the hardest homework

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• Study Skills
• Homework Skills

11 Ways to Deal With Homework Overload

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 Fact Checked

Making a Plan

Staying motivated, starting good homework habits, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jennifer Kaifesh . Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 254,998 times.

A pile of homework can seem daunting, but it’s doable if you make a plan. Make a list of everything you need to do, and work your way through, starting with the most difficult assignments. Focus on your homework and tune out distractions, and you’ll get through things more efficiently. Giving yourself breaks and other rewards will help you stay motivated along the way. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck! Hang in there, and you’ll knock the homework out before you know it.

Things You Should Know

• Create a checklist of everything you have to do, making sure to include deadlines and which assignments are a top priority.
• Take a 15-minute break for every 2 hours of studying. This can give your mind a break and help you feel more focused.
• Make a schedule of when you plan on doing your homework and try to stick to it. This way, you won’t feel too overwhelmed as the assignments roll in.

• Make a plan to go through your work bit by bit, saving the easiest tasks for last.

• Put phones and any other distractions away. If you have to do your homework on a computer, avoid checking your email or social media while you are trying to work.
• Consider letting your family (or at least your parents) know where and when you plan to do homework, so they'll know to be considerate and only interrupt if necessary.

• If you have the option to do your homework in a study hall, library, or other place where there might be tutors, go for it. That way, there will be help around if you need it. You'll also likely wind up with more free time if you can get work done in school.

• To take a break, get up and move away from your workspace. Walk around a bit, and get a drink or snack.
• Moving around will recharge you mentally, physically, and spiritually, so you’re ready to tackle the next part of your homework.

• For instance, you might write “I need to do this chemistry homework because I want a good average in the class. That will raise my GPA and help me stay eligible for the basketball team and get my diploma.”
• Your goals might also look something like “I’m going to write this history paper because I want to get better as a writer. Knowing how to write well and make a good argument will help me when I’m trying to enter law school, and then down the road when I hope to become a successful attorney.”

• Try doing your homework as soon as possible after it is assigned. Say you have one set of classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and another on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do the Monday homework on Monday, instead of putting it off until Tuesday.
• That way, the class will still be fresh in your mind, making the homework easier.
• This also gives you time to ask for help if there’s something you don’t understand.

• If you want to keep everyone accountable, write a pact for everyone in your study group to sign, like “I agree to spend 2 hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons with my study group. I will use that time just for working, and won’t give in to distractions or playing around.”
• Once everyone’s gotten through the homework, there’s no problem with hanging out.

• Most teachers are willing to listen if you’re trying and legitimately have trouble keeping up. They might even adjust the homework assignments to make them more manageable.

Reader Videos

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.understood.org/en/articles/homework-strategies
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/tips/dealing-with-homework
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/focused.html
• ↑ http://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/august-2014/tips-for-fighting-homework-fatigue
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/study-partners/

About This Article

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Daniella Dunbar

Oct 28, 2016

Did this article help you?

Dec 2, 2023

Anamika Gupta

Oct 16, 2020

Mar 8, 2016

Jorien Yolantha

May 8, 2018

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Don’t miss out! Sign up for

wikiHow’s newsletter

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Dantzig's unsolved homework problems

From Wikipedia:

An event in George Dantzig 's life became the origin of a famous story in 1939 while he was a graduate student at UC Berkeley. Near the beginning of a class for which Dantzig was late, professor Jerzy Neyman wrote two examples of famously unsolved statistics problems on the blackboard. When Dantzig arrived, he assumed that the two problems were a homework assignment and wrote them down. According to Dantzig, the problems "seemed to be a little harder than usual", but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for the two problems, still believing that they were an assignment that was overdue.

What were the two unsolved problems which Dantzig had solved?

• math-history
• mathematicians

• 4 $\begingroup$ It seems that the two problems can be found in Dantzig's thesis. $\endgroup$ –  Hagen von Eitzen Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 12:35

2 Answers 2

I'm a few years late to the party, but in fact the problem in the first, solo paper is easy to state with only elementary background, and the arguments in it are entirely reasonable for a talented young grad student to come up with. I have not taken the time to read the second paper. This topic comes up from time to time with interest from a very broad array of people, and nobody seems to have written a straightforward description of either problem, so I'll provide such a description for the first one.

For those with some background: Dantzig showed that in the situation of Student's t-test, the only way to get a hypothesis test whose power for any given alternative is independent of the standard deviation is to use a silly test which always has an equal probability of rejecting or failing to reject, which is obviously not useful.

In an unusual amount of detail, aimed at those with no statistical knowledge:

Lots of data is approximately normally distributed ("bell-shaped"), like IQ scores, birthweights, or people's height. The classical Central Limit Theorem gives one explanation for this phenomenon: complicated traits like birthweight can often be thought of as the result of adding up a large number of competing effects, like the presence or absence of specific genes. It is a statistical fact that under very general hypotheses, adding up many such effects tends to result in a normal distribution. For such data, you'll "usually" get the average value, and with enough observations, you can predict with high accuracy just how likely it is to get a certain amount above or below that average.

A century ago, William Gosset was Head Experimental Brewer at Guinness. He came up against something like the following problem. Certain strains of barley have approximately normally distributed yields. Using only a few data points, how could he tell which type of barley is better, and more importantly, how could he quantify his certainty that his conclusion wasn't simply due to random chance?

A little more formally, say our current strain of barley has an average yield of 100 units, and we're only interested in switching to the new strain if its yield is at least 105 units. So, we have two specific hypotheses:

• ("Null hypothesis.") The new strain's average yield is 100 units.
• ("Alternative hypothesis.") The new strain's average yield is 105 units.

At the end of the day, we're going to need to pick one strain of barley or the other. There are hence four probabilities of interest:

• A. ...the probability that we correctly keep using the old strain.
• B. ...the probability that we mistakenly switch to the new strain.
• C. ...the probability that we mistakenly keep using the old strain.
• D. ...the probability that we correctly switch to the new strain.

We want to somehow minimize the probability of the two types of mistakes, B and C, but doing so requires a trade-off.

Gosset developed a clever test where you can specify in advance the probability of making mistake B--often it's set at 5%. This is called the significance level of the test. Gosset published the it under the pseudonym "Student", and it is now called Student's t-test. One excellent thing about his procedure is that you don't need to know in advance how variable the yield actually is in the sense that the probability of mistake B is always your pre-set value.

If you use his procedure, you can also compute the probability of making mistake C. The power of the test is probability D (namely 1-C), which is thought of as the ability of the test to correctly tell us to switch to the new method. Unlike the significance level, the power of Gosset's procedure does depend on the true variability of the yield.

This dependence makes some intuitive sense, too. Suppose the new strain does have an average yield of 105 units. If that yield had almost no variation, you would expect it to be much easier to correctly switch to the new strain than if the yield had enormous variation which "muddies your data". Of course, expecting something and proving it are two different things! As mentioned above, in the world where the average yield is 100 units, the error probability of Student's t-test is independent of the variation of the yield, so there is certainly something interesting going on.

Here's where Dantzig came in. We could ask if there is any test whatsoever which has the property that, for every fixed alternative, the power does not depend on the true variability of the yield. Dantzig showed that, while such tests technically exist, they are uninteresting in that probabilities A, B, C, and D are all 50%.

Closing remarks:

Finally, I wanted to comment on the tendency towards hyperbole. In Dantzig's 1986 College Mathematics Journal interview , Dantzig is quoted as calling the problems "two famous unsolved problems in statistics". In Dantzig's obituary (repeated on Wikipedia currently), this turned into "two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics". While this is not my field and I am not old, I'm extremely dubious about the "most famous" claim. For instance, there seems to have been no rush to publish the second solution (it waited for Dantzig's thesis and an accident of someone else solving it). MathSciNet has only 5 citations for the first paper, three historical, and 7 citations for the second, again three historical. These are not the citation counts I would expect from solutions to a field's "most famous unsolved problems", even accounting for recent citation bias.

These exaggerations are frankly not necessary. Dantzig's reputation is enormous already, and the true story of a talented young grad student cleverly finding a few pages of brilliant argument that had eluded his teacher---something he never would have looked for if he knew that what he was working on was unsolved---is enough.

I think the two problems appear in these papers:

Dantzig, George B. "On the Non-Existence of Tests of 'Student's' Hypothesis Having Power Functions Independent of Sigma." Annals of Mathematical Statistics. No. 11; 1940 (pp. 186-192).

Dantzig, George B. and Abraham Wald. "On the Fundamental Lemma of Neyman and Pearson." Annals of Mathematical Statistics. No. 22; 1951 (pp. 87-93).

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp#6oJOtz9WKFQUHhbw.99

EDIT: In case snopes ever goes belly up, the story can be found in Albers, Reid, and Dantzig, An Interview with George B. Dantzig : The Father of Linear Programming, College Math J 17 (1986) 292-314. The interview has also been reprinted in Albers, Alexanderson, and Reid, More Mathematical People, page 67.

• 4 $\begingroup$ A link to the first paper: projecteuclid.org/download/pdf_1/euclid.aoms/1177731912 $\endgroup$ –  Michael Scott Asato Cuthbert Commented Aug 27, 2014 at 15:08
• 20 $\begingroup$ Could you at least write the problems and/or results here? $\endgroup$ –  BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Commented Jul 27, 2017 at 15:31
• 4 $\begingroup$ A link to the second paper: projecteuclid.org/DPubS?handle=euclid.aoms/… The problems in the two papers are complex enough that quoting them here is impractical. $\endgroup$ –  Dale Commented Mar 30, 2019 at 0:55
• 1 $\begingroup$ A link to the second paper: projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoms/1177729695 $\endgroup$ –  hongsy Commented May 25, 2020 at 9:29

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged math-history mathematicians ..

• Featured on Meta
• Upcoming initiatives on Stack Overflow and across the Stack Exchange network...
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Narcissist boss won't allow me to move on
• What was the Night in Genesis 1?
• Verbs for to punish
• Can loops/cycles (in a temporal sense) exist without beginnings?
• On parole in one state but then get arrested in a different state
• Accelerometer readings not consistently increasing during movement
• How to request for a package to be added to the Fedora repositories?
• What does "training" the data mean in the internals of ggplot2?
• How can I insert new arguments to this block of function calls that follow a pattern?
• This expected value has a minimum!
• Was supposed to be co-signer on auto for daughter but I’m listed the buyer
• "A set of Guatemalas" in Forster's Maurice?
• What is the meaning of the "Super 8 - Interactive Teaser" under "EXTRAS" in Portal 2?
• Is n-euclidean space a quotient of m-euclidean space?
• Parking ticket for parking in a private lot reserved for customers of X, Y, and Z business's
• Why do certificate CNs not match the hostnames provided in MX records?
• Are operators unitary on a real quantum computer?
• Domestic Air Travel within the US with Limited Term Driver's License and no passport, for non-resident aliens?
• Infinite regresses and AI: are they compatible?
• Why can THHN/THWN go in Schedule 40 PVC but NM cable (Romex) requires Schedule 80?
• Why are there two cables connected to this GFCI outlet?
• Does Löwenheim-Skolem require Foundation in any way?
• Objects proven finiteness yet no algorithm discovered?
• Reorder for smallest largest prefix sum

Demystifying Math 55

By anastasia yefremova.

Few undergraduate level classes have the distinction of nation-wide recognition that Harvard University’s Math 55 has. Officially comprised of Mathematics 55A “Studies in Algebra and Group Theory” and Mathematics 55B “Studies in Real and Complex Analysis,” it is technically an introductory level course. It is also a veritable legend among high schoolers and college students alike, renowned as — allegedly — the hardest undergraduate math class in the country. It has been mentioned in books and articles, has its own Wikipedia page, and has been the subject of countless social media posts and videos.

Most recently, Harvard junior Mahad Khan created a TikTok video dedicated to Math 55 that has received over 360,000 views to date. His is only one of many — his older brother created one, too — but it has the distinction of an insider’s perspective. “I thought it would be interesting if I cleared up the misconceptions about Math 55,” Khan said. While he hadn’t taken the course himself, he wanted to go beyond its reputation. “I wanted to get a real perspective by interviewing a former student and current course assistant.”

Over the years, perception of Math 55 has become based less on the reality of the course itself and more on a cumulative collection of lore and somewhat sensationalist rumors. It’s tempting to get swept up in the thrill of hearsay but while there might be kernels of truth to some of the stories, many of them are outdated and taken out of context. At the end of the day, however, Math 55 is a class like any other. Below, we take a stab at busting some of the more well known and persistent myths about the class. Or, at the very least, offering an extra layer of clarity. 

Myth #1: Math 55 is only for high school math geniuses

Most articles or mentions of Math 55 refer to it as filled with math competition champions and genius-level wunderkinds. The class is supposedly legendary among high school math prodigies, who hear terrifying stories about it in their computer camps and at the International Math Olympiad. There are even rumors of a special test students have to take before they are even allowed into Math 55. But while familiarity with proof-based mathematics is considered a plus for those interested in the course, there is no prerequisite for competition or research experience. 

In fact students whose only exposure to advanced math has been through olympiads and summer research programs can have a harder time adjusting. Their approach to the material tends to be understandably more solitary and that can be a disadvantage for the level of collaboration higher level mathematics require. “It has become a lot more open to people with different backgrounds,” said Professor Denis Auroux , who teaches Math 55,. “Our slogan is, if you’re reasonably good at math, you love it, and you have lots of time to devote to it, then Math 55 is completely fine for you.” 

Also, there is no extra test to get into the class.

Myth #2: Just take a graduate class, instead

Math 55 is hard. Whether you’re just 55-curious, or a past or present student in the class, this is something everyone agrees on. The course condenses four years of math into two semesters, after all. “For the first semester, you work on linear and abstract algebra with a bit of representation theory,” said sophomore math concentrator Dora Woodruff. “The second semester is real and complex analysis, and a little bit of algebraic topology. That’s almost the whole undergraduate curriculum.” Woodruff — incidentally, the student Khan interviewed — took Math 55 as a freshman and returned her second year as a course assistant. She is intimately familiar with the course’s difficulty level.

So why not just take an upper level undergraduate course to begin with or even one at a graduate level, if you’re really looking for a challenge? What justifies the existence of a class with the difficulty level of Math 55? One argument is that the course helps structure and systemize the knowledge with which many students come to Harvard. It gives them a firm background in preparation for the rest of their math education. Math 55 is difficult and it is purposefully structured that way as it’s meant to help students mature as mathematicians rather than as simple course takers.

But more importantly, “it’s just not true that Math 55 is at the level of a graduate class,” Auroux said. “It goes through several upper division undergraduate math classes with maybe a bit more advanced digressions into material here and there, but it sticks very close to what is taught in 100-level classes. The difference is we go through it at a faster pace, maybe with more challenging homework, and ideally as a community of people bringing our heads together.” 

A core goal of Math 55, according to Auroux, is to build a sense of community. Other schools might encourage advanced first-year students to take upper level undergraduate or even graduate classes, but Math 55 helps build a cohort of like-minded people who really like math, are good at it, and want to do a lot of it during their time at Harvard. That’s the experience Woodruff had, as well. “The community can be very strong,” she said. “You meet a lot of other people very interested in math and stay friends with them for the rest of college.”

Myth #3: Homework takes between 24 and 60 hours

Horror stories of endless homework are synonymous with the class. You’ll read or hear about “24 to 60 hours per week on homework” in almost every reference to Math 55. But one, there is a world of difference between 24 and 60 hours that is never explained, and two, this timeframe is quite misaligned with reality.

Auroux frequently sends out surveys to his students asking how long homework takes them and the average for most is closer to 15 hours a week. Those with more extensive prior math backgrounds can take as little as five to ten hours. The key factor is collaboration. “This class doesn’t lend itself to self-study,” Auroux stressed. Once they have thought about each problem set on their own, students are welcome and encouraged to talk to their friends and collaborate. “As soon as I see that something took over 30 hours I ask the student, do you know you’re supposed to be working with people and come ask me questions when you’re stuck?”

It is true that between reviewing lectures, digesting the material, and solving the problem sets, students usually end up devoting between 20 and 30 hours a week to the class. However, that includes the time dedicated to homework. So while students are discouraged from taking too many difficult classes and extracurriculars in the same semester as Math 55, they are also not expected to spend the time equivalent to a full-time job on their problem sets every week.

Myth #4: less than half of the class makes it to the second semester

Math 55 is just as infamous for its attrition rate as it is for its difficulty. Most sources like to cite the 1970 class, which began with 75 students and — between the advanced nature of the material and the time-constraints under which students had to work — ended with barely 20. Since then, the rumor has been that the Math 55 class shrinks by half its original size or more before the first semester is over. The reality is much less shocking and a bit more complicated.

Enrollment in this past fall semester’s Math 55A peaked at (ironically) 55 students. Well into the spring semester’s Math 55B, 47 students were still enrolled in the course. “On average, a drop of about 10-15 percent is much closer to what I would expect,” Auroux said. And those numbers become even more flexible if one takes into consideration the weeks math students have at the beginning of each semester to try out different classes and “shop” around before they have to commit to anything. This means students find their way in and out of Math 55 in a variety of ways over the course of the academic year.

According to Auroux, some students shop Math 55 in the fall and switch to the less intense Math 25 for the remainder of the semester. Others start out in Math 25 and, if not sufficiently challenged, switch to Math 55. Even people who end up in academia are not exempt from this. During his time as a student, our own Department of Mathematics’ Professor Emeritus Benedict Gross switched to the lower level Math 21 after two weeks in Math 55. In fact, those two weeks almost made him reconsider his desire to pursue mathematics. “By the beginning of sophomore year, I had decided to major in physics,” he recalled. “But during shopping period that fall, I walked past a math class taught by Andrew Gleason and stopped in to listen. It turned out to be Math 55.” He enrolled and by the end of the semester had found his vocation in mathematics.

All this means that Auroux sees student numbers vacillate up and down throughout the academic year. “There are about four or five students in this spring semester’s Math 55 that took Math 25 or even Math 22 in the fall, and they’re doing mostly fine,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but I think they’re having a great time.”

Myth #5: 55-er culture is cult-y and exclusionary

Even though her experience with Math 55 was a positive one, Woodruff is very aware of the unhealthy culture the class has been rumored to cultivate. It’s easy for students to form exclusionary cliques that consist only of other Math 55 students, and some look down on anyone taking lower level math classes. But Woodruff also stressed that the instructors are very aware of this and actively take steps to curb that kind of toxic behavior. She said Auroux frequently brings up the importance of keeping the Math 55 community inclusive through Slack messages and lecture references.

Some students come to Harvard just for the opportunity to take Math 55. Some view enrolling in the class as proof of their mathematical gumption and competence. A Harvard Independent article called Math 55 the “premiere mathematical challenge for overachieving and…ridiculously mathy freshmen” and a piece in The Harvard Crimson referred to it as “a bit of a status thing as far as math majors here are concerned.” Over the years, the Harvard Department of Mathematics has taken steps to correct these assumptions. 

For one thing, neither the Math 55A nor the Math 55B official course descriptions boast the dubious honor of referring to it as “probably the most difficult undergraduate math class in the country” (don’t trust everything you read on Wikipedia). For another, “we’re trying to emphasize that there’s no magic to Math 55,” Auroux said. “It contains the same material as some of the other classes we have. People who take it are not intrinsically better or smarter than the ones who don’t.” 

Myth #6: You have to take Math 55 if you’re serious about going into academia

One reason math concentrators could feel pressured to enroll in Math 55 is because they view it as a prerequisite for a career in academia. It’s a sort of badge of honor and proof of their commitment to the field of mathematics. It is true that quite a few graduates of the course have gone on to pursue a career in mathematics. Woodruff herself believes that will be the most likely path for her, and several faculty members in our own Department of Mathematics took Math 55 during their days as Harvard freshmen.

“Several times in my research career when I understood something fundamental, I would realize that this was what Math 55 was trying to teach us,” Gross said. “It was an amazing introduction to the whole of mathematics and it was transformative for me.” In fact, Gross met Higgins Professor of Mathematics Joe Harris when they took the class together, forging a lifelong friendship. When they returned to Harvard as faculty, they took turns teaching Math 25 and Math 55. 

However, Auroux is quick to point out that while many graduates of the course do end up in academia, most professional mathematicians have likely never even heard of Math 55. “I would like to think that it’s a success story if people end up doing math, because the goal of Math 55 is to show students how beautiful math can be,” he said. “If they love it enough to go to grad school and become mathematicians, that’s wonderful. And if they want to take that math knowledge and do something else with their life, that’s just as wonderful.”

21 Hardest College Majors

Is the college major you’re thinking about pursuing too hard? Is your current college major the right one for you? Could it be too hard?

At universities across the country, students have access to hundreds of different majors. The difficulty of some of them varies greatly from that of others. Which major is the most difficult?

Based on how challenging they seem to be, I’ll rank the top college majors based on how hard they hard from student feedback in this article.

Also covered will be the reasons behind these degrees’ difficulty as well as preparation strategies you might use before submitting your college applications.

What Makes a College Major Hard?

Many factors can make a college major hard. Studying a subject that you’re not really interested in can be a top factor because it makes it that much harder to get the information into your brain. There are many STEM degrees available , and you may feel that they’re not right for you because they involve a lot of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Some of the hardest college majors are indeed biology, chemistry, physics, math, and various engineering degrees. You’ll need to put in a lot of study time and effort to do well in the classes. But you’ll be rewarded at the end with high-paying jobs.

Take coursework in calculus, organic chemistry, and statistics if you want a degree that will challenge you.

Let’s first discuss what constitutes a major problem before we move on. Finding an objective metric to gauge “hardness” is challenging because each student has unique talents and passions. It could be more difficult for you to succeed in your major, for instance, if you aren’t particularly excellent at some topics.

Therefore, although certain generalizations about what makes a major difficult are correct, they aren’t always accurate.

You could find it simpler to get into the program you desire if you are very good at something than if you are not. There are, however, additional strategies for handling college.

It appears that how long a person studies won’t substantially affect the outcome. The research you are conducting has something to do with it instead.

Our study’s findings revealed something intriguing when we looked at them. The kind of questions asked on the test were a greater indicator of a student’s likelihood to struggle in class than how much time they had spent studying.

Tests that required students to apply what they had learned in earlier sessions resulted in greater GPAs for those students.

Typically, students who were required to write essays about anything they had read or heard had poorer results than those who were given multiple-choice tests. Furthermore, students who took an exam that assessed their capacity for problem-solving and judgment performed better than those who took a test that just assessed their fundamental knowledge.

According to NSSE data, preparing for school takes an average student roughly 15 hours each week. The type of course, the season, and whether the student attends school full- or part-time are a few variables that can alter this figure.

For instance, online learners save a great deal of time compared to their in-person counterparts when getting ready for class. Additionally, students frequently put more effort into preparing for lower-level classes than for higher-level classes.

What Are the Hardest College Majors?

College majors vary in difficulty and some are more difficult than others. Some majors could necessitate more study time and homework than others. These are the most challenging majors, per the National Student Survey.

21. Fine Arts

One of the hardest degrees to choose is fine arts. To become proficient at painting, sculpting, sketching, and even photography, you’ll require a lot of time. That time is primarily used for creating art.

Other activities and seminars associated with your major may also be required of you. The time you spend in the studio will help you have a successful career in the arts, even if you choose to pursue a related major or field like sketching, fashion design, or something else new.

The courses and electives that students must take in various fields of study may vary depending on the college they select. This encompasses physics, chemistry, algebra, philosophy, psychology, literature, music theory, art history, and other disciplines.

But the primary subjects and subfields that students of fine arts still study are drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, printing, and digital media.

20. Architecture

You need to have a wide range of knowledge to be a successful architect. Among the subjects are engineering, math, physics, art, and even some computer science. The history of design, construction, and materials will also be taught to students majoring in architecture.

Students will learn how to develop 3D models using AutoCAD and other applications, as well as how to write specifications and blueprints. Architecture students will gain useful skills including project planning and money management.

Last but not least, architects will get a chance to practice communicating their ideas orally, visually, and in writing. Any project manager must be able to communicate with others.

Students majoring in architecture must choose their area of concentration. They frequently get to pick between design and construction. Architecture students will need to consider their academic interests.

Read more in the in-depth article – Is Architecture Hard?

19. Nursing

You need to be prepared to put a lot of effort into your studies if you want to earn a nursing degree. Anatomy, chemistry, biology, and pharmacology will all be covered during your nursing education. Additionally, you ought to study psychology and nutrition.

Depending on what you choose to concentrate on, you can obtain a nursing associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, for instance.

You might need to complete two years of graduate school in addition to a four-year bachelor’s degree in order to become a nurse practitioner. You can learn the fundamentals of nursing with a bachelor’s degree. You can then continue on to earn a master’s or doctorate degree.

Students who enroll in nursing programs have the information and abilities necessary to practice nursing and are well-prepared for lucrative employment in the healthcare sector. A student must complete an associate degree before enrolling in a bachelor’s program if they wish to become a nurse.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education is tasked with accrediting nursing programs (CCNE). This organization makes certain that all nursing schools adhere to high criteria of excellence.

Anatomy, physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, psychology, and other related courses might be beneficial if you wish to become a nurse.

Read more – How Hard is Nursing School ?

18. Astronomy

Astronomers do research on celestial objects such as stars, planets, moons, black holes, galaxies, and more. They use powerful telescopes to observe these celestial objects. Using apparatus such as cameras, spectrometers, and radio receivers, they will record their findings in writing.

Like space itself, astronomy is a vast field of study. What is actually out there can only be seen in limited portions from Earth. Astronomers investigate the workings of space as well as stars, planets, and galaxies.

Astronomy is a challenging major because there are so many required classes. You must enroll in math, physics, chemistry, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics courses.

You could choose to concentrate on a particular area of astronomy. In this manner, you may guarantee that you learn all there is to know about it.

Learn more about Astronomy Major Difficulty and Astronomy vs Astrophysics Differences .

17. Biochemistry

The science of biochemistry investigates the molecular processes that underlie life. The study of molecules, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and tiny chemical compounds, will be the main focus for the students.

Additionally, students can study about metabolism, gene expression, and cell signaling. You might even learn about microbiology in some classes.

People can easily become interested in science in general by studying biochemistry. If you’re curious about the smallest components of life that keep our globe turning, biochemistry might be your thing.

Biochemists study the chemical alterations that take place within living things. They also research how these reactions change when an organism ages or becomes ill. A relatively broad field, biochemistry studies everything from DNA to how enzymes break down sugar molecules.

Read more – Is Biochemistry a Hard Major ?

16. Biology

Students studying biology will study a variety of subjects, including cell structure, molecular biology, biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, genetics, evolutionary theory, conservation biology, ecology, environmental science, and many more. Even better, you could decide to specialize in a particular area of study, such marine biology, zoology, or botany.

If you’re interested, there are numerous opportunities to gain practical experience in science. You may volunteer at a neighborhood non-profit or participate in a research program at a university for college students.

Each week, the students will spend a substantial amount of time conducting experiments in the lab and analyzing the outcomes. They should also develop their independence-working skills.

Learn more in this in-depth article – Is Biology a Hard Major?

15. Cell and Molecular Biology

Molecules and cells are the fundamental components of life. Majors in molecular and cell biology investigate the construction and operation of molecules and cells.

Lab classes in calculus, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and biology aid students in learning the fundamentals of these disciplines. Another opportunity for students to gain practical experience is through research projects.

Each week, molecular and cell biology students will spend a significant amount of time in the lab and in class. They will conduct experiments and study the functioning of molecules and cells.

14. Neuroscience

You might enjoy neuroscience if you enjoy science and psychology. The function of the brain is studied by neuroscientists. You could study neuroscience and earn a degree in it if you have an interest in both psychology and science.

• Related article: Is Psychology a Useful Degree?

Math, biology, chemistry, physics, and other subjects are frequently studied by students majoring in neuroscience. The majority of the course material focuses on physiology, neurobiology, psychology, and cognitive science. If science or remembering things are not your strong suits, neuroscience may not be the best fit for you.

We still don’t fully understand how our brains function, making neuroscience an intriguing field. There are several methods for studying the brain, including fMRI, EEG, and MRI studies.

Neuroscience is crucial because it clarifies what occurs when someone is ill or injured. If a baseball bat were to strike you in the head, for example, you might not recall anything about the game you just saw. You can become unable to walk or speak following a stroke.

When you study neuroscience, you can aid other individuals by figuring out why something occurred.

Learn more in this in-depth article: Is Neuroscience a Hard Major ?

13. Physics

Theoretical and experimental physicists make up the two main subgroups of physics majors. In contrast to individuals who study experimental physics, those who study theoretical physics often have more interests in math and philosophy, as well as chemistry and biology.

Calculus, linear algebra, statistics, and thermodynamics are among the challenging courses that both student groups must take. They are getting ready for graduate school, where they will decide between specializing in experimental or theoretical physics.

The subject of physics is fascinating. If you appreciate problem-solving, trying new things, and cooperating with others, physics might be a good fit for you. In order to understand the world in which we live, physics is the study of natural laws and how to apply them.

It uses mathematics, engineering, astronomy, chemistry, and other sciences. The courses you’ll need to comprehend include calculus, linear algebra, probability theory, statistics, thermodynamics, electromagnetics, optics, mechanics, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and relativity.

Read more in-depth Is a Physics Major Worth It?

12. Mathematics

Math majors study a wide range of mathematics. Some of them deal with logic, some with geometry, others with number theory, others with physics, others with engineering, and so forth.

Math majors also study probability, statistics, and cryptography. Numerous mathematicians, statisticians, physicists, engineers, economists, cryptographers, and other specialists are made from math majors.

Most math majors opt to concentrate either on pure mathematics or applied mathematics. Both routes demand a lot of arithmetic and reasoning, but they are distinct from one another.

While applied mathematicians are more interested in the practical applications of mathematical theories, pure mathematicians often are more interested in the abstract concepts underlying those theories. Whichever path you select, it will put your mind to the test.

Learn more in this in-depth article – Is a Math Major Hard?

11. Geological Engineering

Geological engineering is an interdisciplinary field that examines rocks, minerals, soils, and other materials in order to address issues using scientific methods.

Students need to be capable of comprehending both the theory and the practice of the field they have chosen. Basic sciences, chemistry, physics, math, and statistics are included in this. Geochemists, hydrogeologists, structural geologists, stratigraphers, tectonics, and volcanologists are just a few of the many subfields that geologists might specialize in.

A fascinating career option is geological engineering because it mixes geology and engineering. Both of these topics will be covered at college, after which you can work in the mining or oil industries. If you enjoy working outside, this can be a fantastic job for you.

10. Civil Engineering

Among other things, civil engineers design buildings, roads, and highways. To determine how structures should behave in various scenarios, they use sophisticated math techniques like trigonometry, calculus, and differential equations.

Additionally, they must be able to communicate clearly with clients and contractors, read architectural drawings and blueprints, and understand blueprints.

Considering how much math is involved, studying civil engineering might be challenging. However, if you were a strong math student in high school, you’ll discover that most institutions offer courses that help students prepare for the challenging work of civil engineering.

Read more about the major in this guide – Is Civil Engineering Hard?

9. Materials Engineering

In the field of physics called materials science, tiny bits of matter are studied. The field is interdisciplinary. The structure, composition, and physical and chemical characteristics of various substances are all studied by materials scientists.

The impact of the material’s qualities on how it functions and interacts with other materials is another thing they examine. For the creation of usable products, materials engineers apply what they have learned from study.

If you enjoy handling and seeing complex 3D challenges, materials engineering might be your thing. A variety of materials are used in the creation of objects by material engineers. Additionally, they assist businesses in developing fresh goods and methods of operation.

8. Petroleum Engineering

A fascinating career option is petroleum engineering because it incorporates a wide range of academic disciplines. Pipelines, refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that produce fuels and chemicals are planned and constructed by petroleum engineers.

You must understand the density, viscosity, surface tension, and thermal conductivity of materials in order to work as a petroleum engineer. You’ll also need to understand how heat transfers, how phases change, how fluids flow, and how thermodynamics operates. Finally, you need to be able to calculate something’s pressure and volume using formulas and equations.

A broad topic, petroleum engineering examines numerous aspects of producing oil and gas. Petroleum engineers design and construct the facilities, pipelines, refineries, storage facilities, and other equipment needed to locate, extract, refine, process, distribute, and move crude oil and natural gas.

Additional courses in geology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, economics, law, biology, and psychology are available to petroleum engineering majors.

7. Computer Science

Many computer scientists are also interested in math, physics, biology, psychology, economics, etc. and they have the opportunity to choose what industry they work in after they graduate. People hire computer scientists because they know how to solve problems well. They might not know how to teach other people how to solve those problems, but they will know how to write code.

Students of computer science learn both how computers work and how to use them. They learn about the parts and programs that make up computers. They learn about the theory behind programming and computing. And they learn how to use these ideas to solve problems in the real world.

Students who major in computer science often go on to become programmers, system administrators, network engineers, web developers, database managers, and other technical professionals.

Computer scientists are people who like to tinker with technology and take on difficult tasks. Students of computer science learn about the theory behind computers and how software systems are made.

Students learn about hardware, networking, operating systems, databases, web development, graphics, and many other things.

Learn more about CS in this in-depth article – Is Computer Science Hard?

6. Computer Engineering

When designing circuits, chips, and other components for use in electronics, computer engineers employ computers. Computer technologists produced the hardware that enabled the development of the contemporary world.

From tiny components like microprocessors and memory chips to large systems like automobiles, planes, and even space shuttles, computer engineers create all different types of technology.

The capabilities of computer engineers are very broad. Some people work for manufacturing firms, research institutions, and IT businesses.

Engineering with a focus in computers is a challenging degree. It requires extensive knowledge of mathematics, science, and electronics. Students who major in computer engineering typically take courses in digital logic, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer architecture.

Read more in this in-depth post – Is Computer Engineering Hard?

5. Aerospace Engineering

All components of an airplane, spacecraft, missile, rocket, or satellite, including its structure, guidance system, propulsion system, thermal management system, avionics, sensors, communications, navigation, life support, and payload, are designed and manufactured by aerospace engineers.

Planes, rockets, satellites, and other flying or extraterrestrial vehicles are created by aerospace engineers.

The physics of flight and space travel, including aerodynamics, propulsion, guidance and navigation, and controls, are taught to aerospace engineering students. These abilities enable them to create spacecraft and aircraft that are quieter, safer, and fuel-efficient.

It’s a challenging major that calls for a strong background in math, physics, chemistry, and mechanics. But once you have your degree, it may all have been worthwhile.

Learn more about AE in this in-depth guide – Is Aerospace Engineering Hard?

4. Chemical Engineering

Some of the most challenging college courses are combined within the major of chemical engineering. You’ll need to study Math, Economics, Computational Methods, Mass and Energy Balance, Heat Transfer, Organic Chemistry, Thermodynamics, and Physics in addition to Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.

Chemical engineering students frequently have a lot of lab and field work. Manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare are all possible career paths.

Chemistry, biology, math, physics, and engineering are all combined in the science of chemical engineering. Chemical engineers develop processes and products that involve chemical reactions, changes in appearance, and other processes.

They also research how the design of manufacturing-related machinery and systems is influenced by material attributes.

Thermodynamics, kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transport, phase equilibria, equilibrium constants, stoichiometry, and other concepts are essential for chemical engineers to understand.

• Related article: Is Chemistry a Hard Major?

3. Mechanical Engineering

Physics, arithmetic, and the study of materials are all included in the discipline of mechanical engineering. It entails problem-solving, designing, producing, and assembling things.

Everything from large machines to small gadgets is the domain of mechanical engineers.

Mechanical engineers come in a wide variety of specialties, including those related to robotics, semiconductor, software, systems, transportation, aircraft, automotive, biomedical, civil, chemical, electrical, environmental, industrial, marine, mining, nuclear, oil & gas, and others.

ME is one of the most challenging degrees since it requires a deep understanding of mathematics, physics, and engineering. However, ME might be the best option for you if your goals are very important to you.

Read more about its difficulty in this article – Is Mechanical Engineering Hard?

2. Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineers learn about things like biology, chemistry, math, and physics. Then, they use what they’ve learned to solve health care problems and help us live better, longer, and more comfortably.

Biomedical engineers have different specialties. Some will specialize in areas like biochemistry, biomechanics, or bioengineering. Others will focus on how equipment, devices, and systems are made. Biomedical engineers will often be working in hospitals, clinics, or research labs.

Biomedical engineers often do research and design new medical devices, vaccines, and genetic therapies while they are still in college.

This is a hard major because you’ll be studying the same things that future doctors and engineers will study.

Learn more about it in this in-depth post – Is Biomedical Engineering Hard?

1. Electrical Engineering

The broad field of electrical engineering encompasses numerous distinct engineering disciplines. In order to prepare for the challenging nature of the field, electrical engineering students frequently study a lot of math, physics, and computer science courses. Additionally, they must have a thorough understanding of electronics and circuit design.

To build radios, TVs, and other electronic devices, electrical engineers are frequently enlisted. On contrast to others, some electrical engineers specialize in creating medical equipment. Our homes and workplaces are safe and operate properly thanks to electrical engineers.

It takes a wide variety of talents to succeed in the study of electrical engineering. Physics, chemistry, biology, and math are a few of these abilities. Aside from creating circuits, analyzing signals, and diagnosing problems, electrical engineers also need to be adept at these tasks.

The ability to communicate clearly with others is a requirement. They also need to know how to write code in order to create electronic devices.

Read more about how hard it is in this guide – Is Electrical Engineering Hard? 

How to Find the Right Major for You Key Factors

This is a vital question to ask oneself while deciding on a major. Consider what you enjoy, what you are excellent at, and who you are. It might not be the greatest decision for you if you’re unsure of whether you’ll enjoy a particular major.

Consider whether you are prepared to devote the necessary time and effort to your major. Some majors could require more study and practice than others. For instance, you will probably want more practical experience to earn an engineering degree than an English literary one.

Avoid thinking that choosing a major based on how challenging it sounds would guarantee success. Even though it may appear impressive to major in a challenging subject, it probably won’t be worthwhile if you have no interest in the subject or no plans to pursue it professionally.

On the other hand, don’t ignore a difficult major simply because others believe it to be among the most difficult. It’s okay to select that major over an easier one if, for instance, you truly want to become an architect. You’ll still receive a top-notch education, and you’ll still have a challenging time in school.

When choosing a major, there are three main things you should think about:

• Your Interests and Passions: If you’re not really interested in what you’re studying, you won’t stay motivated to work hard. Pick something that really gets you excited.
• Your Abilities: Your skills matter because if it’s not something you’re good at, it might not be the right major for you. For example, if you’re not good at art, you might want to pick a different major.
• Your Career Path : Your future career can also affect which major you should choose. If you want to work for NASA, for example, you should choose a science-related major.

In college, you can study about a wide range of topics. You can learn a lot and meet a lot of interesting people by participating in co-ops and internships. It’s critical to consider your job goals and hobbies while selecting a major.

If you’re unsure about your career goals after graduation, consider what you enjoy doing and your goals. Next, whittle down your options depending on what you enjoy doing and what you are skilled at.

For instance, if you enjoy writing, you might major in journalism. Or, if history interests you, you could pursue a course of study in political science.

Though you may not need to declare your major right immediately, you should absolutely consider your career goals. While some students decide to get a job first, others prefer to attend graduate school right away.

In either scenario, you’ll probably need to select a field of interest that will guide your future career decisions.

• Related article: Is a History Degree Useless?

How Choice of Major and Its Difficulty Affects You

1. harder majors develop more skills and earn more money.

There’s an old saying whose source I can’t recall. But it goes something like this: “Start with money if you want to become wealthy. Restart your education if you want to get affluent.

This is accurate because there is a correlation between income and educational attainment. More educated people typically earn more money than less educated people.

Harder majors typically need more effort and time than easy majors. They thereby acquire more talents and earn more money throughout their lives.

2. Easy Majors Are Not Worth Your Time

While picking a very simple college degree is not intrinsically bad, it is crucial to think about any potential long-term repercussions. Employers frequently seek candidates with solid educational backgrounds and well-rounded personalities in today’s cutthroat employment market.

If you pick a simple major, you could not be as academically challenged and might not acquire the skills and information that companies value. Furthermore, if your major doesn’t motivate you, you might not perform as well in your classes and might not graduate on time. Additionally, it’s likely that you won’t enjoy the positions you land after college.

But what you actually need are some impressive skills. Choosing a challenging major that will teach you a talent you can use later in life is therefore the wisest course of action.

For instance, you might want to consider enrolling as a medical student if you want to become a doctor. You might want to consider going to law school if you want to practice law. A bachelor’s degree in education, however, can be something to consider if you want to become a teacher.

3. Easy Majors Are Just A Piece Of Paper

People frequently believe that college degrees are just pieces of paper. However, this is not totally accurate.

Colleges offer a range of degrees, including bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and associate degrees. There are advantages for students with different types of degrees.

A two-year degree, for instance, can help you land a job fast, whereas a four-year degree offers you access to more challenging coursework. Some students even pursue a master’s degree to gain further knowledge before pursuing a doctorate after receiving their bachelor’s degree.

Can You Handle a Difficult Major?

Making a huge choice might be intimidating. Although there are numerous options, you might not feel prepared to tackle a challenging major despite your intelligence or physical strength.

You might tell yourself, “I’m not smart enough to obtain an A in math class,” or you might be concerned about enrolling in a challenging scientific course. There is no justification for fear.

There are various majors that will challenge you intellectually and demand a lot of work. Even if you aren’t naturally talented at something, you can still succeed at it. Here are my top recommendations.

We frequently experience overwhelming and frustrating feelings as we embark on a new adventure because we lack all the necessary skills. We put a lot of effort into a task that looks unachievable.

But if we stick with it, we eventually get better at those talents. When we intentionally practice, we don’t stop even if we aren’t becoming better. It makes us stronger and enables us to overcome our initial challenges.

Hardest College Majors Final Thoughts

You can’t choose a major just because it seems interesting or because you’ve heard it’s challenging or not. There are other elements to consider, including your identity, interests, goals, and financial situation.

Verify that your major aligns with your long-term career goals. And keep in mind that you will need to put in a lot of effort to succeed no matter what major you select.

You may also be interested in these other articles:

• Is Astrophysics Hard to Study ?
• Is Environmental Science a Hard Major ?

Written by:

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

10 Hardest AP Calculus AB Practice Questions

Do you know how to improve your profile for college applications.

See how your profile ranks among thousands of other students using CollegeVine. Calculate your chances at your dream schools and learn what areas you need to improve right now — it only takes 3 minutes and it's 100% free.

Show me what areas I need to improve

What’s Covered:

• How Will AP Scores Impact Your Chances?

Overview of the AP Calculus AB Exam

• Hardest AP Calc AB Practice Questions

With about 60% of students passing in 2020, the AP Calculus AB Exam is pretty tough. This test is one of the longer ones , and takes a total of 3 hours and 15 minutes. As with any math test, the key to this exam is practice! In this article, we’ll go over some of the harder questions you may encounter on the exam, along with detailed explanations of how to solve them.

How Will AP Scores Impact My College Chances?

AP scores themselves actually don’t carry much weight in the application process . Applications don’t require you to report your scores, and if you do self-report them, they don’t really boost your chances of admission.

What colleges do look for, however, are the classes themselves. Taking AP classes in high school demonstrates your course rigor and shows colleges that you’re challenging yourself. Taking these classes and getting good grades in them proves to schools that you’re ready for the academic rigor of college classes.

To see how your AP classes and course rigor affect your chances, take a look at CollegeVine’s free Admissions Chances Calculator . This tool will consider your test scores, GPA, extracurriculars, and more to predict your chances at the schools you’re interested in, and will even offer tips and guidance for how best to improve your profile!

The AP Calculus AB exam will be offered both on paper and digitally in 2021.

The paper administration is held on May 4, 2021 and May 24, 2021:

• No calculator: 30 questions (60 minutes)
• Calculator: 15 questions (45 minutes)
• Calculator: 2 questions (30 minutes)
• No Calculator: 4 questions (60 minutes)

The digital administration is held on June 9, 2021:

• 45 questions (1 hour 45 minutes), 50% of exam score
• 6 questions (1 hour 30 minutes), 50% of exam score

For the digital exam, a calculator is allowed on all sections.

The AP Calculus AB course is organized into 8 units. The units are listed below, along with their weighting for the multiple choice section of the exam:

• Limits and Continuity (10–12%)
• Differentiation: Definition and Fundamental Properties (10–12%)
• Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions (9–13%)
• Contextual Applications of Differentiation (10–15%)
• Analytical Applications of Differentiation (15–18%)
• Integration and Accumulation of Change (17–20%)
• Differential Equations (6–12%)
• Applications of Integration (10–15%)

10 Hardest AP Calculus AB Questions

Here are some tough AP Calculus AB Questions for you to look over.

You’ll definitely need to understand limits and their properties for the AP Calculus AB exam. For this particular question, we can start by trying to plug in \(\pi\) .

For the numerator, we get: \(\cos(\pi)+\sin(2\pi)+1=-1+0+1=0\).

For the denominator, we get: \(x^2-\pi^2=0\).

Since we have a 0 in both the numerator and denominator, we’re able to use L’Hospital’s rule, which means we’ll need to take the derivative of the numerator and denominator, separately.

Taking the derivative of the numerator yields: \(-\sin(x)+2\cos(2x)\).

Also, the derivative of the denominator is: \(2x\).

So, our limit now becomes: \(\lim_{x \to \pi} \frac{-\sin(x)+2\cos(2x)}{2x}=\frac{-\sin(\pi)+2\cos(2\pi)}{2\pi}=\frac{0+2(1)}{2\pi}=\frac{2}{2\pi}=\frac{1}{\pi}\) , which means our answer is B.

When it comes to continuity, an easy rule of thumb is to check whether you can draw the graph without lifting your pencil. In this case, the graph only has one interruption, at \(x=0\). So, \(f\)  is continuous at all points besides \(x=0\).

Since \(f\)  is discontinuous at \(x=0\), answer choices B and D are incorrect (since the question asks where \(f\)  is continuous but isn’t differentiable).

So, either A or C is correct, which means we need to check differentiability at \(x=1\) and \(x=-2\).

At \(x=1\), we have a corner, so \(f\)  is not differentiable at \(x=1\).

Also, at \(x=-2\), we have a vertical tangent, and \(f\) is therefore not differentiable at \(x=-2\).

Then, answer choice C is correct.

Questions involving slope fields tend to involve a lot of guess and check. For this question, we can start by looking at key \(x\) and \(y\) values.

First, if we look along the \(y\)-axis, we see that the slope is \(0\). So, regardless of our \(y\)-value, if \(x=0\), we should have that \(\frac{dy}{dx}=0\) .

For A, if we plug in \(x=0\), we get: \(\frac{dy}{dx}=0y+0=0\).

For B, if we plug in \(x=0\), we get: \(\frac{dy}{dx}=0y+y=y\).

For C, if we plug in \(x=0\), we get: \(\frac{dy}{dx}=y+1\) .

For D, if we plug in \(x=0\), we get: \(\frac{dy}{dx}=(0+1)^2=1\).

So, we see that the only equation which has tangent slopes of \(0\) along the \(y\)-axis is the one that corresponds to choice A.

Recall that the average value of a function \(f\) on the interval \([a,b]\) is given by the formula: 

\(f_{avg}=\frac{1}{b-a} \int_{a}^b f(x)dx\).

So, we’ll need to compute the integral of \(f\)  over \([-4,4]\). Since we’re given a graph, we can do this by calculating the areas of different sections. We can divide up the graph into triangles and trapezoids:

Keep in mind that the value from \((-2,1)\) is negative since the function lies below the \(x\)-axis. To compute the integral, we can add up all our values:

\(\int_{-4}^4 f(x)dx=1-3+2+3/2=3/2\).

But, we’re not done yet! We still need to multiply by \(\frac{1}{4-(-4)}=1/8\).

So, the average value is \((1/8)(3/2)=3/16\).

These questions are really easily missed when students fail to apply chain rule. When we find \(f'(x)\) , we’ll need to be careful to apply chain rule.

Let’s set \(F(x)=\int_{1}^x \frac{1}{1+\ln{t}}\) . Then, \(f(x)=F(x^3)\) .

So, \(f'(x)=F'(x^3)\) .

But, when we differentiate \(F(x^3)\) , we’ll need to apply chain rule and multiply by the derivative of \(x^3\) .

This means that \(F'(x^3)=(F(x^3))'(x^3)’\) . So, \(f'(x)=F'(x^3)=\frac{1}{1+\ln{x^3}}\cdot3x^2\).

Then, \(f'(2)=\frac{1}{1+\ln{2^3}}\cdot3(2)^2=\frac{12}{1+\ln{8}}\) .

Discover your chances at hundreds of schools

Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.

[amp-cta id="9459"]

Recall the following formula used when converting integrals to limits:

\(\int_{a}^b f(x)dx=\lim_{n \to \infty}\sum_{k=1}^n f(a+(\frac{b-a}{n})k)\cdot\frac{b-a}{n}\).

So, in this case, we have that \(a=3\) , \(b=5\) , and \(f(x)=x^4\) . Also, \(b-a=2\) .

Then, \(\int_{3}^5 x^4dx=\lim_{n \to \infty}\sum_{k=1}^n (3+\frac{2k}{n})^4\cdot\frac{2}{n}\) , which corresponds to choice D.

To solve the differential equation \(\frac{dy}{dt}=ky\) , we’ll first need to divide both sides by \(y\) and multiply both sides by \(dt\) .

This yields \(\frac{dy}{y}=k\:dt\) . Since we’ve separated our variables \(y\) and \(t\), we can now integrate:

\(\int \frac{dy}{y}=\int k\:dt\).

\(\ln{y}=kt+C\).

To isolate for \(y\), we’ll need to put both sides as a power of \(e\) :

\(e^{\ln{y}}=e^{kt+C}\)

\(y=e^{kt+C}=e^{kt}\cdot e^{C}=e^{kt}\cdot C=Ce^{kt}\).

We can now use a point from the table, \((0,4)\) to solve for \(C\):

\(4=Ce^{k(0)}\)

This means that \(y=4e^{kt}\).

To solve for \(k\), let’s use another point from the table, \((2,12)\):

\(12=4e^{k(2)}\)

\(3=e^{2k}\).

Let’s take the natural log of both sides:

\(\ln{3}=\ln{e^{2k}}\)

\(\ln{3}=2k\)

\(k=\frac{1}{2}\ln{3}\).

So, we get that \(y=f(t)=4e^{\frac{t}{2}\ln{3}}\) .

You should expect to be asked to interpret information on the AP Calculus AB exam. For this question, since \(H(t)\) is the temperature of a room (in ºF) \(t\) minutes after a thermostat is adjusted, \(H'(t)\) would be the change in the temperature of the room per minute, \(t\) minutes after the thermostat is adjusted.

So, if \(H'(5)=2\) means that 5 minutes after the thermostat is adjusted, the change in temperature is 2 ºF per minute. Since 2 is positive, the temperature is increasing, and D is the correct answer choice.

You may be tempted to pick answer B, but it states that “the temperature of the room increases by 2 degrees,” which talks about a single event rather than the rate of change.

Though this question allows the use of a calculator, we’ll still need to do quite a few calculations by hand. First, recall the relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration: \(x”(t)=v'(t)=a(t)\) . So, to get to the position function, we’ll need to integrate acceleration twice.

\(v(t)=\int a(t)\:dt=\int -6t^2-t\:dt=-2t^3-\frac{1}{2}t^2+C\).

From the problem, we know that at time \(t=0\) seconds, the velocity of the car is \(80\) meters per second. So, we can use that \(v(0)=80\) to solve for \(C\) .

\(v(0)=-2(0)^3-\frac{1}{2}(0)^2+C=80\Rightarrow C=80\).

This question is tricky since we aren’t given both our bounds. We know the time period starts at \(t=0\) and ends at the moment the race car stops.

To find the time that the race car stops, we’ll need to set \(v(t)=0\)  (since if the car is stopped, the velocity should be \(0\) meters per second).

We can do this by graphing the velocity function and finding the zeros. If we graph \(y=-2x^3-\frac{1}{2}x^2+80\)  we see that the zero is \(3.339\).

Now, using our calculators, we can integrate the absolute value of the velocity function to determine the distance travelled from \(t=0\) to \(t=3.339\):

\(\int_{0}^{3.339} |-2t^3-\frac{1}{2}t^2+80|\:dt=198.766\).

Note that we integrated the absolute value to determine the total distance travelled. Integrating just the velocity function gives us the displacement of the race car.

Question 10

For related rates problems, it’s helpful to start with a familiar formula. In this case, since we’re given information about the volume of a sphere, let’s use that formula:

\(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\)

Now, we can differentiate with respect to time, \(t\):

\(\frac{dV}{dt}=4\pi r^2\cdot \frac{dr}{dt}\)

We know that \(\frac{dV}{dt}=2\pi\)  and \(r=5\) , so we can solve for \(\frac{dr}{dt}\) :

\(2\pi =4\pi (5)^2 \cdot \frac{dr}{dt} \Rightarrow \frac{dr}{dt}=1/50\).

Next, we’ll need to use the surface area formula:

\(S=4\pi r^2\)

Again, we differentiate with respect to time \(t\) to find the rate at which the surface area is decreasing when the radius is 5 meters:

\(\frac{dS}{dt}=8\pi r \cdot \frac{dr}{dt}\)

We can plug in the appropriate values of \(r\) and \(\frac{dr}{dt}\)  to find \(\frac{dS}{dt}\) .

\(\frac{dS}{dt}=8\pi (5)(1/50)=4\pi /5\).

Know your calculator!

Especially on the digital exam, you’ll be using your calculator a lot. Knowing your calculator well will help you get through questions much more quickly. For example, some calculus questions may be able to be solved without the use of a calculator, but there are many cases where using a quick calculator trick during intermediate steps will save you a significant amount of time.

Time yourself

Since the AP Calculus AB exam requires you to answer many questions in limited time, it’s imperative that you learn to properly pace yourself. So, when answering practice questions, try to time yourself in a format that’s similar to the exam (i.e. give yourself 1 hour and 45 minutes to answer 45 multiple choice questions).

This will help you practice your pacing and if you find that you’re struggling to finish on time, you can rethink your strategy. Since all the multiple choice questions carry equal weight, skipping difficult or time-consuming problems is more beneficial for you.

Check out these other articles as you prepare for your AP exams:

• Ultimate Guide to the AP Calculus AB exam
• 2021 AP Exam Schedule + Study Tips
• How to Understand and Interpret Your AP Scores
• How Long Is Each AP Exam? A Complete List

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

📬 Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!

Writing result-oriented ad copy is difficult, as it must appeal to, entice, and convince consumers to take action.

How to Work Through Hard Math Problems

parent of one of our students wrote today about his daughter’s occasional frustration with the difficulty of some of the problems in our courses. She does fantastic work in our courses , and was easily among the very top students in the class she took with me, and yet she still occasionally hits problems that she can’t solve.

Moreover, she has access to an excellent math teacher in her school who sometimes can’t help her get past these problems, either. (This is no slight to him—I have students bring me problems I can’t solve, too!) Her question: “Why does it have to be so hard?”

The Case for Doing Hard Things

We ask hard questions because so many of the problems worth solving in life are hard. If they were easy, someone else would have solved them before you got to them. This is why college classes at top-tier universities have tests on which nearly no one clears 70%, much less gets a perfect score. They’re training future researchers, and the whole point of research is to find and answer questions that have never been solved. You can’t learn how to do that without fighting with problems you can’t solve. If you are consistently getting every problem in a class correct, you shouldn’t be too happy — it means you aren’t learning efficiently enough. You need to find a harder class.

The problem with not being challenged sufficiently goes well beyond not learning math (or whatever) as quickly as you can. I think a lot of what we do at AoPS is preparing students for challenges well outside mathematics. The same sort of strategies that go into solving very difficult math problems can be used to tackle a great many problems. I believe we’re teaching students how to think, how to approach difficult problems, and that math happens to be the best way to do so for many people.

The first step in dealing with difficult problems is to accept and understand their importance. Don’t duck them. They will teach you a lot more than a worksheet full of easy problems. Brilliant “Aha!” moments almost always spring from minds cultivated by long periods of frustration. But without that frustration, those brilliant ideas never arise.

Strategies for Difficult Math Problems — and Beyond

Here are a few strategies for dealing with hard problems, and the frustration that comes with them:

Do something . Yeah, the problem is hard. Yeah, you have no idea what to do to solve it. At some point you have to stop staring and start trying stuff. Most of it won’t work. Accept that a lot of your effort will appear to have been wasted. But there’s a chance that one of your stabs will hit something, and even if it doesn’t, the effort may prepare your mind for the winning idea when the time comes.

We started developing an elementary school curriculum months and months before we had the idea that became Beast Academy . Our lead curriculum developer wrote 100–200 pages of content, dreaming up lots of different styles and approaches we might use. Not a one of those pages will be in the final work, but they spurred a great many ideas for content we will use. Perhaps more importantly, it prepared us so that when we finally hit upon the Beast Academy idea, we were confident enough to pursue it.

Simplify the problem . Try smaller numbers and special cases. Remove restrictions. Or add restrictions. Set your sights a little lower, then raise them once you tackle the simpler problem.

Reflect on successes . You’ve solved lots of problems. Some of them were even hard problems! How did you do it? Start with problems that are similar to the one you face, but also think about others that have nothing to do with your current problem. Think about the strategies you used to solve those problems, and you might just stumble on the solution.

A few months ago, I was playing around with some Project Euler problems, and I came upon a problem that (eventually) boiled down to generating integer solutions to c ² = a ² + b ² + ab in an efficient manner. Number theory is not my strength, but my path to the solution was to recall first the method for generating Pythagorean triples. Then, I thought about how to generate that method, and the path to the solution became clear. (I’m guessing some of our more mathematically advanced readers have so internalized the solution process for this type of Diophantine equation that you don’t have to travel with Pythagoras to get there!)

Focus on what you haven’t used yet . Many problems (particularly geometry problems) have a lot of moving parts. Look back at the problem, and the discoveries you have made so far and ask yourself: “What haven’t I used yet in any constructive way?” The answer to that question is often the key to your next step.

Work backwards . This is particularly useful when trying to discover proofs. Instead of starting from what you know and working towards what you want, start from what you want, and ask yourself what you need to get there.

Ask for help . This is hard for many outstanding students. You’re so used to getting everything right, to being the one everyone else asks, that it’s hard to admit you need help. When I first got to the Mathematical Olympiad Program (MOP) my sophomore year, I was in way over my head. I understood very little of anything that happened in class. I asked for help from the professor once — it was very hard to get up the courage to do so. I didn’t understand anything he told me during the 15 minutes he worked privately with me. I just couldn’t admit it and ask for more help, so I stopped asking. I could have learned much, much more had I just been more willing to admit to people that I just didn’t understand. (This is part of why our classes now have a feature that allows students to ask questions anonymously.) Get over it. You will get stuck. You will need help. And if you ask for it, you’ll get much farther than if you don’t.

Start early . This doesn’t help much with timed tests, but with the longer-range assignments that are parts of college and of life, it’s essential. Don’t wait until the last minute — hard problems are hard enough without having to deal with time pressure. Moreover, complex ideas take a long time to understand fully. The people you know who seem wicked smart, and who seem to come up with ideas much faster than you possibly could, are often people who have simply thought about the issues for much longer than you have. I used this strategy throughout college to great success — in the first few weeks of each semester, I worked far ahead in all of my classes. Therefore, by the end of the semester, I had been thinking about the key ideas for a lot longer than most of my classmates, making the exams and such at the end of the course a lot easier.

Take a break . Get away from the problem for a bit. When you come back to it, you may find that you haven’t entirely gotten away from the problem at all — the background processes of your brain have continued plugging away, and you’ll find yourself a lot closer to the solution. Of course, it’s a lot easier to take a break if you start early.

Start over . Put all your earlier work aside, get a fresh sheet of paper, and try to start from scratch. Your other work will still be there if you want to draw from it later, and it may have prepared you to take advantage of insights you make in your second go-round.

Give up . You won’t solve them all. At some point, it’s time to cut your losses and move on. This is especially true when you’re in training, and trying to learn new things. A single difficult problem is usually going to teach you more in the first hour or two than it will in the next six, and there are a lot more problems to learn from. So, set yourself a time limit, and if you’re still hopelessly stuck at the end of it, then read the solutions and move on.

Be introspective . If you do give up and read the solution, then read it actively, not passively. As you read it, think about what clues in the problem could have led you to this solution. Think about what you did wrong in your investigation. If there are math facts in the solution that you don’t understand, then go investigate. I was completely befuddled the first time I saw a bunch of stuff about “mod”s in an olympiad solution — we didn’t have the internet then, so I couldn’t easily find out how straightforward modular arithmetic is! You have the internet now, so you have no excuse. If you did solve the problem, don’t just pat yourself on the back. Think about the key steps you made, and what the signs were to try them. Think about the blind alleys you explored en route to the solution, and how you could have avoided them. Those lessons will serve you well later.

Come back . If you gave up and looked at the solutions, then come back and try the problem again a few weeks later. If you don’t have any solutions to look at, keep the problem alive. Store it away on paper or in your mind.

Richard Feynman once wrote that he would keep four or five problems active in the back of his mind. Whenever he heard a new strategy or technique, he would quickly run through his problems and see if he could use it to solve one of his problems. He credits this practice for some of the anecdotes that gave Feynman such a reputation for being a genius. It’s further evidence that being a genius is an awful lot about effort, preparation, and being comfortable with challenges.

Subscribe for news, tips and advice from AoPS

Richard rusczyk, related articles, self-paced prealgebra: everything you need to know about the newest aops online course, the math of big-money lotteries: your chances of winning the powerball jackpot, how to write a math solution, more articles, embedding stem into your every day, with emily hunt, becoming a renowned youtube educator, with grant sanderson, resolve to problem solve: your new year's challenge, the pros and cons of math competitions, highlights from math history: giovanni ceva and his theorem, why discrete math is important, more episodes, sapienship, with dr. jim clarke, wonder, with dr. frank keil, learning stem through fiction, with dr. pamela cosman, managing academic expectations, with charlene wang, edtech at-home, with monica burns, learned helplessness, with vida john, receive weekly podcast summaries right to your inbox, get weekly podcast summaries/takeaways.

By clicking this button, I consent to receiving AoPS communications, and confirm that I am over 13, or under 13 and already a member of the Art of Problem Solving community. View our Privacy Policy .

Aops programs

Choose Your Test

• Search Blogs By Category
• College Admissions
• AP and IB Exams
• GPA and Coursework

How to Do Homework: 15 Expert Tips and Tricks

Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

• Our Mission

What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

Because differences are our greatest strength

Should my child do the hardest homework assignment first?

Sometimes it’s best for kids with learning and thinking differences to do easier assignments first. Learn why, and get homework tips from a special education teacher.

By Shira Moskovitz, MA

Q. Homework is a challenge for my son. We have him start right after school and with the toughest task first. But that doesn’t seem to be working. What advice do you have?

A. For many people, doing the hardest or most overwhelming thing first is the best way to get started on tasks. But for kids with learning and thinking differences, this method can backfire. Starting with the most frustrating thing can set the tone for the rest of the tasks. 

Give kids a break first

But before kids even start on homework, it’s important to consider their schedule and needs. Is your son ready to do homework right after school? Maybe not.

Many kids need a break between school and homework to relax and have a snack. Some kids need physical activity, like riding a bike, to burn off steam before they can focus on homework. Try giving your son a good break before his homework time begins.

Start with an easier assignment

When your son is ready to work, have him start with an easier assignment. This way he can start off with something that isn’t as frustrating. You want your child to feel successful and motivated to keep working.

When your child gets to the harder assignments, suggest breaking them down into smaller, more manageable tasks . Help your child pick the specific steps to take one at a time. This can make the assignment feel less overwhelming and more doable.

Your son may not be able to finish all of his homework. But be sure to celebrate any of his progress. Even if he doesn’t complete the hardest parts of an assignment, recognize his effort. This can help build confidence.

Talk to your child’s teacher

If homework continues to be a struggle, reach out to your child’s teachers for support and guidance. They may have insights or strategies to help him manage these tasks better. If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan , you could ask about homework accommodations, if they aren’t already in place.

Looking for more homework tips? Listen to this podcast episode about homework battles . Connect with other families and get expert advice about homework on Wunder , our free community app.

Explore related topics

If You Struggle To Start Or Complete Tasks, These 13 Tips Are For You

On Assignment For HuffPost

Raise your hand if you’ve been here: You know you have a small return window for a shirt you bought, but you put off bringing it back to the store day after day. Or maybe you’re buried in a project at work and can’t possibly imagine tackling another task at the moment ― even if it has a more urgent deadline.

There’s a name for when you are able to overcome this and get things done: task initiation. Think of it like your brain’s get-up-and-go. You have to turn the key, put the car in drive, then press on the gas — otherwise, you won’t actually go anywhere.

Your mind works the same way. Long to-do lists, big projects or annoying household chores can sometimes feel so overwhelming that starting your metaphorical ignition may seem impossible. But if you can’t get started, then you’ll be stuck with wheels spinning, frustrated that you’ve missed deadlines, were late again, or ignored assignments, texts, emails, dirty dishes ― or anything else you wanted to do but just couldn’t.

Anyone can struggle with task initiation, but it is especially prevalent in those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is associated with executive dysfunction . Chanel Johnson, a licensed professional counselor and CEO of Altus Home Counseling and Behavioral Services LLC in Detroit, has worked with several adults with ADHD or who need help with task initiation. In fact, even she needs help with this sometimes.

“I’ve found myself struggling with task initiation as well, including waiting until the last minute, missing deadlines, or neglecting things completely,” Johnson told HuffPost. “This can be extremely frustrating, especially if you are a perfectionist or the person other people look to to have it all together.”

There can be many reasons you struggle to get started on something, including fatigue, anxiety, perfectionism, procrastination, executive dysfunction and lack of motivation, according to Johnson.

Billy Roberts, a therapist at Focused Mind ADHD Counseling in Columbus, Ohio, said underlying anxieties are a big contributor to task initiation challenges. This includes fear of failure or perfectionism.

“Since their expectations of themselves are so high, they feel frozen when it’s time to get started,” he said. “Another possibility is a general sense of overwhelm. Having so many tasks or steps, it’s hard to know where to start.”

It can be so frustrating when you want to do something but can’t make yourself start. Luckily there are tools to help. Keep reading for these expert-backed things to try if you struggle with task initiation.

Practice chunking

“A great way to get started is a skill called ‘chunking,’ which means breaking things down into small actionable steps,” Roberts said. He also suggests people should “lower their expectations if they find a task too daunting and recognize that done is better than perfect .”

Kate McCann , a licensed mental health counselor who has a private counseling practice based in Worcester, Massachusetts, gives an example of how to break down an overwhelming task.

“Rather than think, ‘I have to clean the whole kitchen, and it’s a mess, I don’t know where to start, and it will take forever,’ break it down into, ‘to clean the kitchen, I have to first put away any food that’s been left out. Then get the dish rack emptied. Then I have to empty the dishwasher. Then I can get the dirty dishes loaded. Then I can wash the pots. Then I can wipe down the counters. Then I can watch the Real Housewives as a treat because I will be done,’” she said.

“Breaking the task down into small do-able parts that get paced out can help break down that wall of total resistance,” McCann added.

Transition to the task by doing another activity first

Kara Nassour, a therapist at Shaded Bough Counseling in Austin, Texas, suggests using another activity to help you transition to the task you want to do.

“If it’s hard to get off the couch to mow the lawn, it may be easier to get up, walk around the yard while listening to music, and then mow the lawn,” Nassour said . “If you’re struggle to start your homework, looking over your previous homework might help get your brain on track.”

Narrow your list down to just three items

Sometimes huge to-do lists can be overwhelming — not to mention impossible to get done in one day. Katie Ziskind, a therapist and owner of Wisdom Within Counseling , suggests picking three main goals.

“If you don’t have any clean laundry and you need clean clothes for work in the morning, but you still have some fruits, beans, rice, and pasta to eat, doing laundry will be more important than going food shopping,” she said. “Even if you think you’d find food shopping more fun than laundry.”

Ziskind added that “when you don’t feel motivated, that can come from feeling like you have too much responsibility.”

Redefine success

Telling yourself you have to finish everything to feel accomplished is setting yourself up for failure. Instead, Johnson recommends rethinking what you consider a win.

“Redefine success of a task to make it more manageable or easier,” she said. “An example is to tell yourself that washing half of the dishes today will count as a win instead of saying you have to do them all and clean the whole kitchen to feel accomplished.” Sometimes, just doing a few dishes is all you can do that day, and that’s OK.

Figure out exactly how much time it takes to do the task

Sometimes it’s hard to get started on something when we think it’ll take longer or shorter than it really will.

“Say your goal is to unload the dishwasher,” said Mary Hadley, a speech language pathologist who specializes in executive functioning challenges at Signpost Speech and Language Therapy in Austin, Texas . “Write down how long you think it will take, time yourself and see how long it really took.”

This isn’t so you can judge yourself on how long it took; rather, it’s a way to build awareness and get a better understanding of yourself. This can make it easier to plan your day and say no to things you really don’t have time for. Once your day feels more manageable, it can be easier to get started.

“Being unrealistic about what you can get done in a day often makes initiating tasks harder,” Johnson said. “You set yourself up for failure.”

Allow yourself a set time to be distracted

Distractions are going to happen, so embrace them. “Allow yourself to be distracted, but set a timer for your distractions,” Johnson recommended.

Ziskind suggested an alarm to stop yourself from scrolling Instagram or TikTok, “which can eat into the time you would have to complete tasks and do chores.”

Outsource help

There’s nothing wrong with asking for or seeking help. If there’s a task you find you consistently aren’t able to motivate yourself to do (like cleaning the bathrooms), then hire someone else to do it, if you can. Or offer a trade with a partner or friend. Ziskind said even doing this one time can help you.

Speak kindly to yourself

Cheer yourself on like you would a friend. “Speaking kindly to yourself, being your own cheerleader, and encouraging yourself are keys to starting tasks and getting tasks done,” Ziskind said.

Hadley agreed, encouraging people to regularly engage in “positive self-talk.” “This is a simple, free, and surprisingly powerful tool to implement into your daily life,” she said.

“Talk to your anxiety or distractibility as you are getting started on a task: ‘Hey anxiety, good to see you, thanks for stopping by but I don’t need you right now,’” Hadley explained. “Or, ‘I’m going to set a time and work on this for 20 minutes. I’ve got this.’ Remind yourself this is a process; it will take a while to feel accomplished and there is no such thing as perfection.”

Reward yourself

Ditch the old advice of doing the hardest thing on your list first. Instead, start and end with something fun.

“Do something that you want to do first and plan something that you are looking forward to do afterward as a reward,” Johnson said.

Focus on the end result

Make a vision board, write down your goals, or just picture what you want your end result to look like to keep you motivated.

“Have visual reminders of the overall goal,” Johnson said. “For example, if you have issues getting started on work projects, but you’re looking forward to moving up in the company, have a sheet of paper you can look at with your name and the title that you want behind it.”

If that doesn’t work, think about how happy you’ll feel in the short term. “Imagine how grateful your future self will be to your present self for getting it done,” McCann said. “I do chores on Thursday mornings so Weekend [Me] doesn’t have to do them, and Weekend [Me] LOVES Thursday [Me] for that.”

She explained that avoidance offers a momentary relief, but ultimately makes you feel worse at the end of the day. “No one wants to do the task now or feels like doing a chore but consider how you would like to feel afterward,” McCann continued, adding, “If you complete some small steps, and give yourself lots of praise for doing so, you will feel good about yourself at the end of the day.”

Pay attention to how you feel

Nassour suggested paying attention to how you feel when you find yourself avoiding tasks. “If you’re feeling tired, depressed, anxious, irritable, or in pain, that’s likely interfering with the task you meant to do,” she said. “Address the underlying problem and you will probably get more done.”

“Don’t criticize yourself for struggling to start tasks, because feelings of guilt and shame can make your brain associate that feeling with the task, and subconsciously make you want to avoid it in the future,” she added, suggesting treating the underlying anxieties or other issues.

Take care of your health

Making your health a priority can help make task initiation easier. “Take care of your mind and body,” Nassour said. “If you’re not getting enough food or sleep, or come home exhausted, or are in pain all the time, these things will interfere with getting things done.”

She added that a regular use of cannabis, alcohol or other substances could affect you as well, and limiting them “may improve your motivation in other areas of life.”

Reach out to a therapist for help

Therapy can help those struggling with task initiation. A cognitive behavioral therapy approach that reframes “negative cognitions and beliefs into positive ones helps you see a problem as less daunting and yourself as more competent, which helps you engage in different behaviors,” according to McCann.

Psychodynamic therapy, otherwise known as “why do I feel the way I feel” therapy, may help as well. Roberts explained it “can help with resolving any underlying emotional issues related to task initiation.”

Discovering tricks to jump-start your brain and improve task initiation can be a game changer. We all have bad days or times we struggle with procrastination, but with some health maintenance, self-kindness and plenty of rewards, it can start to get easier.

From Our Partner

Huffpost shopping’s best finds, more in life.

How To Do Homework Fast – 11 Tips To Do Homework Fast

Homework is one of the most important parts that have to be done by students. It has been around for a long time, but many people think that it is not important. They say that kids should not have homework . 

But, on the other hand, most experts agree that if students have enough homework then it is really helpful for them. 

It really helps them practice what they learned in the classroom, learn how to manage their time and be responsible, and get ready for future lessons and tests. 

So, doing homework is important because it helps us do better in school and get ready for life outside of school too.

But I researched that many students are searching on the internet about how to do homework fast because they get a lot of homework and assignments in their academic life. And also teacher gives them a deadline to finish their homework and assignments. But students can’t complete their assignments on time because of their busy schedules.

I know that you are one of them and are searching for how to do homework fast. Don’t worry! In this blog, I have given many tips that will help you to complete your homework faster. So, let’s get started. 

If you don’t have time to complete your homework, you can also get assignment help online from experts who will help you to improve your grades in your assignment. 

Reasons why students should do homework faster?

Table of Contents

There are many reasons why students should aim to do their homework fast:

Time Management: When students complete their homework quickly it helps them to manage their time better which is a valuable skill. 

Reduced Stress: when students finish their homework quickly it can reduce stress levels of students. It also allows them to enjoy more free time and relaxation after school.

Improve Learning: Completing homework quickly can able students to review and reinforce what they learned in the classroom more efficiently. It improves students’ understanding and retention of the material. 

More Opportunities: Students who complete their homework fast can use their extra time to pursue other interests, participate in extracurricular activities, or spend more time with friends and family. 

Avoid Procrastination: if students finish their homework fast, they are less likely to procrastinate and put it off until the last minute, which can lead to rushing and lower-quality work.

How To Do Homework Fast?

• Start your homework at school
• Use your computer
• Start with the hardest homework
• Turn off your mobile
• Setup your area where you want to do a Homework
• Try to find an unknown partner
• Write a planner for homework

Get Hydrated

Take shorts breaks.

• Do meditation
• Get Healthy snacks

Start Your Homework At School

School students always look for the answer on how to get schoolwork done faster. When you get homework to start doing it at your school, it can be helpful for you because you can take help from your teachers or professors. We have seen that the homework includes complex topics that can be overwhelming for the students to do it at the given time. If the students start the homework at the school, they can finish the work on time and clear their homework’s toughest task. It is a crucial tip for the students, and they should try this tip.

Use Your Computer

The computer is playing a crucial role in your work. It is quite easy to do homework on the bigger screen i.e., your computer screen. If the computer has internet access, then it is well and good for you. The Internet offers you the best ways to solve your homework faster. It would help if you used Youtube and other online stuff for your work. Apart from the computer is also helping in solving the excel assignment, statistics assignment, and math assignment. It is one of the best ways on how to do your homework faster. 

Start With The Hardest Homework

Most of the time, the students have lots of homework to solve within the nearest deadline. In this case, the students have to start with the hardest homework because the hardest work takes more time than the other work. You can finish the easiest work late at night or in the early morning. That tip is applicable when you have lots of work to do within the same deadline. If you did the hardest classwork first, then you can divide your time to do the other easy work. It is the best answer to how to do homework fast and well.

Turn Off Your Mobile

Mobile devices have become one of the crucial elements of distractions for the students. Because the students have connected with their friends and family with the help of mobile devices, but when it comes to doing homework faster, mobile devices are not helpful. Because the students always check for the notifications from social media networks on their mobile devices. They do it frequently with less time gap.

Therefore they don’t pay the prior attention to their work. Therefore the students should turn off their mobile devices to do their homework faster. Apart from that, they should also keep their phone away from them instead of turning it off. Because sometimes someone can make an urgent call to you. Therefore your phone should be close enough to your trustworthy person who can inform you about the call urgency.

Setup Your Area Where You Want To Do a Homework

It would help if you had a well-maintained area for your study. It can be your study room. You should also keep in mind that you should arrange all your study stuff once. It can be your books, your laptop, notebooks, notes, geometrical instruments, etc. If you arrange all these things before starting your work, you may pay more attention to your assignment and do it within the given deadline. It would help if you also did not stand up from your seat to get your books and other study material. It would help if you also tried to make the desk clean enough. Therefore it will free from the mess until your work completion.

Try To Find An Unknown Partner

Finding an unknown partner can be general tip for the students. But it is not an unrealistic tip even if it will help you a lot to finish your work faster. The unknown partner will help you to clear your doubts about your topics. You can also discuss the topic with an unknown partner. It is also helpful because you don’t have anything else to talk about with an unknown partner. You can also treat him or her as your study buddy to do the late-night and early morning study . It is the best tips on how to do homework faster.

Write a Planner For Homework

Memorizing your homework is not an easy task. So, you must create a summary of your classwork and do it in order. Must choose the hardest one first. If you create the outline of your work, it will help you do the homework faster. All you need to do is well execute your plan, and you will get the best return of your plan. 

Hydration is really helpful in your study. Our brain needs plenty of water to perform well. Therefore the students need to drink plenty of water during their homework. It will also help them to feel fresh during their homework. You can also drink the juice and other energy beverages to maintain your energy level throughout the homework process.

It would help if you also took the short breaks at regular intervals. The students who take breaks during their work perform extremely better than the other students. Therefore you should take short brakes at regular intervals. In breaks, you should play short games because games work like a memory-booster. And your brain will perform more powerfully when you start your work again. You can also do some exercise that will lead to a healthy mind and brain during the work.

Do Meditation

Do meditation, Seriously? Ya, I know that it is strange for you to do meditation for homework. But meditation works as a medicine for the brain. It helps you to get a well-focused mind. Therefore, when you solve the complex work problems, you can solve the problems like a pro because your mind is well focused on solving the problems. It also helps you to get rid of other negative vibes that you may feel while solving the complex problems in your assignment. As a result, you can solve your assignment faster than ever.

Get Healthy Snacks

Healthy snacks also help you a lot to maintain your energy level throughout the homework. It would help if you ate healthy snacks before your work. You should prefer dry fruits like almonds that are quite good for a healthy mind. Snacks can also be eaten during the work because they don’t create a mess and are easy to eat during work. So don’t ignore the value of snacks for how to do homework faster. 

Quick Links

• How To Finish Your Homework Faster To Do More Study
• How To Focus On Homework When You Have Too Much Homework?

Conclusion (How To Do Homework Fast)

All the tips mentioned above have been tested by the experts, and you can follow these tips without any doubts. If you need more tips on how to do homework faster, you can get in touch with our experts. Apart from that, if you have lots of complex homework to do within the same deadline, you can also take our experts’ help. They are offering world-class homework help services to students around the world.

FAQs (How To Do Homework Fast)

How can i motivate myself to do homework quickly.

One way to motivate yourself is to break your homework into smaller, more manageable tasks. Then, set a goal to complete each task within a specific time frame. Also, try to reward yourself once you’ve finished your work.

Is it better to work on one task at a time or multiple tasks simultaneously?

It’s usually better to work on one task at a time, as this helps you maintain focus and complete each task more efficiently.

Similar Articles

13 Best Tips To Write An Assignment

Whenever the new semester starts, you will get a lot of assignment writing tasks. Now you enter the new academic…

How to Write an Assignment Introduction – 6 Best Tips

In essence, the writing tasks in academic tenure students are an integral part of any curriculum. Whether in high school,…

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

How to Do Math Homework Fast (An Expert Guide)

• Post author By Ankit
• February 5, 2024

“Math homework” are the two words that can worry students. As a student, finishing your math homework quickly and correctly is important for getting good grades. 

However, spending hours working on hard equations or proofs can seem challenging. The good news is that with the right tips, your math homework doesn’t have to take forever.

But, getting through math homework quickly while learning the material is important for doing well in school. Whether you’re studying algebra, geometry, calculus or more, this post will give you plans to work smarter, not harder. 

Using these time-saving tips, you can stay on top of your daily homework and have more time for other subjects, activities, or relaxing!

This blog post will provide tips on ‘how to do your math homework fast”.

Also Read: Unveiling 5 Reasons Why Math is Important

Table of Contents

Importance Of Math Homework For Students

Math homework is crucial in helping students develop critical academic and life skills. By regularly assigning math homework, teachers provide students with many benefits that will serve them well both in and out of the classroom.

• Practices What Was Learned in Class

Doing homework allows students to practice and review the math concepts they learned that day. This helps them to learn better.

• Shows What Students Don’t Understand Yet

Homework shows students which math areas they don’t fully understand. This allows them to ask queries and get help with concepts they’re struggling with.

• Improves Problem-Solving Abilities

Math homework contains word problems and other questions that need critical thinking. Working through these helps students get better at studying facts and solving problems.

• Teaches Time Management

Regular math homework teaches students how to manage their time and be responsible for finishing work alone.

• Gives Feedback on Progress

Graded homework shows students how they’re doing. It shows them what they’ve mastered and where they need more practice.

• Builds Work Habits

Finishing homework consistently builds good work habits in students at an early age. This valuable skill will help them throughout life.

• Improves Academic Performance

No doubt, submitting homework regularly can help you do better in school than those who skip it often. 

• Personalized Learning

Educators can personalize homework to focus on areas where individual students need more work. This personalized practice improves math skills.

• Prepare for More Homework Later

Regular math homework prepares students for the larger amounts of homework in middle, high school, and beyond. It helps build endurance.

So, from the importance of math homework, it is clear that it helps students learn vital skills that will help them in the future.

7 Tips For Setting A Math Homework Routine

Math homework can seem overwhelming, but having a constant routine can help you stay on top of it. Setting aside regular time to focus just on math work can make it feel more manageable.

• Find a calm place to work with few things to distract you.
• Choose a specific time every day to do your homework.
• Break problems down into smaller steps.
• Take short breaks when stuck to clear your head.
• Review notes and examples from class before starting.
• Have reference books handy to look up concepts.
• Reward yourself when finished to stay motivated.

Thus, staying organized, breaking problems into smaller pieces, and giving your brain breaks will make your study time more productive. However, having the right materials nearby can help avoid wasting time searching. Most importantly, build in rewards for completing work to develop positive habits.

Top 10 Mistakes Every Student Makes With Their Math Homework 

Here are the top mistakes that every student makes with their math homework:

• Not showing the steps used to solve problems
• Skipping important steps in solutions
• Making simple calculation errors due to working too fast
• Not including measurements in the final answer
• Misinterpreting what the actual question is asking
• Using the wrong formulas to solve problems
• Having messy and unclear handwritten work
• Not confirming solutions make logical sense
• Entering test answers inaccurately from faulty work
• Delaying starting assignments until the deadline is close.

Now, let’s move on to the tips to do your math homework faster.

How to Do Math Homework Fast?

Here are the top tips to help you do math homework faster.

1. Learn Main Ideas First

Before solving many math problems, learn the main ideas and formulas. This gives you a solid base before applying the knowledge through practice problems. Learning the concepts makes math easier.

2. Break Down Big Problems

With a big, complex problem, don’t just dive in. First, break it into smaller, easier parts to tackle one step at a time.

Identify the different pieces involved and map out the logic to solve it. Small bites make big problems less scary and easier to understand.

3. Focus on Key Details

Don’t get overwhelmed by all the formulas and details in math. First, aim to grasp the core 20% of concepts and patterns that make up 80% of problems.

Focus on these key ideas is a great point. The smaller details can come later. Don’t let minor stuff bury the big stuff.

4. Work Backward

If stuck on a problem, work it backward from the given solution. Identify the last step required and the one before that, and slowly reverse engineering the solution. Mapping from the end can tell the right series of steps.

5. Look for Patterns

Carefully look for patterns and similarities between problems. If you just used a certain method or formula, see if a similar problem scenario exists where applying the same technique works.

Patterns usually exist if you think structurally about the relationships. Use what you know about the math.

6. Focus on Important Concepts

Not all concepts are equal. Spend more time understanding the 20% of concepts, formulas, and principles that make up 80% of problems.

Identify these core ideas and focus on fully grasping them. More practice reveals which concepts often appear and are essential. Don’t forget to prioritize those for maximum benefit.

7. Review Class Notes

Don’t just use the textbook. Also, review notes from lectures and examples done in class. The teacher may have highlighted specific ideas, explained concepts, or provided useful tips not in the readings. Studying your notes reinforces what was directly taught.

8. Explain Concepts Out Loud

Explaining concepts verbally to yourself or others forces you to articulate your understanding in words. If you can thoroughly explain an idea in your own words, you will likely grasp it.

If you struggle to explain, that signals fuzzy comprehension needing more review. Speaking out loud about concepts helps to solidify them in our minds.

9. Take Breaks When Stuck

When stuck on a problem for a while, continuing to bang your head against the wall is often fruitless. Recognize when you’ve hit a roadblock and take a break.

Shift your attention before returning to the problem with a fresh perspective. Thus, forcing yourself to keep going often leads to frustration.

10. Stay Motivated

Solving math problems can require lots of time and repetition before concepts click. Understanding progress often happens slowly over time, not all at once.

To stay motivated, it’s important to celebrate small achievements along the way. Periodically reward your efforts, and soon you’ll complete another assignment.

11. Study in Groups

Study with classmates to discuss concepts, compare notes, and work on practice problems together. Learning together provides extra views you wouldn’t get studying solo. Teaching others also supports your learning. Do not forget to make use of most group study options.

12. Find Alternate Explanations

If textbook or class explanations don’t make sense, look for alternate presentations of the material online.

A fresh explanation that better fits your learning style can greatly help comprehension. Finding new metaphors, visuals, analogies, or approaches is good. There are many ways to share the same idea.

13. Learn Shortcuts and Tricks

Learn handy shortcuts, tricks, and estimations that make solving certain problems faster and easier. For example, approximating long division using easier rounding and multiplication. Look for simplifying plans that don’t sacrifice accuracy but do increase efficiency.

14. Make Summaries

Make flashcards , charts, or cheat sheets summarizing the most important formulas, theorems, equations, properties, etc. Keep these quick references handy when doing homework to refresh your memory. Quickly looking up information saves time versus struggling to recall it.

15. Use Math Tools

Use available math apps, online calculators, graphing calculators, equation editors, etc., that automate, visualize, or assist with math problems.

Let helpful technology tools do some of the work when appropriate, like graphing complex equations on a calculator.

16. Use a Timer

Use a timer to pace yourself or create timed challenge sessions to get through homework efficiently. For example, set a 25-minute timer and see how many chapter review questions you can complete.

As we all know, time limit boosts productivity. Take short breaks between focused work sessions.

17. Be Well-Rested

Don’t do important math work when tired or drained. Problems that normally make sense suddenly seem impossible. Ensure you’re awake and focused before attempting math, especially cumulative material. Adequate rest enables better understanding and memory.

18. Do Hardest Problems First

When your mind is fresh, like in the mornings, do the hardest homework problems first. After easier problems drain mental energy, complex concepts and multi-step issues become more difficult.

Prioritize tough stuff first while attention is highest. Momentum will then help you push through the rest.

Thus, follow these tips and do your math homework quickly.

Many students have problems completing their math homework on time. It can be frustrating and make you feel overwhelmed. But some simple plans can help you get through them more efficiently.

In this piece, we share a few practical tips to help you finish math work faster. Applying these tips can improve your productivity, understanding, and grades.

Rather than struggling alone, try out some of our advice. Little changes to how you approach homework could make a big difference in staying on top of class. With more time and less stress, you can aim higher and truly absorb what you’re learning.

But by working smarter, not just harder, you can master the subject and maintain your schedule. Stay positive and be proactive with these solutions. In no time, you’ll breeze through math work, feeling focused and in control.

How can I speed up my math homework without sacrificing accuracy?

Prioritize understanding the concepts first. Break problems down into smaller steps. Focus on the key ideas and practice lots. You will get faster with familiarity, but keeping things accurate should stay important.

What’s the most effective way to organize my math homework to save time?

Start by reviewing the work to find the easier and harder problems. Do the easier stuff first to feel good and confident. Group similar problems together. Use tools like coloring or highlighting to keep things visually neat.

How do I avoid getting stuck on one problem for too long?

Set a time limit for each problem and move on if it passes. Mark the tricky stuff and revisit later. Use materials like textbooks and online tutorials, or ask peers or teachers for help. Sometimes, taking a short break and coming back fresh also helps.

• australia (2)
• duolingo (13)
• Education (284)
• General (78)
• How To (18)
• IELTS (127)
• Latest Updates (162)
• Malta Visa (6)
• Permanent residency (1)
• Programming (31)
• Scholarship (1)
• Sponsored (4)
• Study Abroad (187)
• Technology (12)
• work permit (8)

Recent Posts

Summer All Stars: Portable fans, retro-inspired sunscreen, more — from $10

• Share this —

• Watch Full Episodes
• Read With Jenna
• Inspirational
• Relationships
• TODAY Table
• Newsletters
• Start TODAY
• Shop TODAY Awards
• Citi Concert Series
• Listen All Day

Follow today

More Brands

• On The Show
• TODAY Plaza

15 ways to cure the homework headache

According to a survey by Public Agenda, almost half of all parents of school-age students said they have arguments involving tears or yelling with their kids about homework. And one-third of parents admit those school assignments cause repeated kid meltdowns. There's been some controversy lately about homework that some say isn't necessary, assigned by an administrative policy that's trying to make the parents feel the school is serious about education, or being sure their attendees pass standardized tests. Research says that the right kind of homework assignments enhances children's learning as well as helping them acquire the essential skills for success in school and life (such as organization, self-pacing, problem solving, internal motivation, concentration, memory, goal setting, good old "stick-to-it-ness") and don't forget, they might learn something!

So here are a few tips to help parents weigh the battle versus the learning. The key is a bit of organization from the start.

Make homework mandatory, not a choice. From the beginning maintain a firm, serious attitude about homework. Your kid needs to know that homework is not an option. Enforce the "work before play" rule.

Your role is guider, not doer. While you need to make sure they understand the concepts and are capable of the assignments, once they do, step back! Use the mantra "Never do for your child what your child can do for himself." It may take a bit of adjustment, but hang tight until you reach the desired change: independent, self-motivated learners.

Know the teacher’s expectations. Be clear as to expectations and homework policy so you are all on the same page. If your child is in middle school, she probably has a number of teachers, so you will have to do the same query per teacher. Many teachers prefer an e-mail query — find out how the teacher prefers to be contacted. Most important: Find out, on an average, how long the homework should take per night. That answer will help you determine if your child has too much work, is a procrastinator, has a learning disability or lacks study skills. Talk with your child so he knows you are not only aware of those expectations, but support them.

Develop a weekly homework reminder. Teach your child to create a simple reminder of daily or weekly assignments as well as long-term projects and reports. A white board or chalkboard is preferable because it is reusable. With a permanent marker, list the days of the week or month and then note regular daily or weekly assignments (Monday: sharing; Wednesday: library; Friday: spelling test) as well as practice dates, Scout meetings, tutoring, etc. Use a different color to represent each kid (John is blue; Sally is green). The goal is for your child to be able to do this on her own.

Create a special homework spot. Involve your child in the selection and stock it with necessary school supplies. It helps your kid get organized and saves time wasters: "I can't find a ruler!" The general rule is, the younger the child, the closer that spot will be near you. Put the computer in a place where you can carefully view what your child is doing online. Background noise from TV is distracting. Turn it off.

Set a routine. Select a time that works best for your kid to do his homework — after school, before dinner, after dinner — then stick to it. Ask your child for his input and do try to accommodate his schedule. A set and predictable schedule helps defray the battles and gets your kid in a routine. Drawing a clock face of the set time helps younger kids. Set up a rule: "Homework first, then play."

Praise efforts! A Columbia University study found that praising your child's work effort (not inherent intelligence — "You're so smart") stretches persistence, develops a positive mind-set and increases grades. And restrain the urges to correct all his errors or focus on the mistakes.

Teach study skills. Usually the biggest reason for those homework battles is that kids don't have study skills. So slowly make sure your child has those skills.

Planning skills. Make a list of what needs to be done in order of priority. He can then cross each off as done. A young child can draw a different task on paper strips, then put them in the order he plans to complete them, and then staple the packet together. Each time a task is finished, your child tears off a strip until no more remain.

Divide the assignment into smaller parts. Breaking up homework into smaller chunks is often helpful for kids who have difficulty sticking to a task or who seem overwhelmed by an assignment. Just tell your child to do "one chunk at a time." Gradually you can increase the size of the "work chunks" as your child's confidence increases.

Respect learning style. Tune in to how your child learns and encourage it! Visual: Draw pictures, color code. Auditory: Hears it, plugs in music to tune out sound, hums as he reads, says words out loud. Kinesthetic: Moves — so don't stop him. If your child has trouble focusing, then suggest he work in 20-minute bouts, then take a quick refresher break.

Do the hardest first. Teach your child to do the hardest homework assignment first. It takes the most concentration (which is usually at the beginning of a study session) and the longest time.

Put away. Once done, establish a routine that she immediately puts the work in her folder or binder placed in her backpack and set by the door to find the next morning.

Set a consequence for incomplete work. If you find out the homework isn't getting done and done with the quality you expect, then announce a consequence. For instance, if work isn't finished by a predetermined time (ideally, the same time each night), your kid knows he will lose a desired privilege either that evening or the following day.

Stay in touch with the teacher, especially if you see your child is struggling. Consider a tutor! When you see your child struggling (homework becomes an ongoing battle and your relationship with your kid is taking a dive), and your child continues to fall behind despite homework efforts, then consider a tutor. Consider a high school kid or even a retired teacher. Then make a plan with the teacher so your child is being tutored in exactly the needed areas.

‘Love Island USA’ star Liv on her sisterhood with the girls and what happened with Rob after Casa Amor

Mongolia’s viral Olympics opening ceremony outfits are giving gold

Biden tests positive for COVID-19 and will self-isolate in Delaware, White House says

Coronavirus.

Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy dies at age 49 in tubing accident

Who are JD Vance's children? Everything to know about Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel

16-year-old girl rescued from 6-foot hole that partially collapsed on beach

What’s changed for Simone Biles since Tokyo Olympics? Her magic is ‘limiting social media’: EXCLUSIVE

Paris olympics.

Former pro basketball player Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, dad of Kobe, dies at 69

Why Simone Biles says her struggles at Tokyo Games were different from Kerri Strug’s 1996 performance

Drake shares video of his flooded Toronto mansion

How to Stay Focused on Homework: 13 Easy Tips

Whether you’re a 15 year old and trying to pass the 10th grade or doing your Master’s degree and trying to complete the required reading, learning how to stay focused on homework is a lifelong skill that can feel boring and painful at times, but is necessary.

We learn to dread homework growing up, viewing it as the thing that gets in the way of our recreational time.

Who wants to be doing math problems when they could be outside playing with their friends?

Who wants to deal with pages of required reading or worry about staying focused when studying when they could be watching the latest bingeworthy shows on Netflix?

I’m not here to argue for or against the necessity of homework itself, but instead that sometimes, doing homework is a part of life.

And if we want to succeed in life, we have to do the homework.

We have to get motivated to write that essay , we have to get motivated to study , and we have to learn to stay focused on our goals .

Staying focused on homework when there are so many other distractions competing for our attention can be difficult, so in this post we’re going to get real, get honest, and talk about how to stay focused on homework even when you’d rather be doing anything else.

Study Tools You Need RIght Now

1. See How Fast You Can Get it Done Accurately

Getting your homework done quickly is usually the goal for most people, and while you don’t want to sacrifice accuracy, making a game out of it and seeing how fast you can get your homework done is usually a great way to stay focused on your homework.

There is a theory that we use as much time for tasks as we give ourselves, so it may be that actually you can write a good essay in 2 hours, when normally you would take 6 hours.

How much of that 6 hours is spent being distracted and wandering around your room aimlessly?

When we limit our time, we can get things done faster.

This isn’t to say that you should try and do 56 math problems in 2 minutes or sacrifice actually learning the material, but making a game to see how fast you can accurately do your homework is a great way to stay focused because now instead of just trying to focus on the content, you are focused on the goal of completing it and that will carry you through when it gets hard to stay focused.

2. Give Yourself a Reward When You Finish

It’s the only trick in the book, but that’s because it works and is one of my best productivity tips .

If you’re find it difficult to stay focused on your homework, make sure to promise yourself some sort of award when you finish.

For example, if you finish your book report, you can watch 30 minutes of your favorite TV show.

If you finish your math problems, you can have the snack you’ve been wanting since you got home.

Those of us adults with homework can also do this, but in bigger ways.

When you finish your dissertation, reward yourself by buying the new purse you’ve been keeping your eye on.

When you finish your physics problems, you can call a friend and go meet up for dinner.

Human nature is to work best when we are working towards something, and this is another way of keeping you focused on your homework by keeping you focused on the reward that will come from staying focused and completing your goal.

3. Find a New Way to Study

Sometimes, focus comes down to what you’re actually doing to learn the material.

For instance, I never learned well just rereading my notes to study for tests, and I found it much easier to use index cards to create questions and quiz myself with.

If part of your homework is studying for a test or something that you’re able to do in a way that makes more sense to you, do that!

We had quite a few projects that I was able to be more creative on that really helped keep me focused on working on them because I was much more interested.

If you’re having major problems focusing on your homework, check to see that you’re picking topics that really interest you, where possible, or talk to your teachers or professors to let them know that you’re struggling and see if they have any creative suggestions on how you could learn the material.

You can also use something like ClickUp to help you organize your homework and studying virtually.

4. Create a Study Group and Set a Goal

Study groups aren’t always good for focusing on homework because by the end of it, you’ve devolved into planning your Spring Break and no one has stuck to the plan or gotten much work done.

However, I like study groups as a way to stay focused on school work when you have a goal in mind. For instance, you could meet up and say you’re not going to leave the library until you’ve finished the project or you could say you’re not going to leave until you all feel confident that you could pass a test on Chapter 7 or you won’t finish until everyone has finished and understands how to do all of the math problems.

Having a study group just to have a study group isn’t always helpful, but with a clear outcome in mind, you can at least try and keep the socializing to a minimum until you go out and celebrate later for having finished.

You can also do it virtually with a platform like Zoom , which I talk about in my list of productivity tools .

This is also a great time to actually be honest with yourself about who that you know would make a good study group.

5. Do the Hardest Homework First

Our ability to focus goes down the longer we work on something, so if you have 4 hours of homework in 4 different subjects, you should start with what you find hardest first when your focus can be at its peak.

By the time you reach the fourth hour, you may be really wishing you had something that was much easier to focus on because you will naturally lose the willpower and ability to stay focused for that long.

This sometimes goes against our natural inclinations to save the hardest homework for last because we don’t want to deal with it until later, but putting it off makes it even harder to focus.

6. Listen to Instrumental Music

For some people, music can help keep them stay calm when stressed and is a good idea when trying to focus on homework, but make sure it’s the right kind of music.

For me, music with words is actually really difficult to have on in the background while I work on something also related to words (reading or writing or trying to understand concepts) because it uses that part of my brain to try and sing along.

I find that instrumental music is much better, whether it’s just basic instrumental music, instrumental covers of my favorite songs, or dedicated study playlists that use music that is actually thought to improve your concentration based on the tones of the sounds it creates.

You can find tons of these on Youtube and just put it on in the background as you try to get to work.

7. Create Your Perfect Environment

Equally, some of us find it super hard to focus with any noises in the background.

The aim of the game when it comes to focusing on homework has to do with creating your perfect environment and testing different environments to see what works for you.

Some people will find it easy to work in a library filled with other people working and walking around, while others will want to be in a cubicle with nothing else going on around them.

Some will want complete silence, others will want to blare music.

You should also think about the actual physical way you do your homework and whether that’s helping you.

There is a big difference for some people in the ability to focus when you’re laying down on your bed versus sitting at a dedicated desk, or working outside versus working inside.

Create the best environment you can before you get started on your homework and you’ll make it that much easier for yourself to focus.

8. Complete It In 20 Minute Chunks

Most people can focus for about 15-30 minutes before needing a quick break to look at something else or just stop looking at whatever they’re working on for a minute or two.

If you chunk your homework down into 20 minute chunks and aim to complete one at a time, this is actually a really useful way to stay focused because it’s not as daunting and you can focus on getting through one chunk at a time.

You can do this in so many ways, like chunking down the math problems and doing 10 at a time before you take a break, or reading a certain number of pages before you take 5 minutes to look up from your book.

Do everything in your power to make focusing seem less challenging, and your mind and body will more easily cooperate.

9. Get a Tutor

Sometimes, a study group of your friends isn’t necessarily the best idea under many circumstances, but a tutor almost always is.

Unlike a social companion, they’re there basically to help you focus on studying and to help coach you through anything you find difficult.

Having that external person who is sitting with you and helping you chunk down your work and setting goals for you is exactly what some people need to get their homework done in a productive way.

The level of tutor you need depends on what you’re working on.

If you just want someone to help you with the material who has done it before, you could ask someone a few grades above you to help out.

Equally, some families hire tutors for children with learning disabilities or those who are really struggling in a topic, and in this case the tutor may have a lot more experience in behavior and helping people to get the work done that goes beyond having done it beore.

10. Plan to Teach it to Others

Teaching the material to others is always a great way to help yourself stay focused when learning, because believe it or not, you’re learning to!

I used to teach my stuffed animals the material after I had done some homework on it, but you can also try and teach it to anyone to see how much you remember.

Many times, this transition into an active way of learning rather than passive is a great way to stay focused on studying and get things done instead of just hoping you remember it.

11. Use Website Blockers on Your Computer

If your problems with staying focused on your homework come down to other distractions, you can install plenty of software on your computer or phone that actually block certain websites when you tell them to.

You could block social media so you’re not taking breaks to scroll Instagram, block the entire internet or turn off the WiFi if you’re trying to focus on reading but can’t help continue to go on Reddit every couple of minutes, etc.

Staying focused isn’t just a “you” problem, it is a pretty prevalent human problem, especially in the modern world where we have more distractions than ever before.

So be strong, block the websites and apps, and then get down to business.

Not giving yourself the option to go on them means you don’t have to use up willpower trying not to.

You could also do this by giving someone else your password to your social media accounts and having them change it and not telling you what it is so it’s impossible for you to get in.

12. Make a To-Do List with Color Coding

For us visual people, making color coded to-do lists isn’t just an Instagrammable organizational tip, but a big life hack that helps us stay on track and be more productive.

If you’re struggling with your homework and staying focused, make a list each day of exactly what you need to do and use color codings, post-it notes or another visual way of checking things off to work through your list.

The more that you visually see completed on the paper, the more motivated you’ll be to keep staying focused and getting through the rest.

When you don’t have a list, it can feel like you’re not making any progress.

13. Use a Highlighter When Reading

If your homework involves reading or studying, you can also take an active role in this by using a highlighter to highlight important passages or use a pen to make notes next to the reading as you go.

This is proven to keep you more engaged in the material, which in turn will keep you more focused on your reading.

When you’re forcing yourself to engage with and respond to the material, you’re much more likely to remember and stay focused on it as opposed to what happens when you just passively read a book or read over your notes.

Subscribe for new content!

I agree to receive email updates and promotions.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

• Bournemouth
• King's
• University of East Anglia

Researchers have worked out which majors work the hardest in college

Nobody said English majors work that hard

According to data analysts who surveyed thousands of students across America, the hardest working college majors are architects – they study outside of classes for an average of 22 hours a week.

Engineers are next : as a group of majors they dominate the top of the charts, studying for around 20 hours a week.  STEM majors feature heavily at the top, and you have to go quite far down to find anything in the arts. Any majors that you’d find difficult to explain to your parents – mass communications, public relations, or parks and recreation are all at the bottom with just over 10 hours a week.

See where your major ranks below – the stats come from Indiana University’s NSSE , the National Survey of Student Engagement. As a comprehensive survey, they compile answers from thousands of students, and passed their findings on to The Tab.

The number of hours below represent the average time spent in a week preparing for class – studying, reading, writing, and doing homework or lab work. The averages include freshmen and seniors.

Other articles recommended by this author –

Researchers have figured out which degree works the hardest

Your degree isn’t harder than mine, history is the hardest degree there is – it’s a battle for survival.

Get the Reddit app

This is a place for engineering students of any discipline to discuss study methods, get homework help, get job search advice, and find a compassionate ear when you get a 40% on your midterm after studying all night.

Should you do your hardest or easiest homework first?

Mathematicians Are Edging Close to Solving One of the World's 7 Hardest Math Problems

And there’s $1 million at stake.

• In new research, mathematicians have narrowed down one of the biggest outstanding problems in math.
• Huge breakthroughs in math and science are usually the work of many people over many years.
• Seven math problems were given a $1 million bounty each in 2000, and just one has been solved so far.

The “Millennium Problems” are seven infamously intractable math problems laid out in the year 2000 by the prestigious Clay Institute, each with $1 million attached as payment for a solution. They span all areas of math , as the Clay Institute was founded in 1998 to push the entire field forward with financial support for researchers and important breakthroughs.

But the only solved Millennium Problem so far, the Poincare conjecture, illustrates one of the funny pitfalls inherent to offering a large cash prize for math. The winner, Grigori Perelman, refused the Clay prize as well as the prestigious Fields Medal. He withdrew from mathematics and public life in 2006, and even in 2010, he still insisted his contribution was the same as the mathematician whose work laid the foundation on which he built his proof, Richard Hamilton.

Math, all sciences, and arguably all human inquiries are filled with pairs or groups that circle the same finding at the same time until one officially makes the breakthrough. Think about Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, whose back-and-forth about calculus led to the combined version of the field we still study today. Rosalind Franklin is now mentioned in the same breath as her fellow discoverers of DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick. Even the Bechdel Test for women in media is sometimes called the Bechdel-Wallace Test, because humans are almost always in collaboration.

That’s what makes this new paper so important. Two mathematicians—Larry Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and James Maynard of the University of Oxford—collaborated on the new finding about how certain polynomials are formed and how they reach out into the number line. Maynard is just 37, and won the Fields Medal himself in 2022. Guth, a decade older, has won a number of important prizes with a little less name recognition.

The Riemann hypothesis is not directly related to prime numbers , but it has implications that ripple through number theory in different ways (including with prime numbers). Basically, it deals with where and how the graph of a certain function of complex numbers crosses back and forth across axes. The points where the function crosses an axis is called a “zero,” and the frequency with which those zeroes appear is called the zero density.

In the far reaches of the number line, prime numbers become less and less predictable (in the proverbial sense). They are not, so far, predictable in the literal sense—a fact that is an underpinning of modern encryption , where data is protected by enormous strings of integers made by multiplying enormous prime numbers together. The idea of a periodic table of primes, of any kind of template that could help mathematicians better understand where and how large primes cluster together or not, is a holy grail.

In the new paper, Maynard and Guth focus on a new limitation of Dirichlet polynomials. These are special series of complex numbers that many believe are of the same type as the function involved in the Riemann hypothesis involves. In the paper, they claim they’ve proven that these polynomials have a certain number of large values, or solutions , within a tighter range than before.

In other words, if we knew there might be an estimated three Dirichlet values between 50 and 100 before, now we may know that range to be between 60 and 90 instead. The eye exam just switched a blurry plate for a slightly less blurry one, but we still haven’t found the perfect prescription. “If one knows some more structure about the set of large values of a Dirichlet polynomial, then one can hope to have improved bound,” Maynard and Guth conclude.

No, this is not a final proof of the Riemann hypothesis. But no one is suggesting it is. In advanced math, narrowing things down is also vital. Indeed, even finding out that a promising idea turns out to be wrong can have a lot of value—as it has a number of times in the related Twin Primes Conjecture that still eludes mathematicians.

In a collaboration that has lasted 160 years and counting, mathematicians continue to take each step together and then, hopefully, compare notes.

Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. 

.css-cuqpxl:before{padding-right:0.3125rem;content:'//';display:inline;} Math .css-xtujxj:before{padding-left:0.3125rem;content:'//';display:inline;}

Billiards With Memory Creates Intricate Patterns

A Wonder Clock Has Rocked the Scientific World

Machines About to Tackle Fermat’s Last Theorem

Can AI Help Solve Math’s Thorniest Mysteries?

The History of Pi

Experts Discovered the Secret Geometry of Life

Scientists Solved a 141-Year-Old Problem

The Perfect Table Size for Your Jigsaw Puzzle

Breaking the 1880s Silk Dress Cryptogram

10 of the Hardest Math Problems Ever Solved

Solution to Riddle of the Week #12: Licking Frogs

He wanted to focus on issues students cared about. Then the crises began.

Sami Saeed, 18, became Montgomery County’s student board member during one of its hardest years.

Sami Saeed first got a glimpse last summer of how intense his term would be as the student representative of Maryland’s largest school district. Protesters were flooding Montgomery County’s school board meetings to call for the district to let families opt out of storybooks featuring LGBTQ characters.

“Is this normal?” he recalled asking others on the board. Long-serving members said they could not recollect a protest of that magnitude.

Saeed, 18, said it was the start of a year that was marked by seismic crises. In addition to the calls for an opt-out policy, the school system also faced scrutiny for its handling of employees’ reports of misconduct after The Washington Post reported a middle school principal was promoted while he was under investigation for sexual harassment. Several administrators left, including former superintendent Monifa B. McKnight, which led to a search for a new system leader.

It was a big shift from his original plans for the term. Coming in, Saeed thought he would focus on top issues for students like school lunches, mental health, safety and curriculum. But most of the year, he said, he was dealing with one administrative fallout after another — while still going to classes at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville and listening to students.

“I’ve done more crisis management than I have educational policy, which is something I never thought I would say by the end of this,” he said in a recent interview after his term ended July 1.

Make the most of the DMV with our newsletter

Montgomery County has had a student representative since 1978, according to its website. Maryland allows student school board members voting rights, though that has been challenged in court . In Montgomery, student members can vote on most issues save for negative personnel actions, like a termination or other disciplinary measure. They can vote on personnel action involving the superintendent.

Saeed gave speeches and participated in Q&A sessions with students while campaigning for the board seat. He was one of two finalists for the role, and then was elected by the school system’s middle- and high-schoolers in April 2023.

Lynne Harris, an at-large member on the school board, said Saeed came to each meeting as a “coequal member.” He showed up regularly well-informed and he was often one of the first people to speak.

“He was really fearless in being a full member, but he was always so incredibly excited and optimistic,” Harris said. “His year as [the student member] was the hardest year the board has had to deal with … but you would not know from seeing the way he served.”

The debate over the opt-out policy early in his term was challenging, Saeed said.

Several Muslim and Christian families protested the school system’s decision to disallow opt-outs for books with LGBTQ characters, arguing it violated their religious rights under the First Amendment. Saeed recalled that he was going to a board meeting to speak about financial literacy . But after seeing the protests, he decided to instead speak in favor of the district’s decision. He spoke of how students had “overwhelming support for this measure” and argued that the books cannot be opted out of.

Right after, several protesters pulled him aside to persuade him of their viewpoint. Saeed said it caused a huge internal conflict. His dad is Muslim and his mom is an atheist, but he said they let him make his own decision about his religious identity. He is not Muslim, but he explained that many people assumed he was because he is Arab. When he disagreed publicly with the protests, he said he felt like he was betraying people in his own community.

“It was incredibly uncomfortable because I felt like, ‘Am I not being true to who I should be — to what my heritage is?’ But I need to stand with my principles,” he said. “But that was really a struggle, because I felt like I came into my role and I already let a whole group of people down before I even started.”

The district was in tumult again a few weeks later after The Post reported that a middle school principal, Joel Beidleman, was promoted last year despite being the subject of six teachers’ complaints . (Beidleman has denied many of the allegations.) He was warned in an email about a potential issue with a staff member, but learned the details from The Post’s reporting. Several investigations followed, and district and school board members also were admonished by the county council. The school system is now reworking its protocols and polices to address issues raised.

“It was so tough. Some of the things I was learning were so troubling,” Saeed said. “I had to go to a student meeting or something with a big smile on my face. The students would be talking about the same problems that they were talking about during my campaign, but my head is somewhere else.”

He said McKnight’s resignation in February was one of the most stressful periods of his term. Because it was a personnel issue, he said he can’t share what happened, and has never even talked to his parents or any of his friends about it. But at the time, he was panicking. He said the situation caused him sleepless nights and he worried about getting gray hairs.

Still, he tried to carve out time to focus on other issues, like school safety and security, something that touched him personally. Back in 2022, Saeed said he was targeted in a shooting threat that was posted online but that investigators later determined was not credible. His high school has had students come into the building with guns .

In October, Saeed successfully proposed a school safety resolution that would mandate the school system expand a student ID pilot program, implement a strategy to increase monitoring bathrooms and target substance use in schools. The measure called for the district to give an update in April. But when the time came, he learned little progress had been made on the request, he said.

“That was a huge, huge, huge let down,” he said. “I was shocked that the urgency was not there, because you’re dealing with kids’ lives.”

He said he met regularly with school officials on the issue. Now, six high schools have installed vape detectors this past school year, and the school system plans to use money from a legal settlement with JUUL to install them in all high schools.

And even amid all the upheaval this past school year, Saeed was able to accomplish one of his biggest goals: changing the district’s homework policy . The changes — including language that would encourage teachers to avoid assigning homework over the weekends when possible — were unanimously approved by the school board in June.

In his final meeting last month, Saeed voted to hire Thomas Taylor as superintendent. He said the hire was like “striking gold,” pointing to Taylor’s history as a graduate of Montgomery County schools. Taylor immediately stuck out to him during the interview process, and he is confident that Taylor cares about the students.

In his final speech, Saeed characterized becoming the student member of the board as one of the best decisions he’s made — along with deleting Twitter.