5 Ways To Make College Homework More Fun

By Julia Dunn on August 16, 2016

Even if you love your class subjects, doing lots of homework every day can be tiring, and it’s easy to lose steam especially when you have a lot going on in your life.

We all know that homework takes a lot of energy, and distractions abound especially when you’re not into what you’re studying. Plus, who wants to be stuck at home for hours and hours? If you feel stuck in your college coursework and don’t know how to regain interest in what you’re doing, try out the following ways to make homework less bland and more manageable.

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1. Play music.

This idea depends on the subject for which you’re studying. Typically, you can get away with listening to music for subjects that are more process-based (such as math, chemistry problems, etc.) because you tend to be less “in your head” and can more easily keep track of your work even when Drake and Rihanna are jamming in the background.

Music (with words, that is) tends to be less helpful/more distracting for more idea-based types of homework, such as writing an essay. Listening to soft instrumental music may enhance your focus when writing, but if you listen to the U.S. Top 50 playlist when trying to finish a close-reading assignment on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, you might end up accidentally typing a couple of words from that Twenty One Pilots song into your document. Worse, you may lose an important train of thought for your analysis paper when trying to sing along with your favorite line of that Justin Bieber song you’ll never admit you enjoy just a little bit.

In short, listening to music can make homework time a lot more appealing, but you need to first determine if the subject you’re working on lends itself to being helped or hindered by background music.

2. Designate a certain snack to enjoy when you need to study.

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If you know you’re going to eat those chocolate covered caramels from Trader Joe’s during your study time, you’ll be stoked to do your homework! Associating a pleasurable activity with something slightly less pleasurable can make the experience much more tolerable.

You can even plan to do something interesting as a reward for after you finish your studying (although this shouldn’t be used as an excuse to rush through your work!)

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3. Take homework outside.

If your homework doesn’t require a lot of physical materials, consider taking studying outside!

For example, if all you have to do tonight is finish up that dense literary theory passage by Walter Benjamin, who says you have to stay stuck in your apartment to finish it?

Take it to the beach, into the woods, or a grassy park nearby in your neighborhood. Oftentimes, all you need is a change of scenery to revive your interest in productivity, and this can work to your advantage when you feel too cooped up at home.

4. Find resources online.

More and more Youtubers these days are coming up with ways to make difficult subjects like applied physics and cell biology more palatable and easier to understand.

The internet is full of resources and explanations that differ greatly, which is great for different types of learners to find a teaching style that works well. If you’ve got a professor whose explanation of orbitals just doesn’t make sense to you, read or watch an explanation of the same topic by an instructor from a totally different university!

From videos to podcasts to other professors’ PowerPoints posted online, there is no shortage of explanations online for nearly any subjects you could be covering in class.

5. Invite a friend to study with you.

Know anyone in class looking for a study buddy? Invite them over or go out to a coffee shop to study. This can be extremely helpful especially since your friend may have a better understanding of the respiratory system than you do, and you may know a lot about cell respiration that your friend can’t seem to grasp from your lectures.

Explaining concepts and teaching one another is a true test of concept mastery — if you can’t teach it, you don’t know it well enough. Of course, this suggestion only proves useful if the two of you can focus and avoid distractions (a giggle fest about that viral video should happen after you’re done working!). Some people just don’t get much done when a friend is around. However, working with classmates who are similarly motivated can be very empowering.

Even the most efficient and engaged college students can get a little stuck in the occasional monotony of studying each day. Sometimes all it takes is a little creativity to make studying more enjoyable. You should ideally be enjoying yourself for the most part anyway if you’re learning what you want to be learning!

Happy studies!

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