The Art of Studying

Everyone tells you to study, but nobody tells you how. Here’s how:

Nigima

Jun 15, 2026

Everyone tells you to study, but nobody tells you how. So, you try your best. You go back and forth
between every word in your textbook, trying to remember them, but the memories of other things keep
flooding your beautiful mind. So instead of studying, you start daydreaming of the life studying has
promised you.

This may contain: a person sitting at a desk with a laptop and papers on the floor in front of them

The truth is, the art of studying was never just about memorizing. It was about striving for something
greater than what our limited mind offers us.

Let’s trace the origin of the word “study.” It travels back to the Latin noun studium, which means zeal,
devotion, and a passionate application to a pursuit. Student literally means “one who is striving or
eager.”

So, to “study” something is not just to memorize it, but to pursue it with genuine eagerness, passion,
and devotion.

At present, the art of studying has lost its beauty and has become something analogous to rote
memorization. The zeal and passion that were once associated with it have almost withered.

It has become something mechanical, something we don’t enjoy anymore.

Let’s make studying enjoyable again.

While studying, there needs to be coordination between large-scale brain networks, known as the Triple
Network Model. This requires the synchronization of three intrinsic networks: the Salience Network, the
Central Executive Network, also called the Frontoparietal Network, and the Default Mode Network.

The Salience Network is the network that scans everything: our mood, emotions, surroundings, body
signals, stress levels, and thoughts. It decides what deserves our attention.

The Central Executive Network is the part of the brain that stays focused during an important task.

The Default Mode Network, on the other hand, is the brain’s inner world. It becomes active when we are
resting, daydreaming, remembering the past, imagining the future, and making meaning out of our
experiences.

While studying, the Default Mode Network needs to step back to allow the Central Executive Network to
focus. The Salience Network acts like the switchboard that controls this transition.

Salience network - Wikipedia

Let’s take salsa dance as an example. When dancing, one partner needs to step back so the other can
spin. They move in coordination, creating a beautiful dance together. In the same way, studying is a
dance between these networks.

For the Central Executive Network to activate and stay focused, dopamine is required.
Dopamine is the neurochemical of motivation, reward, and attention, although it is usually known as the
chemical of pleasure. It rises when a concept feels new, urgent, challenging, or interesting. Therefore,
curiosity sparks the rise of dopamine.

You have to keep asking yourself: “Why am I studying this? What am I trying to figure out?”

For you to have a focused study session, you have to be passionate about it. You have to be curious
about it.

For example, I might find the topic of inflammation boring. But if I ask, “What actually happens inside my
body when a stimulus causes an inflammatory reaction?” then suddenly, it becomes interesting. How do
blood vessels dilate? How do chemicals and inflammatory cells travel to the site of reaction? What is my
body trying to protect me from?

When I begin to see it this way, the topic becomes alive. This interest causes dopamine to rise, which
allows for a more focused study session.

But there are two ways you can be passionate about something.

One is harmonious passion, where the passion is healthy. Your passion does not own you. It comes from
curiosity, genuine eagerness, and love.

The other is obsessive passion, which is not run by curiosity but by the need for external validation.

If passion becomes obsessive, you stop resting. You start measuring your worth through achievement.
And if you fail, you feel like you are nothing. That kind of passion does not make you devoted. It makes
you captive.
So, the goal is not to force passion. The goal is to return to curiosity.

Like in a painting, one stroke follows another. You have to allow the next step to follow naturally. Like in a
dance, we cannot learn the whole choreography in one day, even if we are passionate about it. It
requires learning one step, then the next, and then slowly bringing them together.

This process is known as chunking.

Chunking is turning a huge concept into tiny, bite-sized pieces that are easier to digest. When you chunk,
your mind starts finding patterns, meaning, and stories. Your brain starts associating one fact with
another.

The brain also has focused and diffuse modes of thinking, popularized by academic Barbara Oakley.

During focused mode, you concentrate deeply on one task. But after a session of focused study, you
need to take a break and let your mind wander wherever it wants to go. This is when the brain enters a
more diffuse mode. It starts connecting dots in the background.

This is why many insights arrive when you are walking, showering, resting, or doing something
completely unrelated to studying. Like Archimedes having his “Eureka!” moment while taking a bath,
sometimes the mind understands things only after we stop gripping them too tightly.

You have to let things unravel themselves. You trust that your brain has the capacity to bridge
information, even when you are not consciously forcing it to.

For this, we have to understand the body’s internal clock.

There is the circadian rhythm and the ultradian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is the 24-hour clock that
regulates sleep, wakefulness, energy, and many biological processes. The ultradian rhythm is the smaller
rhythm that runs throughout the day. It lasts for about 80 to 120 minutes.
Our body can focus deeply for around 90 minutes before it starts running out of fuel and motivation. I
usually study in a 90-minute bout, which I break into three 25-minute Pomodoro sessions with 5-minute
breaks in between. But you can do it at your own pace.

The point is not to obey a rigid productivity rule. The point is to understand your rhythm.

The circadian rhythm governs sleep. Sleep is needed for the brain to rest, process the day, consolidate
memories, and prepare for another cycle of learning.

According to the Chinese philosophy of Wu Wei, we have to work according to the natural rhythm of the
world to meet with the least resistance. It means we should not push ourselves too hard or move against
our own nature.

There is a story of a man who was caught in a strong current of water but survived. When asked how he
managed to stay alive, he said he did not fight the current. He went with it, and the water eventually
brought him to the shore.

When you don’t go against nature, nature brings you where you are supposed to go.

This does not mean you become lazy. It means you stop pushing and striving in a way that breaks you.
You learn to work with the rhythm, not against it.

Fill your cup. Do things that are not directly associated with studying. Paint. Go out with friends. Play
instruments. Walk. Rest. Let your mind breathe.

The art of studying is knowing, deep down, that everything is always connected. Learning never really
goes to waste. Learning about business may directly or indirectly help in medicine and vice versa. Every
small effort becomes part of something larger.
Trust the process.

The blank canvas will have something with each new stroke. The song will form with each new chord.
The choreography will come together with each new step.

If you allow it, studying itself can become a beautiful, fulfilling action.

Study with rhythm.

Study with curiosity.

And most of all, study with love