One word: sleep. Say it with me now—sleep. S-L-E-E-P.
For me this is the first activity I cut down on when it comes to studying. Instead of the typical eight to nine hours a night, I start sleeping for four to five hours. This is a terrible idea. When you cut down the hours of sleep you should be getting, your body doesn’t feel rested.
There’s a phrase for university students: “I’ll sleep when I graduate”, and it is an ironic joke—mostly because, sadly, it’s true. We tell ourselves it’s a few more minutes, you’ll make up the time later, but when you finish your work you realize an hour or more has passed. By morning, if it’s an all-nighter, you’re tired and you have to get over it and attend class. You may find yourself falling asleep halfway through, which disrupts your learning process. You don’t take notes, you’re too tired to focus, and you miss the lecture.