How To Study Better In College: Be Smarter, Stay Healthier

Studying better is on every student’s agenda, especially with exams looming.

Yet few students ever focus on the most elementary question: Where does the air come from? This makes sense; few students have ever changed a furnace filter or stopped to think about the effects of dehydration on the body or on the brain. If you are feeling rotten at school and are having trouble focusing, one small thing: dehydration could be to blame.

Dehydration leads to lowered brain function, loss of short-term memory and lowered organ function. These negative effects can happen even when a person is just slightly dehydrated.

To make matters worse, both coffee and alcohol inhibit the body’s ability to absorb water on a cellar level. Drying forced air aggravates the problem and can quickly cause a person to dehydrate. Dehydration is especially common at night. Keeping temperatures too warm is a national epidemic with furnaces and air conditioners blasting all day and all night. Not only is this bad for the planet, it causes dehydration.

To help combat dehydration, it’s recommended that the average person drink 10-12 8oz glasses of plain distilled water a day.

If you’re not getting this much plain water into your system read on: Here are five tips that will make you feel better, study better and keep you hydrated!

Buy a humidity/thermometer clock for your room.
You can’t fix a problem unless you know you have one. These are similar to a regular clock but they measure the humidity and the temperature in your room in addition to the time. You may need to buy a humidifier and lower your thermostat to reach a “normal” humidity level of 60-70% in your dorm room. The fortunate few may find that their dorm still uses steam radiators. Start cheering rather than complaining about the lost wall space. Drying clothes on a rack placed above the heat vent is another cheap way to increase humidity levels. An optimum temperature during the day is 65 or below and 55 or below at night.

Open the window to stay warm and stay healthy!

If you have no way to lower the temperature in your dorm room, periodically open the window even when it is frigid outside. This will let in some fresh air and lower the total temperature in your dorm room preventing humidity loss, especially at night. A little fresh air is also one of the best ways to stay awake when studying.

So far we have made it damper.

While this state is actually much better for your body and mind, it may not be very comfortable so now we will warm you up the right way. First, wear more clothing and wear it in layers. Put on a t-shirt or long underwear as a base layer. Then put on sweaters and finally a heavy sweatshirt. An added bonus is that your sweaters will stay much cleaner and you won’t need to wash or dry-clean them as often. Second, invest in some good college bedding and maybe a bed throw that you can use on your lap while you are studying. The idea is to keep the air cooler while increasing personal and bedding insulation to stay warmer. When your body is properly insulated you will find that your hands and feet will stay perfectly warm.

Drink hot or warm water.

Switch out coffee and caffeinated teas for hot water with a little lemon juice. This will warm you up on the inside and keep you hydrated at the same time. There is some evidence that drinking warm water is also good for digestion and the vitamin C in the lemon juice helps to boost the immune system.

Get up and move around every hour or so while studying.

This will keep your body warmer and the activity stimulates blood flow to your brain. It is also good for muscle tone and for healthy eye movement.

There are tons of good study tips and materials out there to enjoy once you have perfected the art of staying warm without becoming dehydrated. Warm up the right way and you will get the most out of everything you do.