How to Stay Awake While Studying: 14 Proven Tips

I know it might sound funny, but like most other young students, I felt sleepy while studying.

Having sleepy naps is fine between studies, but what to do if these naps are too frequent and too long?

These might affect the marks of the students’ semesters or competitions.

And also, it’s really challenging to keep up with your daily study routine when such things happen and you will eventually feel lazy and unmotivated.

The daily tiredness, and ignorance towards health can lead to such implications. This article, here, explains how to stay awake while studying and some tips regarding the same, so get it right now.

Why Do We Feel Sleepy While Studying?

Before looking for the tips to stay awake during study sessions, we will first have to list out the reasons that actually make us feel so drowsy and lazy.

To stay crisp and factual, the prime cause of too much sleepiness can be your not so nutritious diet, your sleep schedule, lack of physical as well as mental exercises.

We often ignore the signs. Apart from this, if you find that the subject is not that interesting to you, or you study alone mostly, then also the study hours might feel too boring to continue, letting us slip into sleep.

Once you get out of your napping, you might feel extremely regretful about your wasted hours and how you might fail your exams.

Here’s how to study for exams effectively, without losing your sleep.

How to Stay Awake While Studying: 14 Methods

So called brilliant students, mostly follow some tricks to stay awake and all of them are listed below for you to become one of them.

1. Select a Cool and Bright Place

Whichever place you choose in your house, cafe, school, university, make sure that it has cleanliness, a bright light, and calm temperature settings.

You might not realise it yet but such places automatically bring peace to your mind and stimulate it to stay awake.

The direct association of melatonin secretion (important for sleep) is inverse to the light you are in and proper temperature is necessary for your brain to stay attentive.

2. Create a Stimulating Study Environment

We often make a mistake, especially in present scenarios, where we have our own room and thus we choose to study on our beds.

Getting too much comfort from your cozy bed and blanket can bring your result marks down. 

So, choose a sitting arrangement that activates your brain cells and not makes you super comfortable as that might lead you to be asleep like a baby.

The best can be to sit on a chair with a table and all the necessary study items you need to study with.

3. Use Active Study Techniques

Your mind needs stimulation. It wants to feel that it is actually performing and contributing towards your learning.

For that matter, you should have planned actions like engaging your mind with some active study techniques. 

You can rely on creating and reading through flashcards, loudly speaking what you have understood from each paragraph read, and also by teaching others the concepts you read.

These tricks are proven miracles for concept clarity and making you awake while you study.

4. Take Strategic Breaks/ Power Naps

If you are a student, you might be unaware of strategic breaks and its immense benefits in fueling your attention.

That means, you need to take a 5-10 minute break after 25-20 minutes of study, where you actively either revise everything you have read or simply relax and breathe.

This is the time where you can even take power naps of 10 minutes that require your brain to stay consistent and rejuvenated.

5. Eat Smart: Fuel Your Brain

One of the organs that is even active while you are sleeping is your brain, therefore it requires supplements through healthy diet plans and nutritious food.

When your parents tell you to eat healthy, the way they force you to do so is all because they want you and your studies to not get poorly impacted.

Protein chocolates, bars, and fresh fruits can bring down chaotic thoughts and pull in calmness inside your brain while studying. This way you stay awake and lessens the study stress.

6. Move Your Body

Sitting for too long on your chair or desk can be too comfortable and eventually send relaxing signals.

And to reestablish your body for studying practices, you need to get up and remind your brain that we are still awake and need the work to be done. 

Just a bit of jumping, moving your arms and legs can assist you in doing so. It’s simple but works.

Also read the importance of physical education in schools.

7. Use Cold Water and Face Washes

If you have too much to study and you are studying at night, it is inevitable that you will feel sleepy. 

The trick that might work quickly in such situations would be to put cold water flashes on your face, hands, or even legs. 

These water flashes awaken your body cells and send a signal of activation that ends up as longer study sessions.

8. Eat Small Snacks

Munching small snacks is a very underrated option when it comes to staying awake.

People like me and you can easily choose this, but remind yourself of not eating too much packaged foods or unhealthy snacks.

That, in the long run, would pull down your overall energy levels and can make you even obese. Some safer and better choices can be dry fruits, nuts, or home made snacks.

9. Study With a Partner

We get it that it gets boring sometimes when you study all by yourself, reading through texts and books.

This is why many learners plan group studies during exams so that they can learn from others, discuss doubts then and there, and come up with best solutions to problems.

If you can get a partner who is serious about studies, and won’t waste your precious time, you should surely get one.

10. Read Out Loud

Reading out loud can actually remind your brain that we are working, and can assist you in staying awake.

Our minds actually recognize the words we read and interpret its meaning best.

The recognition and understanding of concepts and subjects become clearer making clear to the brain that it is needed to stay active without sleeping.

11. Stay Hydrated

If you remember being scolded by your parents for drinking enough water while studying, you would know that they just wanted your best health and study.

When our body feels dehydrated, it tries to conserve its energy pushing us into deep sleeping modes that corrupt our working hours.

But when small sips of water are taken consistently between study hours, it makes you feel active and rejuvenated.

12. Avoid Studying Lying Down

I too was someone who used to study while lying down, but later I realised it was doing no good for my body or even my study plans.

Already being in a position that relaxes our nervous system, can betray us and let us fall asleep before we even notice it.

It’s better thus to switch your positions and most aptly sit with straight posture on a chair.

13. Use the Pomodoro technique

The promodro technique suggests that the most efficient time for which our brain remains active is for 25 minutes.

So we should take advantage of it and take small breaks of 5-10 minutes after every 25-30 minutes of study session.

This is how you will get the best attention from your brain that would probably reflect on your result cards after letting you stay awake along with productivity.

Here are some apps to keep track of your study progress.

14. Get Enough Sleep at Night

You might have noticed your friends who study vigorously once the exams come killing their sleep demands of the body.

Let me remind you it is a waste and can even disrupt your study methods while execution.

Sleep is very crucial, teenagers aged 13-18 should get 8-10 hours of sleep per night, so that their heads avoid sulking and stay fit.

Also read how many hours of sleep is enough for a student.

Key Takeaways 

We are here at the conclusion so now you must be aware of the mistakes you might have been making in order to study for hours and how you can actually bring improvements in your studies.

The tricks mentioned above should be brought as study habits in your study time table to tell you how to stay awake while studying.

You will surely enjoy studying without feeling sleepy or drowsy once you practice them in your daily life. So get onto it.

Education