendar, roster or work diary to block out your lunch break and let your colleagues know that you’re not available. It’s a good idea to include something like ‘please don’t disturb’ or set the location of your appointment to ‘out of office’.

Bonus tip!Keep a close eye on the time and be careful not to let your study creep into paid working hours.

Be preparedMake sure you’re all set with the materials you need before you sit down to study. This will help you to avoid being side-tracked or losing time chasing notepads, downloading resources or searching for your USB.

Lock it inIf you’re having trouble staying on track with your lunchtime study goals, see if you can find a work colleague or friend who’s also at uni and happy to book in some scheduled study sessions. Being accountable to someone else will help you stay on track.

So there you have it. Everything you need to know about where, what and how to study in your lunchbreak, along with some bonus tips!

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If you’re juggling work with study and looking for ways to make every minute count, you can find even more advice, support and free resources by downloading The ultimate guide to balancing study with your career.