Studying for 5-6 hours a day: is it enough?

Sometimes, we just have lots of things to do that we have to study a lot. That means we have to schedule a lot of our daily time to study. There is a concept of studying for 5 to 6 hours a day and they say that it is efficient and long enough to get the most out of your study session. This article would talk about this concept. But first, I want to give you the conclusion for this article.

Studying for 5 to 6 hours a day is enough if you know how to study efficiently. This means that you can study for only 5 to 6 hours if you know how to properly manage your time and energy to get more information in as shorter time as possible.

Studying 5 to 6 hours just for the sake of studying is never enough. While you already have the conclusion, we still need to discuss more things in this article. Some of which are more explanations on why it is also important to talk about studying efficiently. Furthermore, I made helpful tips in order for you to study for 5-6 hours daily in an efficient manner.

If you’re really serious about studying for a longer period of time and loving to study, then I recommend you to read another article which is how to get addicted and love studying. In that article, you’re going to learn tips in order for you to start loving what you’re studying and build the right habits in order for you to maintain studying for long periods.

Is Studying for 5-6 hours a day enough?

Studying for 5 to 6 hours per day is enough to learn for long hours while maintaining efficiency. However, studying for longer than 4 hours requires tremendous energy. That’s why it also has some drawbacks especially if the person doesn’t know how to study efficiently.

There are things to consider when trying to study for more than 5 hours.

One of which is your energy level. While we can usually maintain our focus even if we study for 5-6 hours, there might be times that our energy levels can’t keep up

The best way to keep your energy levels up is to have proper sleep.

In fact, sleeping is good for learning as a research paper says that sleeping gives a 42% increase in learning. That’s a lot considering you’ll just sleep.

Furthermore, aside from the increase in learning, you’ll gain the energy to study for longer periods.

So if your energy levels can keep up with studying for long periods, then go for 5 to 6 hours. This is especially true if you have lots of things to study.

However, make sure to get proper sleep.

Studying for 5 to 6 hours is enough for you to study a lot in a single day. It won’t be so little that you’ll only study a little, but it won’t also be too long to stress your body too much.

However, as I said, efficiency is also important. That’s what we are going to talk about in the next section.

I have made a separate article discussing time management and how you can get better at it. It is a good read after this article so feel free to check it out since time management is important for studying for longer periods: How to avoid poor time management

Furthermore, if you can study more with less time, wouldn’t that be great? And on the last section, we are going to compute how many hours to study per day if we are talking about results.

Furthermore, we are going to compute why is studying for 5-6 hours ideal for learning.

How can I study 5-6 hours a day

As I said, studying for 5-6 hours a day requires you to learn how to efficiently manage your time and energy. The reason being studying without thinking about efficiency would just waste your time since you won’t be learning a lot. Thus, this section would talk about that.

You can study for 5 to 6 hours a day by scheduling a time within the day to study. After that, remember to take some breaks in order for you to maintain your focus. Lastly, remember to get enough sleep so that you can consolidate the information you’ve studied and regain your energy.

Here is a video guide on how I studied to become an honor student.

Now, let’s discuss one by one the things you have to take note of if you plan to study for 5 – 6 hours a day. Remember that these tips are here because we want to be efficient while studying.

1. Take Some Breaks

It is not a good idea to study for 5 to 6 hours straight. Remember that taking breaks is also good for our productivity.

As we will discuss later, we can actually focus for only about 90 – 120 minutes. This came from a brain scientist named Nathan Kleitman.

He regarded the 90-120 minutes to our sleep cycle, but it is also true to all aspects involved in our brain which includes our focus.

In taking some breaks, you can follow 2 rules. One is using the Pomodoro Technique in which you take a break for 5 minutes every 25 minutes of studying.

If that’s for you, then go for it. But for me, I prefer the 90 minutes focused study session which in my experience, produces more results to time ratio.

I am going to explain further on these 2 rules later. Just continue reading.

But the general principle here is that if you want to study for 5 to 6 hours, remember that your brain can’t maintain focus for very long periods. That’s why you need to take breaks because it is necessary for your study efficiency.

2. Schedule Your Time To Study

To prevent procrastination, it is important to schedule your time to study.

How many times did you said to yourself that you’re going to study and the next morning, you just stayed asleep?

Scheduling can be as easy as putting a certain time period in your planner to start studying.

Also, remember that in scheduling your time to study, it is important to follow it with strict discipline.

Discipline and commitment are important if you want to study for 5 -6 hours a day. Planning without taking action is basically useless.

Scheduling when you’re going to study makes sure that you will have a specific time for it.

3. Prepare for Your Study Session

It is important to prepare for your study session.

This can be done in so many ways including napping before studying to have focus, having some snacks beside you, or preparing the notes and books to be used for learning.

It might be simple, but it is easier to force yourself into doing things if everything is already prepared for you.

For example, it is easier to jog if your jogging shoes are beside your bed. Or to eat well if fruits are on your table instead of junk foods.

That’s the same for studying. Prepare your food in case you get hungry for the whole 5 to 6 hours, prepare the books and notes you need to read, and prepare all the things you need

4. Reflect on Your Preference

This is really important but often neglected by many.

You need to be sure of your preference when it comes to studying.

If you prefer studying alone, then study alone. If you prefer to study in a coffee shop, then go to a coffee shop.

If you prefer studying with friends, then schedule a study session with your friends.

We have different priorities when it comes to studying. Neither is wrong. What we want here is for us to be comfortable studying since we will be doing this for 5 to 6 hours.

Remember that it would be hard to maintain your focus on studying if you’re not comfortable.

If you prefer studying alone like me and having trouble studying secretly, then I have an article for you since I am also the type that prefers to study in secret: How to Study in Secret?

5. Have Enough Sleep

If you want to be very efficient in studying, then it is recommended to have a full 7-9 hours of sleep.

This is especially true if you plan to study for longer hours.

The truth is, you would be more efficient in learning when you get the right amount of sleep. 42% increase in learning is not a joke.

Furthermore, you need energy to continuously stay focus for long periods. In this case 5 to 6 hours.

Focusing requires a tremendous amount of energy and to have that energy, we have to sleep properly and have frequent breaks.

The brain is only 2% of our body weight but consumes 20% of our energy. Combine that with studying for long periods and our brain would use more energy than the standard 20%.

That’s why it is necessary to have enough sleep. In fact, I discussed more on this in my article on why studying is exhausting. I explained the value of sleep in that article in more detail. You can check it out here: Why is studying so exhausting

How many hours should you study a day?

Generally speaking, you should study for about 4 hours every day. This yields the most results and most importantly, prevents burnout. However, there are numerous factors to watch out for because we have different focusing abilities and energy levels.

If you’re familiar with the Pomodoro technique in studying, it is a type of study session that revolves around the concept that we can’t concentrate for longer periods of time.

You do not need to make research on the technique because here is the summary of the Pomodoro technique.

Pomodoro technique simply is a technique of studying for 25 minutes at a time followed by a 5-minute break which equals to a 30-minute full session.

The reason I’m saying this is because I want to talk about our different focusing abilities.

Generally speaking, most can concentrate for 25 minutes. That’s why many people swear by the Pomodoro technique.

However, there is something they are not talking about. That is switching costs.

Switching costs are the amount of energy you have to pay to be able to switch your focus on tasks. Now, the average switching cost is actually 15 minutes.

This means that it takes 15 minutes in order for you to focus on studying. Subtract that from the 25 minutes of Pomodoro and you’re only focusing for 10 minutes every time.

That’s why I am not a fan of the Pomodoro Technique. While it generally works for everybody, it is not the most efficient way of studying.

Actually, the better one is to focus on studying as long as possible.

Generally speaking, we are actually capable of focusing for 90 to 120 minutes straight. 120 minutes is only for people who are extremely trained in focusing, for most of us, that’s 90 minutes.

These 90 minutes came from the concept of ultradian rhythm proposed by a scientist named Nathan Kleitman, a groundbreaking sleep researcher.

Basically, it is working for 90-120 minutes followed by a 30-minute break.

Thus, 90 minutes focusing combine it by 30 minutes break is 120 minutes or 2 hours. However, after resting, we can do another session which would total to 4 hours.

Thus, for 2 sessions, we can study efficiently for 4 hours.

Another example of 4 hours is from the book made by Gary Keller which is an American Entrepreneur. His book is called The One Thing.

In his book, he explained that focusing on one thing for 4 hours. is the ideal way to be productive.

Can you see the pattern of 4 hours as ideal for working on one goal? That’s the same as studying if that’s your one thing.

Even I practice this. In my 4 hour study or work session, I make sure to get a break in between. My break is about 15 minutes to 30 minutes. I find that it is the most ideal.

But, of course, 90 minutes is for starters. I said you can go as high as 120 minutes.

so 120 minutes studying plus 30 minutes break is 2 and half hours. Do two sessions and you’ll have a 5-hour study session.

That’s why, if really have a lot to do, then studying for 5 – 6 hours would still give great results.

If you are up for the challenge, you can even go for 7-8 hours or three sessions. However, going beyond 4 hours requires a lot of focus and doing it gradually.

I recommend you to read my other article before trying to study for 7-8 hours. You need to know that it’s not for everybody. Is it ok to study 7-8 hours a day?

So basically, what I want to say is this.

You can work efficiently for 4 hours which is, in general, the best for everyone. However, if you can focus for longer periods or you have a lot of topics to study, then you can study for 5 to 6 hours which could still give good results provided that you know what you’re doing.