How to Create a Study Schedule to Prepare for Final Exams

Assessing Your Study Needs

Pick a calendar for keeping track of your schedule. Before you can actually create a study schedule for finals week, you need to decide what exactly you’ll use for scheduling. You might prefer paper calendars or planners, or you might want to use a digital app, such as the calendar on your phone or an actual study app. It doesn’t matter which type you prefer, as long as you have something that you are comfortable using.

Print out your exam schedule. Before you even begin crafting a schedule, make sure you have all of your exam dates in front of you. This will make creating your schedule a lot easier because you won’t have to stop and search for information or, even worse, have to start over because you forgot about an exam. Some schools schedule all finals during a finals week. In this case, the time for your final might not be on the same day or at the same time as when your class normally meets. Make sure you note if that’s true. Some teachers might schedule your final during regular class time, even if your school has a devoted finals week. Make sure you have that information, too.

Print out your school break schedule. If you have breaks between when you start drawing up your study schedule and finals week, you can use them to devote more time to studying since you won't have to attend class. Depending on how long your classes usually are per day, consider adding extra study sessions for those courses during their regularly scheduled meeting times. This gives you some extra time to study without really disrupting your normal schedule.

Calculate how much time you have. How much time you have to study for finals will depend on when in the semester you start drawing up your schedule. Once you’re ready to set your study schedule, calculate how many days you have between now and when your exams are. This will obviously be a different number for every exam. Keep in mind that you might not be able to study every single day. If you have a lot scheduled on a specific day, leave that day off your study schedule. This will give you a more realistic idea of what you have to work with.

Prioritize your exams. Once you know how much time you have to study for each exam, prioritize them. List your exams in order, starting with the one you have to take the soonest, and ending with your last exam. You might also want to consider prioritizing by how hard the exam is likely to be. For example, if you struggle with Math, you might want to move it to the top of your list so that you'll know you have enough time to study for it.

Creating Your Schedule

Decide when you’ll study. Some people study better at night while other people are more alert in the morning. Schedule your study time for a time of day when you know you’ll be the sharpest – this will help you retain information more easily. If you don't know what time you study best at, experiment. Study in the morning one day, and in the evening the next.

Schedule everything. Before you create your study schedule, make sure you add the non-studying stuff you have to do—classes, extracurricular activities, doctor’s appointments, etc.—so you know what time you actually have available. This prevents you from scheduling study time and then realizing that day you had an appointment you forgot about and have to miss your study time.

Set realistic goals for your study sessions. Don’t schedule study time for eight hours of the day on top of the other stuff you have to do, too. The more realistic you can be, the more productive your studying will be. Be realistic about what you can get done in each study session. Don't schedule studying 5 chapters, writing a paper, and working on a project all during the same 2-hour block.

Limit your study time per session. Research shows that after about 2 hours, we are less able to focus on a specific topic or task, and our concentration and ability to retain information declines. Scheduling your study time in 2-hour blocks not only prevents you from setting unrealistic goals, it also helps you make the most productive schedule. This doesn't mean that you can only schedule one 2-hour session per day. Depending on how much other time you have available to study, you can schedule one or two 2-hour sessions in the morning and one or two 2-hour sessions later in the day. If you're going to schedule multiple sessions per day, try to schedule them for the time when you work best. If you work better in the morning, try scheduling to sessions before noon—with a good break in between. If you work better in the evening, schedule one session before dinner and one after.

Focus on 1 topic at a time. In each study session, studying 1 subject at a time can help you focus on the material better and therefore retain more. Splitting your time between multiple subjects per study session doesn't give you enough time to get deep enough in the material to really retain anything. Some change is good when you're studying. Studying one topic for one study session and then switching to something totally different for your next session can keep things fresh and keep up your efficiency and energy.

Make time for review. When you’re setting up your times to study, make sure you build in 10 or 15 minutes to quickly review what you studied the day before. It keeps things fresh in your mind and will remind you of the connections between what you’re doing and what you already did. If the topic is more difficult, you may need a little more than 10 or 15 minutes to review. You should still do this even if you feel confident about a topic or are really good at it.

Build in breaks. While you’re scheduling time to study, it’s also important to build breaks into your schedule. Research suggests that you should take a break for 10-15 minutes every hour. You should also schedule larger breaks—like time to exercise or see friends or watch TV. Giving your brain and your body a chance to relax will make you more productive in the long run. Aim to eat a healthy snack on your break as this can improve your mood, energy level, and focus. For instance, eat a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit and a small portion of cottage cheese.

Color-code your schedule. As you’re scheduling your existing appointments and obligations and your study time, color code each type of activity. This gives you a better visual representation of what your week will look like and can often help you see how much time you really need to spend studying. Don't put similar colors right next to each other. For example, red and orange can look similar, especially under certain lights. Try red and yellow together instead.

Stay consistent. Try to study at the same time (and possibly the same place) every day. This can make studying become almost automatic. The one exception to this, of course, is if your study area is unavailable. For example, if you are used to studying in a coffee shop, but the coffee shop is closed, you will need to find another place to study. If you can't focus in your usual study location, choose a different spot.