Have you ever decided to eat healthy, exercise, or do some other generally good action only to fail within a few days? If not, then you are awesome and can go back to studying. However, if you are like me, then you struggle to create new habits. I resolve to eat healthy and not drink Dr. Pepper every Sunday night, but by Monday around 1:30, I eat whatever I have time for and drink a Dr. Pepper. Forming new habits is hard, but the simple trick of habit stacking may be able to help.
Habits form and continue based on cues. Some people smell donuts or see a Starbucks and immediately crave the item. Everyone has tons of habits we go through each day to automate our lives. Habits make life manageable. As law students, studying becomes a habit. Studying in a particular spot at a particular time is a habit. The spot could be a comfy couch with electronic distractions everywhere or a quality desk with no noise. The goal is to create study cues that can help with focus, concentration, and understanding.
James Clear has great resources for creating habits at https://jamesclear.com/articles. I plan to try to implement his habit stacking idea and encourage students to attempt it as well. Habit stacking is a way to form new habits. He says to make a list of current habits. I would encourage students to make a list of current study habits. List when, where, how long, and anything that triggers studying. I would also suggest students create a list of desired study habits. The key is to write it down to help plan the habit stacking.
The next step in habit stacking is to link desired habits with ones already occurring. If I know that I heat up my lunch every day at the microwave, I can then use the microwave as a cue to refill my water bottle or use the Kuerig next to the microwave to make tea. The idea is to attach the new activity to one already on autopilot. The new habit is easier to maintain when it is next in line of a string of tasks. You can also insert new habits between two existing ones. Habit stacks can make new activities or choices easier to maintain.
For students, I suggest a handful of activities for you to consider for habit stacks. My suggestions assume you are setting aside enough time to read and understand the material. After reading, write down the 3 biggest takeaways. Explain how the reading relates to previous material and draft 2-3 questions for class. Do that prior to closing the casebook. After writing that last question, then close the book. Closing the book is a cue homework is finished, so add in the thinking exercise prior to that cue.
Pre-reading activities are good habits to form. After sitting down to study, open the book, and then write down what you think the reading will be about. Write down any questions from the previous reading and class. After that, start reading. Opening the book is an existing cue to start working. Sandwiching pre-reading between opening the book and starting the reading will build that habit.
Reviewing after class is a good stacking exercise. Once class is over, many students close their book and leave class. My suggestion is to stay seated and leave your book open. Write down the main takeaways and any questions or confusing topics from class. Also, write down where in the outline or big picture of the class you think this fits. Finally, close your book after writing everything down.
Lastly, consider where to stack practice questions and/or quizzes. Find time immediately after dinner or between 2 other activities where quizzing, CALI lessons, or other assessments will fit. It could be get to class, open your laptop, and complete a quick quiz. Anything that helps stack the habit.
Creating new habits is difficult, but connecting the new habit to something you already do could make small changes that have big impacts.
(Steven Foster)
