is studying and homework the same thing

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Homework vs Study: Everything You Need To Know

Fiach Smyth

Oct 28, 2016

Homework and study. The two things that all students have in common, no matter where they live, or what school they go to. But what is the real difference between homework and study, and how is a regular routine going to help you do well? Studiosity's Fiach Smyth has the answers.

Why is homework important?

Most nights you are going to have homework set by your teachers. Although we don’t usually think of homework as being study, it’s actually a key part of the learning process. Homework has two purposes: to give you a chance to identify gaps in your knowledge so that you can raise them with your teacher; and to help embed class learnings in your head by making a second pass over the key concepts you covered that day.

What about study?

Now that we know what homework is, what is study? Study is exactly the same as homework, except that you nominate for yourself what work to do, and you do it at a time that’s removed from the class in which you learned the content.

Let’s take a typical maths class as an example. In class the teacher shows you a concept, and then asks you to do a few exercises in class so that they can make sure you’ve understood. They set you some more exercises as homework, so later that night you have to remember what you learned in class, and apply it to those homework exercises. A month later you’ve moved on to another topic in class, but you decide one night to just spend 40 minutes going over those exercises again, to make sure you still remember how to do them, and to keep the learnings fresh in your mind. That’s study.

How much study should I do?

This is going to depend on a lot of things: how much time you have, which subjects you find challenging, where you are in your academic career. For most students from Years 7 to 10, you should be able to manage one block of study at least four nights a week. One block is about 40 - 60 minutes (we’ll discuss why in a moment). Maybe you want to do one block each night Monday to Thursday; maybe it’s easier for you to make Friday a study day where you do all your study. It’s up to you.

It’s important to remember that study is a very personal thing , it’s different for everyone. This approach of four subjects a week isn’t necessarily the best way for you to study; rather it’s the best way to start studying, to get into the habit and to be able to determine for yourself how to change things up to suit your own needs and your available time. Maybe you want to, or have time to do more than four blocks a week – if so, that’s great, as every extra block of time spent studying helps!

What exactly is a 'study block'?

A study block is a set amount of time you set aside for the purpose of studying a particular subject. Although there are exceptions, an average study block should be around 45 minutes long. This is not an arbitrary amount of time. You’ll notice that most classes at school are between 45-50 minutes in length. We know a lot about how people learn, and one thing we know is that after about 45 minutes of working on a particular topic our brains are less able to take in new information.

At school we put a break every 45 minutes or so, allowing students to change classes, change locations and topics, to keep their minds fresh and able to learn, and this is the same with your study. Even if you still feel like you’re fresh and good to keep going, in most cases pushing much past 45 minutes on a block of study will return much less benefit than the first 45 minutes did. Generally you would be better breaking and doing something else and then coming back to study a second time, rather than studying two blocks back-to-back.

At the same time, very short study blocks aren’t as effective as blocks of around 45 minutes (with a few exceptions we’ll discuss below). As you study your brain organises and reorganises information, solidifying it for later recall, and building links between the different things you are jamming into it. It takes a little time for your brain to start building these links, so you need to give your brain time. If you only spend ten minutes reading through your notes that’s not study, that’s revision. Revision is certainly something to work into your overall approach to study, but if that’s all you do then you don’t give your brain the time it needs to start building these information connections. Study blocks should be at least 30 minutes long, but 40-45 is best.

How do I balance homework and study?

Now that we know that homework and study work together, we can see why balancing both is important. You can’t skip homework in order to study, but at the same time you can’t let your homework load become so great that you have no time to study. Teachers are good at knowing how much homework is a reasonable amount to give the maximum chance to bed down class learning without taking all of your available time. However, if you work or have important extra-curricular responsibilities you may find your time being squeezed and that’s something you need to resolve.

Let’s use another example, from maths again. You have maths four days a week, and your teacher sets about 20 exercises for the class each night. These exercises take you two hours to complete, and that’s making it hard to study. First, ask your friends how long it takes them. Is it taking you a lot longer than them? If so, talk to your teacher. Your teacher may be able to identify why the problems take you longer to complete, or may reduce the number of questions they expect you to complete, focusing on the most important questions.

Or maybe it’s just that you have a lot of other commitments. Figure out how much time you can afford to spend on your maths homework , and then stop when you reach that time.

If the reality is that doing all your homework means that you can’t study, it is generally better that you take a few short cuts with your homework rather than just not studying. As we said above, study refreshes what you bedded down doing your homework, so you need both.

Remember, take a break

An essential component of good study is knowing when to take a break from study. If you sit yourself down and do four subjects worth of homework and then power through two study blocks, that study is not going to be nearly as effective as it could have been had you taken some breaks.

As a good rule of thumb, if you study for a block of 45 minutes take the next fifteen minutes off. Get away from wherever you were sitting, go walk around, or talk to people, or grab a yummy study snack .

Both homework and study are equally as important, and both need to be scheduled into your study time. See how you go with the study blocks, and if you have any feedback, let us know in the comments below!

We wish you all the best.

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Topics: Students , Homework , Study

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Study Versus Homework

Get this awesome study skills guide for your school!

This amazing study skills resource is available for your school to use. Purchase a lifetime licence and distribute this guide to your students.

Super Study Skills

Homework = Survival, Study = Success

Study and Homework are different!

Study v Homework

What is the difference between study and homework? Many students think that they are one and the same but they are not. Homework, is the work that you do at home to complete unfinished work from the day. It includes notes and exercises and is work that you are told to do by your teacher. Homework is also work that may get you into trouble if you don't complete it. Study, is extra work that you "choose" to do, and is above and beyond homework. No one forces you to study and you do not get into trouble if you don't complete it. However, homework alone for most people will get them a B/C in subjects they enjoy and a C or lower in subjects they do not enjoy. Extra study is the only way to boost your grades in subjects that you don't enjoy or aren't naturally good at or to guarantee an A in your top subjects.

Homework/Study Balance

Now that we know the difference between homework and study we need to know how to strike a homework/study balance. Generally your goal setting will help here. For example, say your study goal is to do 2 hours of study 5 times a week (Mon to Thu and again on Sat morning). Monday, you get home and you have about 1 hour of homework. To reach your goal, finish your 2 hours off with an hour of general study. Tuesday, you get home and miraculously you have no homework at all! Tuesday night you will do a full 2 hours of general study. Wednesday feels like the busiest day of your life. You come home with 3 hours of homework. You can't just stop after 2 hours, you have to finish it. Because of the extra homework you let the study go for that night. As you have exceeded your goal of 2 hours Wednesday night, you may even reward yourself by taking the extra hour off on Thursday.

What leads to success?

Think of homework like treading water. It keeps you on the surface and stops you drowning. However, if you have high expectations of yourself or want to get a higher result then you need to do that extra study above and beyond what is required. You will learn more in the "putting it all together" page.

Write down a list of all your subjects. Reflect on how hard you find each subject. Which subjects only require homework and which could do with some extra study?

Do More With Less ⇠Previous Lesson Next Lesson⇢ Putting It All Together

Studying is a Skill
Believe In Yourself
Learn It Now
The 4 Times Rule For Learning
Short Versus Long Term memory
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Do More With Less
Putting It All Together
How To Set Goals In Ten Easy Steps
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Time Management For Assessments
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Search the site, search suggestions, "homework" in college.

Close up of student holding a piece of paper

Since coming to Harvard, I don’t recall even once hearing the word “homework”—which is a pretty strange thing considering the role it played for the first 12 years of my education (spoiler alert: this doesn’t mean that we don’t have assignments and work to do).

However, the type of work that’s assigned in college is different from what I was used to in high school, so I’m here to break it down for you.

Problem Sets

Problem sets, or “psets”, are typically packets of questions that are assigned and due on a regular basis. Most of my pset classes have been math and science courses, although they don’t necessarily have to be. I think the biggest difference between psets in college compared to similar assignments in high school is that they can be really challenging, and many courses expect and encourage students to work together on them—I made some of my best friends while struggling through organic chemistry psets lasts year!

Completed homework with comments and a congratulatory sticker featuring a monkey

Sometimes you even get stickers.

Rather than lots of shorter assignments, many classes opt for a few essays spaced throughout the semester. Humanities classes (English, history, etc.) are typically essay classes, although many science classes also have you practice scientific writing through grant proposal or review-style papers. If you’re not super comfortable writing academic papers coming into college, not to worry! All freshmen take a writing course (Expos) during the first year to make sure that everyone is on the same foot. There’s a ton of individual feedback, so it can be really beneficial no matter what your level of writing is coming in.

Discussion Posts

Particularly if it’s an essay class, you might be assigned additional questions to respond to on an online forum for the course. It’s a nice way to keep people on track with the reading, and the responses are often used to start discussion in section.

*Most larger courses have weekly “sections” with 12-15 students and a teaching fellow leading discussion—it’s an opportunity to review the material and go more in-depth with the readings.

Reading (sometimes a lot of reading)

One of the bigger adjustments for some students is learning how to get through hundreds of pages of reading per week. Granted, this depends on what type of classes you’re taking—it is possible to tailor your schedule to an amount of reading that’s appropriate for you. I’ve found that my humanities classes have a much higher volume of reading, but that my science courses have denser reading—sometimes a seven page primary lit paper from a science journal takes me the same amount of time to read as forty pages in a novel. If you are struggling to get through all of your assigned reading, or just want to use your time more efficiently, the Bureau of Study Counsel offers “speed reading” courses during the year which are said to be really helpful!

I was found very diligently reading my book.

I have to say, I’ve had some pretty cool project assignments in college. In my multivariable calc class, our final project was to use Mathematica (a math tool) to come up with equations that would form a 3D object, so I made and printed a 3D minion. In a genetics class, we spent the semester analyzing our own DNA in lab, looking for markers that might indicate lactose intolerance, ancestral history, etc. (I wasn’t lactose intolerant, thankfully.) One of my friends is in a Folklore and Mythology class on quilt making, and her final project is to make a quilt. Pretty cool, huh?

Photograph of author holding a toy "minion" from the film "Despicable Me"

My minion!!

Ah yes, not one to forget. On the plus side, there tend to be fewer exams in college than in high school—for classes that do have exams, you would likely only have 1-2 midterms and a final. Studying is often more effective in a group, so it’s another chance to meet people in your class!

Whew! While this is not a complete list, hopefully it gives a sense of the type of work you might be asked to do here. You can choose a schedule of classes that’s a good fit for you—while some people really like taking four essay classes or four pset classes at once, for example, I always try to strike a balance halfway in between. Particularly if you’re taking classes that you’re really interested in, the work doesn’t even seem so bad. :)

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Homework Versus Studying

When it comes to academic success, there is often a great deal of confusion about the difference between homework and studying.

While homework assignments are typically given as part of a class or course, studying encompasses all learning activities. It includes reading and memorizing facts, understanding concepts, and developing skills like problem-solving.

This article will explore the differences between homework and studying in detail and provide tips on making the most of both activities to maximize academic success.

Table of Contents

What is homework?

Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the class.

On the other hand, studying is self-directed and can be done at any time. It’s more about understanding concepts and critically engaging with the material.

What is studying?

There is a big difference between homework and studying. Teachers assign homework to help reinforce what was learned in class and give students extra practice. It usually consists of reading, writing, or math problems to be completed on a specific day.

On the other hand, studying is done on the student’s own time and is not assigned by a teacher. It is simply going over the material to learn it better. This can involve re-reading notes, practicing problems, or finding different ways to remember information.

The difference between homework and studying

There is a big difference between homework and studying. You do homework at home, usually after school or in the evening. It is usually something that your teacher assigns to you, and it is usually due the next day.

Studying, on the other hand, is something you do on your own time to learn better for tests or quizzes. It might be reviewing your notes from class, doing extra practice problems, or reading ahead in the textbook.

The pros and cons of homework and studying

There are many pros and cons to homework and studying. Some of the pros of homework include that it can help students learn the material more thoroughly and retain information better. Additionally, doing homework can help prepare students for tests and quizzes. Finally, homework can foster a sense of responsibility and good work habits.

However, there are also several cons to homework. These include that it can take away from students’ free time, family time, and sleep. Too much homework can also make students feel overwhelmed or stressed out. Students need to balance homework and free time to stay healthy and happy.

How to get the most out of homework and studying

To get the most out of homework and studying, there are a few things that students can do. First, they should ensure that they have a quiet workplace where they will not be interrupted.

Second, they should break their work down into smaller tasks so that they can focus on one thing at a time.

Third, they should take breaks every 20 minutes to avoid getting overwhelmed or burnt out. Fourth, they should try to study with friends or classmates to discuss their learning and help each other out.

Finally, students should always consult their teachers if they are having trouble with their work to get help and clarification.

Homework and studying are two important activities that help students learn and grow. Both activities have unique benefits, but the biggest difference is that homework focuses on practice while studying focuses on knowledge.

Homework can be done independently or with a teacher’s guidance, while studying often involves reading materials or discussing topics with peers to gain new insights. Ultimately, it’s up to each student to decide which activity they prefer to achieve their academic goals.

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A daughter sits at a desk doing homework while her mom stands beside her helping

Credit: August de Richelieu

Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Posted in Voices+Opinion

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Studying 101: Study Smarter Not Harder

Do you ever feel like your study habits simply aren’t cutting it? Do you wonder what you could be doing to perform better in class and on exams? Many students realize that their high school study habits aren’t very effective in college. This is understandable, as college is quite different from high school. The professors are less personally involved, classes are bigger, exams are worth more, reading is more intense, and classes are much more rigorous. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you; it just means you need to learn some more effective study skills. Fortunately, there are many active, effective study strategies that are shown to be effective in college classes.

This handout offers several tips on effective studying. Implementing these tips into your regular study routine will help you to efficiently and effectively learn course material. Experiment with them and find some that work for you.

Reading is not studying

Simply reading and re-reading texts or notes is not actively engaging in the material. It is simply re-reading your notes. Only ‘doing’ the readings for class is not studying. It is simply doing the reading for class. Re-reading leads to quick forgetting.

Think of reading as an important part of pre-studying, but learning information requires actively engaging in the material (Edwards, 2014). Active engagement is the process of constructing meaning from text that involves making connections to lectures, forming examples, and regulating your own learning (Davis, 2007). Active studying does not mean highlighting or underlining text, re-reading, or rote memorization. Though these activities may help to keep you engaged in the task, they are not considered active studying techniques and are weakly related to improved learning (Mackenzie, 1994).

Ideas for active studying include:

Create a study guide by topic. Formulate questions and problems and write complete answers. Create your own quiz.
Become a teacher. Say the information aloud in your own words as if you are the instructor and teaching the concepts to a class.
Derive examples that relate to your own experiences.
Create concept maps or diagrams that explain the material.
Develop symbols that represent concepts.
For non-technical classes (e.g., English, History, Psychology), figure out the big ideas so you can explain, contrast, and re-evaluate them.
For technical classes, work the problems and explain the steps and why they work.
Study in terms of question, evidence, and conclusion: What is the question posed by the instructor/author? What is the evidence that they present? What is the conclusion?

Organization and planning will help you to actively study for your courses. When studying for a test, organize your materials first and then begin your active reviewing by topic (Newport, 2007). Often professors provide subtopics on the syllabi. Use them as a guide to help organize your materials. For example, gather all of the materials for one topic (e.g., PowerPoint notes, text book notes, articles, homework, etc.) and put them together in a pile. Label each pile with the topic and study by topics.

For more information on the principle behind active studying, check out our tipsheet on metacognition .

Understand the Study Cycle

The Study Cycle , developed by Frank Christ, breaks down the different parts of studying: previewing, attending class, reviewing, studying, and checking your understanding. Although each step may seem obvious at a glance, all too often students try to take shortcuts and miss opportunities for good learning. For example, you may skip a reading before class because the professor covers the same material in class; doing so misses a key opportunity to learn in different modes (reading and listening) and to benefit from the repetition and distributed practice (see #3 below) that you’ll get from both reading ahead and attending class. Understanding the importance of all stages of this cycle will help make sure you don’t miss opportunities to learn effectively.

Spacing out is good

One of the most impactful learning strategies is “distributed practice”—spacing out your studying over several short periods of time over several days and weeks (Newport, 2007). The most effective practice is to work a short time on each class every day. The total amount of time spent studying will be the same (or less) than one or two marathon library sessions, but you will learn the information more deeply and retain much more for the long term—which will help get you an A on the final. The important thing is how you use your study time, not how long you study. Long study sessions lead to a lack of concentration and thus a lack of learning and retention.

In order to spread out studying over short periods of time across several days and weeks, you need control over your schedule . Keeping a list of tasks to complete on a daily basis will help you to include regular active studying sessions for each class. Try to do something for each class each day. Be specific and realistic regarding how long you plan to spend on each task—you should not have more tasks on your list than you can reasonably complete during the day.

For example, you may do a few problems per day in math rather than all of them the hour before class. In history, you can spend 15-20 minutes each day actively studying your class notes. Thus, your studying time may still be the same length, but rather than only preparing for one class, you will be preparing for all of your classes in short stretches. This will help focus, stay on top of your work, and retain information.

In addition to learning the material more deeply, spacing out your work helps stave off procrastination. Rather than having to face the dreaded project for four hours on Monday, you can face the dreaded project for 30 minutes each day. The shorter, more consistent time to work on a dreaded project is likely to be more acceptable and less likely to be delayed to the last minute. Finally, if you have to memorize material for class (names, dates, formulas), it is best to make flashcards for this material and review periodically throughout the day rather than one long, memorization session (Wissman and Rawson, 2012). See our handout on memorization strategies to learn more.

It’s good to be intense

Not all studying is equal. You will accomplish more if you study intensively. Intensive study sessions are short and will allow you to get work done with minimal wasted effort. Shorter, intensive study times are more effective than drawn out studying.

In fact, one of the most impactful study strategies is distributing studying over multiple sessions (Newport, 2007). Intensive study sessions can last 30 or 45-minute sessions and include active studying strategies. For example, self-testing is an active study strategy that improves the intensity of studying and efficiency of learning. However, planning to spend hours on end self-testing is likely to cause you to become distracted and lose your attention.

On the other hand, if you plan to quiz yourself on the course material for 45 minutes and then take a break, you are much more likely to maintain your attention and retain the information. Furthermore, the shorter, more intense sessions will likely put the pressure on that is needed to prevent procrastination.

Silence isn’t golden

Know where you study best. The silence of a library may not be the best place for you. It’s important to consider what noise environment works best for you. You might find that you concentrate better with some background noise. Some people find that listening to classical music while studying helps them concentrate, while others find this highly distracting. The point is that the silence of the library may be just as distracting (or more) than the noise of a gymnasium. Thus, if silence is distracting, but you prefer to study in the library, try the first or second floors where there is more background ‘buzz.’

Keep in mind that active studying is rarely silent as it often requires saying the material aloud.

Problems are your friend

Working and re-working problems is important for technical courses (e.g., math, economics). Be able to explain the steps of the problems and why they work.

In technical courses, it is usually more important to work problems than read the text (Newport, 2007). In class, write down in detail the practice problems demonstrated by the professor. Annotate each step and ask questions if you are confused. At the very least, record the question and the answer (even if you miss the steps).

When preparing for tests, put together a large list of problems from the course materials and lectures. Work the problems and explain the steps and why they work (Carrier, 2003).

Reconsider multitasking

A significant amount of research indicates that multi-tasking does not improve efficiency and actually negatively affects results (Junco, 2012).

In order to study smarter, not harder, you will need to eliminate distractions during your study sessions. Social media, web browsing, game playing, texting, etc. will severely affect the intensity of your study sessions if you allow them! Research is clear that multi-tasking (e.g., responding to texts, while studying), increases the amount of time needed to learn material and decreases the quality of the learning (Junco, 2012).

Eliminating the distractions will allow you to fully engage during your study sessions. If you don’t need your computer for homework, then don’t use it. Use apps to help you set limits on the amount of time you can spend at certain sites during the day. Turn your phone off. Reward intensive studying with a social-media break (but make sure you time your break!) See our handout on managing technology for more tips and strategies.

Switch up your setting

Find several places to study in and around campus and change up your space if you find that it is no longer a working space for you.

Know when and where you study best. It may be that your focus at 10:00 PM. is not as sharp as at 10:00 AM. Perhaps you are more productive at a coffee shop with background noise, or in the study lounge in your residence hall. Perhaps when you study on your bed, you fall asleep.

Have a variety of places in and around campus that are good study environments for you. That way wherever you are, you can find your perfect study spot. After a while, you might find that your spot is too comfortable and no longer is a good place to study, so it’s time to hop to a new spot!

Become a teacher

Try to explain the material in your own words, as if you are the teacher. You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you are explaining the material, use examples and make connections between concepts (just as a teacher does). It is okay (even encouraged) to do this with your notes in your hands. At first you may need to rely on your notes to explain the material, but eventually you’ll be able to teach it without your notes.

Creating a quiz for yourself will help you to think like your professor. What does your professor want you to know? Quizzing yourself is a highly effective study technique. Make a study guide and carry it with you so you can review the questions and answers periodically throughout the day and across several days. Identify the questions that you don’t know and quiz yourself on only those questions. Say your answers aloud. This will help you to retain the information and make corrections where they are needed. For technical courses, do the sample problems and explain how you got from the question to the answer. Re-do the problems that give you trouble. Learning the material in this way actively engages your brain and will significantly improve your memory (Craik, 1975).

Take control of your calendar

Controlling your schedule and your distractions will help you to accomplish your goals.

If you are in control of your calendar, you will be able to complete your assignments and stay on top of your coursework. The following are steps to getting control of your calendar:

On the same day each week, (perhaps Sunday nights or Saturday mornings) plan out your schedule for the week.
Go through each class and write down what you’d like to get completed for each class that week.
Look at your calendar and determine how many hours you have to complete your work.
Determine whether your list can be completed in the amount of time that you have available. (You may want to put the amount of time expected to complete each assignment.) Make adjustments as needed. For example, if you find that it will take more hours to complete your work than you have available, you will likely need to triage your readings. Completing all of the readings is a luxury. You will need to make decisions about your readings based on what is covered in class. You should read and take notes on all of the assignments from the favored class source (the one that is used a lot in the class). This may be the textbook or a reading that directly addresses the topic for the day. You can likely skim supplemental readings.
Pencil into your calendar when you plan to get assignments completed.
Before going to bed each night, make your plan for the next day. Waking up with a plan will make you more productive.

See our handout on calendars and college for more tips on using calendars as time management.

Use downtime to your advantage

Beware of ‘easy’ weeks. This is the calm before the storm. Lighter work weeks are a great time to get ahead on work or to start long projects. Use the extra hours to get ahead on assignments or start big projects or papers. You should plan to work on every class every week even if you don’t have anything due. In fact, it is preferable to do some work for each of your classes every day. Spending 30 minutes per class each day will add up to three hours per week, but spreading this time out over six days is more effective than cramming it all in during one long three-hour session. If you have completed all of the work for a particular class, then use the 30 minutes to get ahead or start a longer project.

Use all your resources

Remember that you can make an appointment with an academic coach to work on implementing any of the strategies suggested in this handout.

Works consulted

Carrier, L. M. (2003). College students’ choices of study strategies. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96 (1), 54-56.

Craik, F. I., & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104 (3), 268.

Davis, S. G., & Gray, E. S. (2007). Going beyond test-taking strategies: Building self-regulated students and teachers. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 1 (1), 31-47.

Edwards, A. J., Weinstein, C. E., Goetz, E. T., & Alexander, P. A. (2014). Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction, and evaluation. Elsevier.

Junco, R., & Cotten, S. R. (2012). No A 4 U: The relationship between multitasking and academic performance. Computers & Education, 59 (2), 505-514.

Mackenzie, A. M. (1994). Examination preparation, anxiety and examination performance in a group of adult students. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 13 (5), 373-388.

McGuire, S.Y. & McGuire, S. (2016). Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate in Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Newport, C. (2006). How to become a straight-a student: the unconventional strategies real college students use to score high while studying less. Three Rivers Press.

Paul, K. (1996). Study smarter, not harder. Self Counsel Press.

Robinson, A. (1993). What smart students know: maximum grades, optimum learning, minimum time. Crown trade paperbacks.

Wissman, K. T., Rawson, K. A., & Pyc, M. A. (2012). How and when do students use flashcards? Memory, 20, 568-579.

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

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Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

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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.

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.

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The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 23, 2020

The-Pros-and-Cons-Should-Students-Have-Homework

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

A college student completely swamped with homework.

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels

Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

A female student who doesn’t want to do homework.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

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Why you need a study routine, and how to create one

Katie Azevedo September 10, 2018 homework , productivity , study skills , study tips , time management

Routines are good. Many of us follow routines from from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed. Think about it: you probably have a routine for brushing your teeth — first, you turn on the water, then you wet your toothbrush, then you squirt on toothpaste, and then you brush your teeth…and (hopefully) you follow this routine at least twice a day. (I won’t judge.)

Routines help us make fewer decisions over the course of a day, and this is good because the more decisions we make in a day, the worse those decisions tend to get — thanks to something called decision fatigue. When we establish routines, such a study routine, our actions become second-nature and we no longer have to think about them.

Getting into a study routine is one of the best school habits we can form. So many of my students — and I have personally tutored thousands of students one-on-one — claim that one of their biggest issues is finding time to get their work done. I get it, really. But establishing a study routine is part of the solution here. Let me explain.

When we do the same thing, at the same time, everyday, our brains and our bodies become conditioned. This is good. Think about your bed: don’t you get tired every time you lay on it, no matter what time of day it is, even if you weren’t tired before you laid down? How about the kitchen – don’t you get hungry whenever you smell food cooking or open your refrigerator? We’ve been conditioned.

The same thing can happen with studying. If you sit down to do your homework or study at the same time each day, in the same location with the same materials, you will become conditioned to the experience — and your brain will begin to “expect” thinking and learning. This may sound hokey. But it’s a real thing. Trust me.

Why you need a study routine

Less stress – because you don’t have to worry about when you’ll get your work done
More productivity – because you planned your time in advance
Less procrastination – because you’ve made your time non-negotiable
Less interruptions from others – because they know not to bother you during your working time
Better sleep – because you did your work when you were supposed to
The list of benefits goes on: here are some more

How to create a study routine:

Sit down with you calendar.
Figure out what time of day you are able to block out for working/studying (this will be different for all of us).
Aim to pick the same time of day at least on Mondays through Thursdays.
It’s okay to have a different study routine for the weekend.
It’s okay to split your study routine into two daily sessions if you need to.
Block off this time in your calendar as if it’s a doctor’s appointment – make it non-negotiable.
Decide where your study space will be. I suggest you match it to your learning style. Here are some tips about creating study spaces .
Stick to your routine. If something “better” comes along, say no to it unless you truly have no homework or studying to do.

Other details about creating a study routine

The details of your study routine are going to vary, depending on the following factors:

your grade level- middle school, high school, college, graduate program
your activities outside of school – job, sports, family responsibilities, etc.
your biological clock – what time of day you naturally have more energy

In a perfect world, it’s best to create a study routine around the time of day when we naturally have more energy (our biological clocks), but it’s not realistic to think that we can all do that. So that’s why you do the best you can with the time you have. What’s more important is that you stick with your routine, even when you don’t feel like it. Soon enough, it will become a habit … and that’s when it starts to pay off.

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Re-reading is inefficient. Here are 8 tips for studying smarter.

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The way most students study makes no sense.

That's the conclusion of Washington University in St. Louis psychologists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel — who've spent a combined 80 years studying learning and memory, and recently distilled their findings with novelist Peter Brown in the book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning .

using active learning strategies is most effective

The majority of students study by re-reading notes and textbooks — but the psychologists' research, both in lab experiments and of actual students in classes, shows this is a terrible way to learn material. Using active learning strategies — like flashcards, diagramming, and quizzing yourself — is much more effective, as is spacing out studying over time and mixing different topics together.

McDaniel spoke with me about the eight key tips he'd share with students and teachers from his body of research.

1) Don't just re-read your notes and readings

Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images

"We know from surveys that a majority of students, when they study, they typically re-read assignments and notes. Most students say this is their number one go-to strategy.

when students re-read a textbook chapter, they show no improvement in learning

"We know, however, from a lot of research, that this kind of repetitive recycling of information is not an especially good way to learn or create more permanent memories. Our studies of Washington University students, for instance, show that when they re-read a textbook chapter, they have absolutely no improvement in learning over those who just read it once.

"On your first reading of something, you extract a lot of understanding. But when you do the second reading, you read with a sense of 'I know this, I know this.' So basically, you're not processing it deeply, or picking more out of it. Often, the re-reading is cursory — and it's insidious, because this gives you the illusion that you know the material very well, when in fact there are gaps."

2) Ask yourself lots of questions

Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe via Getty Images

"One good technique to use instead is to read once, then quiz yourself, either using questions at the back of a textbook chapter, or making up your own questions. Retrieving that information is what actually produces more robust learning and memory.

retrieving information is what produces more robust learning and memory

"And even when you can't retrieve it — when you get the questions wrong — it gives you an accurate diagnostic on what you don't know, and this tells you what you should go back and study. This helps guide your studying more effectively.

"Asking questions also helps you understand more deeply. Say you're learning about world history, and how ancient Rome and Greece were trading partners. Stop and ask yourself why they became trading partners. Why did they become shipbuilders, and learn to navigate the seas? It doesn't always have to be why — you can ask how, or what.

"In asking these questions, you're trying to explain, and in doing this, you create a better understanding, which leads to better memory and learning. So instead of just reading and skimming, stop and ask yourself things to make yourself understand the material."

3) Connect new information to something you already know

"Another strategy is, during a second reading, to try relating the principles in the text to something you already know about. Relate new information to prior information for better learning.

"One example is if you were learning about how the neuron transmits electricity. One of the things we know if that if you have a fatty sheath surround the neuron, called a myelin sheath , it helps the neuron transmit electricity more quickly.

"So you could liken this, say, to water running through a hose. The water runs quickly through it, but if you puncture the hose, it's going to leak, and you won't get the same flow. And that's essentially what happens when we age — the myelin sheaths break down, and transmissions become slower."

( Quasar/Wikimedia Commons )

4) Draw out the information in a visual form

"A great strategy is making diagrams, or visual models, or flowcharts. In a beginning psychology course, you could diagram the flow of classical conditioning . Sure, you can read about classical conditioning, but to truly understand it and be able to write down and describe the different aspects of it on a test later on — condition, stimulus, and so on — it's a good idea to see if you can put it in a flowchart.

"Anything that creates active learning — generating understanding on your own — is very effective in retention. It basically means the learner needs to become more involved and more engaged, and less passive."

5) Use flashcards

"Flashcards are another good way of doing this. And one key to using them is actually re-testing yourself on the ones you got right.

keeping a correct card in the deck and encountering it again is more useful

"A lot of students will answer the question on a flashcard, and take it out of the deck if they get it right. But it turns out this isn't a good idea — repeating the act of memory retrieval is important. Studies show that keeping the correct item in the deck and encountering it again is useful. You might want to practice the incorrect items a little more, but repeated exposure to the ones you get right is important too.

"It's not that repetition as a whole is bad. It's that mindless repetition is bad."

6) Don't cram — space out your studying

Johannes Simon/Getty Images

"A lot of students cram — they wait until the last minute, then in one evening, they repeat the information again and again. But research shows this isn't good for long term memory. It may allow you to do okay on that test the next day, but then on the final, you won't retain as much information, and then the next year, when you need the information for the next level course, it won't be there.

practice a little bit one day, then two days later

"This often happens in statistics. Students come back for the next year, and it seems like they've forgotten everything, because they crammed for their tests.

"The better idea is to space repetition. Practice a little bit one day, then put your flashcards away, then take them out the next day, then two days later. Study after study shows that spacing is really important."

7) Teachers should space out and mix up their lessons too

Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

"Our book also has information for teachers. And o ur educational system tends to promote massed presentation of information as well.

"In a typical college course, you cover one topic one day, then on the second day, another topic, then on the third day, another topic. This is massed presentation. You never go back and recycle or reconsider the material.

"But the key, for teachers, is to put the material back in front of a student days or weeks later. There are several ways they can do this. Here at Washington University, there are some instructors who give weekly quizzes, and used to just put material from that week's classes on the quiz. Now, they're bringing back more material from two to three weeks ago. One psychology lecturer explicitly takes time, during each lecture, to bring back material from days or weeks beforehand.

the key, for teachers, is to put the material back in front of a student days or weeks later

"This can be done in homework too. It's typical, in statistics courses, to give homework in which all of the problems are all in the same category. After correlations are taught, a student's homework, say, is problem after problem on correlation. Then the next week, T tests are taught, and all the problems are on T tests. But we've found that sprinkling in questions on stuff that was covered two or three weeks ago is really good for retention.

"And this can be built into the content of lessons themselves. Let's say you're taking an art history class. When I took it, I learned about Gauguin, then I saw lots of his paintings, then I moved on to Matisse, and saw lots of paintings by him. Students and instructors both think that this is a good way of learning the painting styles of these different artists.

"But experimental studies show that's not the case at all. It's better to give students an example of one artist, then move to another, then another, then recycle back around. That interspersing, or mixing, produces much better learning that can be transferred to paintings you haven't seen — letting students accurately identify the creators of paintings, say, on a test.

"And this works for all sorts of problems. Let's go back to statistics. In upper level classes, and the real world, you're not going to be told what sort of statistical problem you're encountering — you're going to have to figure out the method you need to use. And you can't learn how to do that unless you have experience dealing with a mix of different types of problems, and diagnosing which requires which type of approach."

8) There's no such thing as a "math person"

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

"There's some really interesting work by Carol Dweck , at Stanford. She's shown that students tend to have one of two mindsets about learning.

it turns out that mindsets predict how well students end up doing

"One is a fixed learning model. It says, 'I have a certain amount of talent for this topic — say, chemistry or physics — and I'll do well until I hit that limit. Past that, it's too hard for me, and I'm not going to do well.' The other mindset is a growth mindset. It says that learning involves using effective strategies, putting aside time to do the work, and engaging in the process, all of which help you gradually increase your capacity for a topic.

"It turns out that the mindsets predict how well students end up doing. Students with growth mindsets tend to stick with it, tend to persevere in the face of difficulty, and tend to be successful in challenging classes. Students with the fixed mindset tend not to.

"So for teachers, the lesson is that if you can talk to students and suggest that a growth mindset really is the more accurate model — and it is — then students tend to be more open to trying new strategies, and sticking with the course, and working in ways that are going to promote learning. Ability, intelligence, and learning have to do with how you approach it — working smarter, we like to say."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WATCH: '10 things they don't talk about at graduation'

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Study better: Space it out and mix it up

How to learn more without studying more..

Posted September 15, 2010

Education isn't all about classrooms. Homework plays a huge role in student learning. Given how much time we spend studying in a lifetime, and how hard it is to find time to study, techniques that make studying more efficient--that is, techniques that allow you to learn more in the same amount of time--can be incredibly valuable.

One of the most important study techniques that you don't know about is this: Space your studying.

What does that mean? If you are going to study something two times (or more), try to let as much time pass as possible between the first and second time you study.

For example, don't read your textbook chapter and then review it on the same day. Study it and then review it on a different day, and allow as much time to pass between the two study sessions as possible. Better yet, spread your studying across numerous days. You don't necessarily have to study more, you just have to distribute your study time differently. When you sit down to study, mix up your topics--instead of studying one topic per day, study every topic a little bit every day.

The science behind spacing

Research on the spacing effect began with the pioneering work of Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. Ben Carey recently wrote about the benefits of spacing in the New York Times . Here is more information on three studies that demonstrate the benefits of spacing out study trials and mixing up topics.

Flashcards . Study guides often recommend that student study vocabulary using small stacks of flashcards. But a recent study showed that it's much more effective to study a large stacks of flashcards every day. Why? Because the more cards you have in your stack, the more time passes before you go through the stack and return to a card you've studied before--that is, larger stacks create more spacing.

Math and Science . Math and science textbooks are usually organized one topic at a time. You do fractions, then you do decimals. Again, this may be the worst possible way of organizing learning. A study of geometry learning showed that people learn best when different topics are mixed together. Mixing problems means that you end up reviewing information you've studied before after a spaced interval. It also means that you can't necessarily solve the next problem the same way you solved the last one--you have to figure out how to approach each problem. The bottom line is that problems sets don't usually include a mix of topics, but they probably should.

Paintings . What about learning something more conceptual? In a study about art and cognition , participants were asked to learn the styles of various different painters. Participants studied 6 paintings per artist, and all of the paintings were different. The paintings were presented either one artist at a time or all mixed up, skipping back and forth between artists.

We thought presenting one artist at a time would highlight the crucial elements that defined an artist's style, even if not at a conscious level (e.g., artist A favors broad brush strokes, etc.) Thus, we predicted spacing would impair learning.

My research team had a combined 50 years experience studying the spacing effect. We should have known better, because our prediction couldn't have been more wrong. Spacing helped enormously.

You would think that there must be limitations to the value of spacing. If there are, they are hard to find.

Your intuition can deceive you, don't trust it

Spacing gives you time to forget. This forgetting is a good thing; forgetting is the friend of learning. But forgetting can make you feel like you are not learning. On the other hand, re-studying something right away makes it seem easy to remember. Unfortunately, this makes people feel that spacing hinders learning.

The participants in the flashcard experiment thought they learned most when they studied a small stack of flashcards all on one day. They were dead wrong, of course. The same thing happened in the painting study--most participants thought studying one artist at a time produced the most learning. Wrong again.

Your intuition will tell you that spacing is a terrible idea. And your intuition will be wrong. Don't trust it. Trust the scientific evidence.

What is the most popular study techniques on college campuses? Probably cramming before an exam.

Studying right before an exam is always a good idea. But cramming--that is, ONLY studying right before an exam--is never a good idea. Of course, cramming is probably the single most popular study technique in history.

Research has shown over and over that you'll quickly forget information that you cram, so it won't help you in the long term. And it won't help you nearly as much on the test as spaced studying would.

Bottom line: Space your studying and you'll not only do better on your test - you'll also remember the information you studied for a lot longer.

Follow me on Twitter @natekornell .

Nate Kornell , Ph.D. , is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Williams College.

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10 Tips To Stay Productive While Studying At Home

When you’re at school, it’s easier to remain focused and productive than it is when you’re at home. At home, you have to do your best to avoid the lure of your phone, the TV, your laptop, your bed, and so much more! At school, many of these distractions aren’t even present. So how can any student, even the most responsible ones, study efficiently when they’re not in the school environment?

There are a few simple things that students can do in their everyday life to make sure that they are productive while they’re working from home. If you want to be able to study hard during the day so you can have some carefree hours to yourself in the evening, check out these easy-to-implement study tips.

1. Create a Distraction-Free Study Space

The key to studying at home is to create a space within your home that has some of the benefits of a school or library, with as few of the distractions of the home as possible. In other words, you need a nook where you can work without a TV, bed, or other distracting objects near you.

Some students have achieved this by setting up their study space on a dining room table in their home. Others have set up a desk in the hallway so that they won’t be tempted to go to their room and sleep. Some may be able to use the common computer room or study space.

Of course, this study space doesn’t have to be barren and plain. You can have a bright and comfortable study space with color, light, and even fun things like stress balls and bean bag chairs for when you need a break. As long as this is a space where you can block out the rest of the world and spend a few hours focused on schoolwork, you can decorate and set it up however you want.

2. Follow a School-Like Schedule

The easiest way to mimic the focus and productivity that you have in school is by working on the same schedule you would when you’re in school. Similarly to how you spend consecutive periods in different subjects during the school day, you can set a schedule for yourself that has you spend a certain amount of consecutive hours studying each subject every day.

This routine may seem a bit odd at first since you won’t be moving around like you do when you switch classes at school. However, much like you get used to the school schedule in a few days after summer vacation, you’ll get used to the new schedule you set for yourself as well.

The great thing about setting your own schedule is that you can create a schedule that is optimal for your study habits. You can set as many breaks as you want for as long as you want. You can give yourself as much time as you need to study each course sufficiently. Unlike school, where every study follows the same schedule, you can optimize your study-at-home schedule to fit your study needs.

3. Dress The Part

Remember the feeling of comfort and laziness you feel when you’re in pajamas (some of you may be feeling it right now)? Now think about the feeling of purpose and determination you can feel once you’ve showered and gotten dressed for the day? They’re very different mindsets, and you can probably guess which one is best for studying from home.

Something as simple as getting ready in the morning as if you were going to school can really put your mind in a more determined, focused state. This can really help you get into that focused, productive mindset. In other words, if you dress the part of a focused student, you have a better chance of acting the part of a focused student.

So when you get up in the morning, if you know you have a long day of studying ahead of you, take a shower, brush your teeth, and put on clothes as if you were going to school. You’ll likely feel refreshed, clean, and ready to tackle the day’s work.

4. Avoid Your Bed At All Costs

Most students have fallen prey to this sneaky trap. We get tired in the middle of the day from being productive in the morning. We think we can take a small nap break. Next thing we know, we’ve slept most of the afternoon away and then wake up not wanting to do any more studying. It is so easy to do, and it can ruin what could have been a very effective study day.

So, as a general rule, when you’re trying to study, avoid your bed as much as you can. Try to study in a chair or at a desk, where you have to sit up and pay attention. If you let yourself lie down or try to study in bed, you are guaranteed to feel sleepier and not be as productive. If you don’t really have any other space to study, try to sit on your bed a different way, away from your pillows, so you’re less tempted to fall asleep.

5. Take Breaks

There is no sense in trying to study for 10-12 hours straight if your body and mind can’t handle that. After the first few hours, you are going to get tired, and your brain won’t be able to absorb and retain information as well as it could if you were rested. At this point, you can study all you want, but you will not be studying productively.

It’s okay to take periodic breaks during the day as often as you need to. Mind you, these won’t be long breaks. You don’t want to lose your motivation! But you can take 15 minutes here and there to clear your head, recharge, and be ready to tackle those books again at full force.

It’s important to note that the most effective breaks are those where you get away from your study space and take your mind off of the task at hand. You’re not really going to be resting your mind if you’re still at your desk and thinking about all the assignments you have to do. Instead, walk around the house, take a short walk, get something to eat, and just clear your mind as much as you can.

6. Form Virtual Study Groups

Who says that study groups need to be in person? In this day and age, with technologies like Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, or just a plain phone call, you can connect with your fellow classmates from the comfort of your home and help each other learn just as if you were together in class.

There are several benefits to virtual study groups. Some video conferencing platforms allow you to record your meetings, so you can look back on the study session you and your peers had if you ever forget what was said. You can also mute yourself whenever you need to so that you can multitask, if needed. Finally, the home environment seems far less lonely and maybe even more fun when you have students like you to talk to you and compare notes with.

If you think it’ll help your productivity, try to connect with some friends and form a virtual study group. Even if you don’t get as much out of it academically, it may be beneficial for your mental health while you’re studying at home.

7. Get Your Other Chores Out Of The Way

One of the most annoying things that can happen to a teenager is to be working in the zone, then to be distracted by their parents asking them to do the dishes, laundry, etc. Taking unplanned breaks during your study time to do something else can really mess up your concentration. It’s hard to get back in the zone once you’ve been pulled out of it.

So if you know that you also need to do some household chores in addition to your math homework, try to knock the chores out either before or after your study session. This way, you won’t be constantly worried about getting them done, and you’ll be less likely to be distracted while you’re trying to study.

8. Set Boundaries For Yourself

If you find that you’re going to be working from home for a few days or even a few weeks, you’re going to need to make sure that you’re setting boundaries for yourself that will allow you to keep your sanity while not leaving the house. For instance, if you let yourself study for 12 hours a day for days on end, odds are that you are quickly going to get really sick of studying at home.

Set time limits for yourself each day. Maybe you won’t start working until mid-morning so that you can go for a run and eat a healthy breakfast. Maybe you won’t work best at 6 PM since you want to spend that time with your family. If you set these boundaries for yourself, you will help keep your mental health in check. You may also find that placing time limits on your study time helps to motivate you to get more done during the hours that you are studying. Generally, the more time we give ourselves to do something, the more time we take.

You can also consider setting physical boundaries for yourself. Maybe while you’re studying, you make a deal with yourself to not go into your bedroom. This way, you won’t interact with as many things that can distract you. On the flip side, try to not dawdle in your workspace after you’re done studying for the day. And, if you need to take a break, go to another room; that way, you associate your study space with studying.

9. Exercise Regularly

It is well known that exercising can give your body the endorphins and serotonin that it needs to be relaxed, focused, and more productive during the day. The downside to studying at home is that you probably don’t have a gym inside your house where you can get in an intense hour-long workout. While you can’t necessarily do a full workout if you’re stuck at home, there are little exercises that you can do at home to help you be more productive.

If you have an empty and clean space in your home, you can do floor exercises like crunches, push-ups, and jumping jacks. There are tons of YouTube videos with quick workouts, and they don’t have to be boring; there are even dance workouts! If you are in a safe neighborhood, you can go on a quick walk or run before you start exercising to get your blood pumping. And, if all else fails, walking around your house counts as more exercise than you might think.

Overall, exercising and staying healthy will not only be good for you in the long run, but will also help your productivity in the short run.

10. Give Yourself Something To Look Forward To

At the end of the day, if you’re truly not feeling like you’re studying your best, try to set some goals for yourself and reward yourself for hitting those goals. For instance, you can set a goal to memorize 100 flashcards by the end of the day. If you do, you’ll reward yourself with an hour of watching your favorite show.

When you have to study from home for a while, it can be easy to fall into a rut. After all, you’re in the same place day after day, and your days aren’t that varied. So positive reinforcement mechanisms like this can really help to keep you going and give you a reason to keep studying.

As you’re studying from home, you may be thinking about how your college applications and which colleges you should apply to. To help you navigate these tough decisions, use CollegeVine’s admissions calculator . With this, you’ll find out your chances of getting into your dream school and how to improve the odds. The best part? It’s completely free! Sign up for your CollegeVine account to get started.

13 Reasons Why Homework Is Good For Students?

Nothing is more powerful for your future than collecting good ideas and information, and that’s called doing homework.

After spending hours in class, students hate the word homework since they want to avoid repeating the same thing at home. They procrastinate homework.

But students should realize that what is more important than earning good grades?

If you are also doing procrastinating on homework, then read our blog on how to stop procrastinating on homework .

The two most important reasons are the prize you get and the feeling of accomplishment.

Moreover, if a student realizes homework’s importance, it will truly benefit him and help increase his efficiency.

Why Homework Is Good: Statistics

A study conducted by Duke University on 60 students found that students who finish their homework daily are likely to score higher marks on tests and earn good grades than those who do not.

Many educational experts agree that if homework is given to students at proper lengths according to their grades, it is very beneficial.

Why Do Teachers Set Homework

Table of Contents

Every teacher wants his student to succeed, and his best interest is the benefit of the student. However, students must understand that it requires a teacher many hours to make and check their homework.

Homework demonstrates the student’s understanding of the topic and skill.

Also, it is given as homework when a student fails to complete classwork, maybe due to distractions or absence.

In this blog, we will discuss Why Homework Is Good.

Also, read – How To Get Homework Done Faster

Why homework is good for students

Here are 13 reasons on Why Homework Is Good:

Improves Concentration

While doing homework, students continuously study for hours which helps them to increase their overall focus, and this helps improve their concentration skills.

Develop Time Management Skills

The students who do homework understand how to manage time. They can focus for a longer time without any distractions. This benefits them in developing time management skills and makes them organized. This quality is fruitful in overall life also.

Encourage Discipline

Doing the same task can sometimes be challenging, but it strengthens your discipline practice. To develop and master a skill, you must repeat the same thing daily, making you more proficient. When a student finishes his homework daily, repeating the same routine makes him disciplined and gives him a feeling of accomplishment.

Helps to build a communication bridge

It helps in building relationships between the student, teacher, and parents. Everyone gets to know each other and helps identify if a student is facing any difficulty. Parents also become aware of which field their kid is excelling in or where he needs improvement.

Boosts memory power

Doing homework helps you remember what you learned in school. When students revise their classwork, it helps them understand and remember better. If you do this repetitively, this will improve your long-term memory. So they will understand why homework is good.

Develop study skills

Homework helps develop several study skills that help in academics and professional life. It helps build self-motivation and independent learning.

Strengths Problem-Solving skills

Homework makes the students solve their problems by themselves whenever they face difficulty. They also learn to manage time, work on themselves and find ways to solve problems while doing homework.

Create Better Future

When a student finishes his homework, he learns many things, ultimately benefiting in achieving good grades. As a result, scoring good marks in your academics will help you get high-paying salaries and create a better future.

Better exam preparation

Studying for exams can sometimes be stressful and cause worry for students. However, if they complete their homework daily, it will help them memorize the subject. This will boost their confidence, and just by revision, they will be able to score good marks.

Develop Analytical Skills

A student needs to analyze homework before doing it, which ultimately helps develop analytical skills. This skill will benefit you in later life while applying for a job or in general.

It also helps in solving complex problems.

Reduces Stress Levels

When students do a lot of assignments at a time, it can be stressful. However, if they finish them on time, it will reduce their stress and boost their confidence.

Promotes Classroom Teaching

Homework is a way to revise what you learned in class and try new things yourself. It helps review previous class topics and use that knowledge to learn new issues and real-life scenarios.

Allows Parents To Spend More Time With Their Kids

By helping their kids with homework assignments, the parent can improve their bonding with them. It allows parents to spend quality time with their kids and make good memories.

Alternative Ways For Homework

Some experts believe that homework can sometimes be repetitive, so they should also be given other tasks to enhance their creativity. Several alternative ways for homework are as follows :

Small Projects

According to research, projects enhance student creativity and build confidence. It is a fun way to acquire knowledge and also provides motivation.

Visit a Zoo

Ask your students to visit a zoo with their families. Let them enjoy and figure out the animals and their language by themselves. This will give them real-life experience with animals.

Read what you like

Students should be assigned 20 minutes of reading their favorite book. To keep a check on them, you ask them to write a paragraph about what they read the last day.

Built a Treehouse

Students can go to forests or farms to build their own tree houses. It is a fun and engaging activity that will develop teamwork, smart work, and analytical skills .

BookWidget Games

Assign fun, educational games to students like BookWidgets. While playing this game, students get to learn also. A teacher can also include lesson content in puzzles or pair-matching exercises.

Is Online Homework Good or not

During the pandemic, the whole world was suffering from their lifestyle. Almost all schools and colleges started teaching online. Homework was also given online, and its quality went down drastically because there were many distractions for students to concentrate.

Now that things have started returning to normal, schools and institutions have opened, so the quality of homework has improved comparatively, and students realize why homework is good.

Conclusion

Homework benefits students in several ways. If they finish all their homework on time, it will help them perform well in academics. It also helps them prepare in advance for exams and removes stress. Overall we have discussed why homework is important and its many advantages.

Ways To Take Boredom Out Of Homework

Learning is often enjoyable, and homework is needed to revise what you are taught. There are several ways that you can follow to enjoy doing homework. 1. Make a plan 2. Start small 3. Stay away from social media 4. Sit in a quieter place 5. Work with friends to stay motivated

How To Do Homework Fast

1. Keep track of your time 2. Always study on the table 3. Take small breaks 4. Start right away 5. Ask for help when you need it

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It’s Oh So Quiet (?): The Sophos Active Adversary Report for 1H 2024

The first Sophos Active Adversary Report of 2024 presents what the Sophos X-Ops Incident Response (IR) team has learned about the current adversary landscape from tackling security crises around the world. Our report is based on data from over 150 cases drawn from the 2023 workload of the IR team. We provide more detail on the demographics represented in this analysis at the end of the report.

A button that says: Rather read this edition of te Active Adversary Report in PDF format? Click here to reach a (non-gated) PDF version of this page.

As has been standard for Sophos’ Active Adversary reports, this edition incorporates data from previous years of IR casework, stretching back to the launch of our IR service in 2020. While this report will primarily focus on the analysis of cases investigated by the IR team during 2023, we will also take a longer view of the data, where applicable, to understand any meaningful changes and trends — and, sometimes, the lack thereof.

A second report, to be issued in late summer, will incorporate data from the first half of 2024 – in other words, the cases we are working on right now, and cases that have yet to occur. The eternal battle between attackers and defenders has cycles, inflection points, and currents all its own. Keeping a close eye on those rhythms even when things seem to be oh-so-quiet is key for defenders looking to understand and react.

Key takeaways

Ransomware levels have reached homeostasis
Timelines have stabilized
Tooling is stagnant
Zero days are not the real problem
And still, defenses aren’t keeping up

Where the data comes from

For this report, the data for which as always is drawn from the cases tackled by our external-facing Incident Response team, 88% of the dataset was derived from organizations with fewer than 1000 employees. As in previous years, over half (55%) of organizations requiring our assistance have 250 employees or fewer. Twelve percent of the organizations with which IR worked in 2023 were companies with over 1000 employees, down from 19% in 2022. (For a glimpse of data drawn from the combined forces of our IR and MDR teams, but focused on the cohort of customers with 500 employees or fewer, please see our sister publication, the 2024 Sophos Threat Report .)

And what do these organizations do? For a fourth consecutive year, the manufacturing sector (25%) was the most likely to request Sophos IR services, followed by information technology (10%), retail (9%), and services (9%). In total, 26 different sectors are represented in this dataset. Further information on the data and methodology used to select cases for this report can be found in the Appendix.

Editor’s note: Since initial publication, a sentence in the section “Stats #2: To AD or not to AD: Active Directory takes the stage” has been fixed to reflect that mainstream support for Windows Server 2019 ended in January 2024.

Summary of findings

As has become the norm for most incident response-focused reports throughout the industry, ransomware maintained its dominance as the top attack type in 2023, with 70% of investigations resulting from a ransomware attack. While there was some fluctuation on a quarterly basis, ranging from 62% to 80%, we believe that this yearly average is well within the margins of what is likely ransomware’s background rate.

Attack Types

Figure 1: As in previous years, our Incident Response team conducted more investigations of ransomware cases than of any other type of attack in 2023. However, our data indicates a large number of assessments outside the dataset that conform to Sophos’ definition of business email compromise. Since just one of these assessments resulted in a full investigation, they are lightly represented in the report dataset, but the authors of this report may choose to publish findings concerning those assessments at a later date

Network breach, the perennial bridesmaid, retained its spot with a 19% occurrence rate in 2023. While we can’t be certain in all cases, there is mounting evidence that many network breaches are indeed unsuccessful ransomware attacks. For example, we positively identified five network breaches (17%) that were the work of known ransomware brands . An interesting statistic emerged when comparing network breaches to ransomware attacks by quarter: During the quarters where ransomware was at its lowest prevalence – 67% in Q2 and 62% in Q3 – network breaches were considerably above the yearly average, 21% in Q2 and 28% in Q3.

A line chart with six lines showing trends in ransomware and network breaches by month 2021-23

Figure 2: During 2021 and 2022, cycles in the number of ransomware cases and network breaches seemed to have mild congruence – when ransomware was up, breaches were generally up. In mid-2023, however, ransomware dropped just as breaches spiked – not as striking as the full-on reversal of “fortunes” in November 2021, but perhaps more significant

What can be deduced about this from the data itself? Hard to say with even medium confidence, but it’s possible that the set of victims during these two quarters were better prepared to detect ransomware operators and evict them before the real damage was done, or the attackers were distracted during the nicest time of the year in Sochi .

The attack types that have seen the most change in our dataset are data extortion and data exfiltration. We define data extortion as data was stolen and a payment was demanded to suppress and/or delete it . Data exfiltration omits the payment portion; the data was stolen and either exposed to the public or not. Our year-end tally saw data extortion attacks double over the previous year, with data exfiltration attacks halving. Most of the data extortion attacks we investigated were perpetrated in the first half of the year by BianLian, which switched to extortion-only attacks in January 2023.

The remaining attack types for 2023 are business email compromise, web shell, loader, and DDoS. Each accounted for less than 1% of investigated cases.

Figure 3: Known impacts of the 2023 cases; since one case may ultimately result in multiple impacts, the total is greater than our case count of 154

The outcome of attacks is the tactic (category) that the MITRE ATT&CK framework calls Impact ( TA0040 ). It should come as no surprise that the Data Encrypted for Impact ( T1486 ) technique is leading the pack: When ransomware is the number-one attack type, this will be the number-one impact. As an adjunct to encryption, many attackers perform other tasks or deploy additional payloads that can be labelled. For example, an often-observed epiphenomenon is the pairing of Inhibit System Recovery ( T1490 ) with Data Encrypted for Impact.

The next most prevalent impact was what we call “no impact.” This is tightly coupled with network breaches. There is no doubt in our minds, and we hope most will agree, that an attacker having privileged access to your network constitutes some sort of impact. And, while MITRE’s techniques cover a lot of ground, there is no discrete technique that adequately describes this phenomenon.

Notably, MITRE released an update to its framework in October 2023. One of the changes was to add the Financial Theft ( T1657 ) technique to the Impact tactic. A stated reason for these changes was for “encompassing more activities that are adjacent to, yet lead to direct network interactions or impacts.” This is a welcome addition as it allows us to properly label the outcomes of data extortion and exfiltration attacks, where previously there was none.

Which segues nicely to the next most prevalent impact: Financial Theft. The increase in this type of data extortion led to a commensurate doubling in this technique, which overtook Resource Hijacking in the 2023 ranking, while Resource Hijacking has dropped to one-third of its 2022 rate. This technique is sometimes the result of attackers using compromised systems for spam campaigns, as is the case in many SquirrelWaffle infections, but most often the technique denotes a coin miner being present on the network. (It is unclear why coin miners are in decline, other than the fact that they aren’t terribly lucrative.)

With the exception of one Network Denial of Service attack against an entity in the Education sector, the remaining techniques in our dataset were secondary impacts paired with ransomware attacks.

Attribution

Figure 4: Family distribution of ransomware cases evaluated in 2023. For the entry marked with an asterisk, the attacker installed Windows BitLocker services to both encrypt files and remove volume shadow copies. For the entries marked with two asterisks, there’s a possibility these are the same thing, as discussed below

Few threat landscape analyses are complete without an attribution discussion. While we won’t pontificate at length over who was behind many of these attacks, we can present the facts as we saw them. Naturally, the most reliable attributions come from ransomware attacks. This is because the attackers tell you which brand of ransomware was deployed on your network through file extensions (often), ransom notes (always), and data leak portals (sometimes). Like so many telemarketers, most ransomware brands exist as ransomware-as-a-service offerings, which allows criminals to represent more than one outlet.

LockBit maintains the top spot for most prolific ransomware brand of the year for the second year running, finally displacing Conti in our all-time ranking. More than one-fifth of ransomware attacks we investigated in 2023 deployed LockBit.

Four funnel charts showing the relative prevalence of various ransomware families 2020-23; in 2021 and 2023 Conti and LockBit, respectively, were especially dominant

Figure 5: LockBit dominated the 2023 standings more strongly than any single ransomware family has since the heyday of Conti, in 2021; then as now, the second-place family represented a mere half of the leader’s total

One notable entrant in the ransomware landscape was Akira. First launched in March 2023, this up-and-coming brand placed second in our ranking, displacing other notable brands like ALPHV/BlackCat, Royal ( likely rebranded in 2023 as BlackSuit), and Black Basta. (Were we to combine Royal and BlackSuit on our chart, it would be in fourth place in the ranking.) But this level of breakaway success doesn’t necessarily mean infallibility. One of the cases we investigated as a network breach was found to be a failed Akira attack, as were cases involving ALPHV, Black Basta, Everest, and Vice Society. Had these attacks succeeded, they would have increased the ransomware share to 73%, with a proportional drop in the network breach percentage.

The top five ransomware brands were responsible for over half (55%) of all ransomware attacks, which is not surprising considering the pedigrees of some of these brands. Akira and Royal have both been linked to the Ryuk branch of ransomware families, which as many will know begat the Conti ransomware group and its many descendants. If we expand to the top 10, we find two more of Conti’s alleged progeny, Black Basta (#6) and BlackByte (#8). Of the data extortion groups, we also find that Karakurt has potential links to this prodigious branch. Even LockBit is related in a sense, because that group has been observed using some of Conti’s code after the leaks in 2022.

An except of orange Cyber Defense's ransomware ecosystem map, showing the evolution of Conti and other families; full map available at the URL in the text

Figure 6: Fruits of a poisoned tree: Most modern ransomware families are related to a few “founding” entities, starting with 2016’s CryptoTech; the uncertainty re the likely renaming of Royal to BlackSuit is reflected at lower right. Source: https://github.com/cert-orangecyberdefense/ransomware_map/blob/main/OCD_WorldWatch_Ransomware-ecosystem-map.pdf , of which this diagram is just a small portion

A flow chart showing the evolution of ransomware families related to Conti

Figure 7: A closer look from 2022 at the (somewhat inbred) Conti family. Source: https://twitter.com/VK_Intel/status/1557003350541242369/photo/1

It’s tempting to think that there’s something special about these groups, but there isn’t. Modern ransomware turned 10 years old in mid-September 2023. The reality is that many of the individuals behind these groups have been active for a while and have had plenty of time and opportunity to hone their skills. For various reasons, ransomware groups come and go, but we’ve also observed a few, namely Cuba, LockBit, Phobos, and Snatch, that have been part of our investigations since the first Active Adversary report.

Figure 8: BianLian dominated the data-extortion cases we saw; though Cl0p made plenty of headlines, its actual impact on our IR customers was vanishingly small

Of the data extortion group, BianLian led the way, followed by Cl0p, Hunters International, and Karakurt. The Hunters International attack was a failed ransomware attack, but having stolen data, they resorted to data extortion by demanding payment to suppress publication of the stolen data.

Don’t call it a comeback — I been here for years

Knowing who attacked you might offer some emotional rescue, but it really doesn’t matter — except in one scenario. If you intend to pay, it’s absolutely necessary to confer with legal counsel beforehand, in case the ransomware group in question has been designated as a sanctioned entity by your government.

In any case, many ransomware attacks, regardless of the branding on the ransom note, are perpetrated by the same individuals or groups of individuals, and they largely use the same tooling and infrastructure. What matters most in the incident-response context is how the attackers breached the organization and why they succeeded. This allows for full remediation and recovery.

Down in the Hole: Initial Access and Root Causes

Figure 9: Initial access methods, when discernible in the course of investigation, exhibited a bit of diversity in 2023. As one would expect, some cases reveal multiple plausible initial-access scenarios. Most significantly, of the 78 Valid Accounts cases we saw, in only one was Valid Accounts the primary method; in the other 77, it was a contributing factor in cases involving Remote Services

Figure 10: As for root causes, compromised credentials top the full-year charts for the first time ever in 2023

The MITRE tactic and the associated techniques that describe how an attacker managed to infiltrate the target are grouped under Initial Access ( TA0001 ), whereas Root Causes, which do not have formal ATT&CK designations, describe why that technique worked. For example, if the attackers infiltrated the network through an external remote service, such as a VPN, that would be how they got in. But the root cause — why that technique worked — was likely due to compromised (stolen) credentials (in MITRE ATT&CK terminology, Valid Accounts). We would argue that in this example, both External Remote Services and Valid Accounts provided initial access, with compromised credentials acting as a root cause. While the two often line up, we still like to separate them so we can better understand how the attack succeeded, which informs remediation and defense.

As has been the case for every Active Adversary report so far , External Remote Services ( T1133 ) was the leading initial access method. In 65% of cases, some sort of remote access technology facilitated the intrusion; be that a VPN device or an exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service, the attackers had a target of opportunity. All that remained was figuring out how to take advantage of this opportunity.

One way to exercise that opportunity is by using Valid Accounts ( T1078 ). Over three-quarters (77%) of attacks saw compromised credentials as an initial access method and over half (56%) as a root cause. In most cases, we don’t know how the accounts were compromised, but we do know that the attackers walked through the front door using a valid username and password.

It turns out that most cases in 2023 saw that pairing of initial access and compromised credentials. We noted in our previous report that compromised credentials had rocketed to the top of the Root Cause charts in the first half of 2023. Now that we have a complete dataset for 2023, we see that the trend holds, nearly doubling last year’s total.

A set of four bar charts showing root causes for attacks 2021-23 and all-time

Figure 11: The astonishing rise of compromised credentials as a root cause of attacks vaulted the (largely avoidable) problem to the top of the all-time charts as well as 2023’s

What makes this worse is the woeful state of credential hardening. In 43% of investigations, multi-factor authentication (MFA) was not configured. (As a reminder, MFA is technology that’s nearly three decades old at this point; one of the founding patents literally gives an implementation example involving two-way pagers.)

The remaining root causes for attacks involving remote services were brute force attacks (6%), unknown (3%), phishing (3%), and exploits (2%).

Considering compromised credentials’ ascendency, plain old vulnerability exploitation has therefore slipped to second place. As we have written previously, this isn’t irrefutable evidence that attackers have gone off using vulnerabilities. Maybe there weren’t as many easily exploitable vulnerabilities as there were in previous years. Or maybe initial access brokers had a lot of inventory on their hands that they wanted to get rid of cheaply. Whatever the case, attackers will choose the path of least resistance, and for 2023, that meant using compromised credentials.

Beyond the top “three” (since it’s debatable how useful “unknown” as a category is to investigators, even when the contributors to the category are known), the remaining identified root causes – brute force attack, phishing, supply chain compromise, maldocs, adware, and authentication token theft – accounted for a combined 14% of findings. The Unknown category is the third most common “reason” for both initial access and root cause, and the biggest contributor in both cases was missing telemetry. Whether the logs were cleared by the attackers or worse, not configured, our investigators were unable to determine key aspects of the attack. Frankly, in 2023 compromised credentials and exploited vulnerabilities were the ball game.

Hey baby – it’s the stats, man!

With the adversary landscape in a relatively calm period at this writing, let’s take a moment to think about, as the Active Adversary report team often says, how we know what we know. To be sure we’re getting the maximum good out of all the data we offer in these reports, let’s talk about statistics and what they can show – or hide. We’ll first examine the remarkable drop in dwell times that we covered throughout 2023 to see what else we might learn from one more look at those numbers. Next, we’ll look at time-to-Active Directory, a statistic we started monitoring only last year, to see how analysis helps us see that picture as it develops. After that, we’ll examine a topic where lack of crucial data leaves researchers in an awkward position, and close this section with a look at a statistic that fell unexpectedly out of the dataset in the middle of last year and still has us asking questions.

Stats #1: Attack timelines: Time is on your side (until it’s not)

A sidebar that says: A quick note on how we define “attack detected”: For ransomware cases, this is simply the detonation time of the ransomware binary. For the rest, it is a mix of detonation, execution, alerting, and victim statements.

In the next report (based on 2021 data), we saw dwell time rise and attributed this to the emergence of Initial Access Brokers (IABs), which provided a buffer between the earliest compromise and the eventual attack.

Then the decline started — by a bit in 2022, then by a lot in 2023. The first quarter of 2023 (which included data through the end of 2022) was business as usual, with dwell time equaling that of the previous year. By the time we released our final report in 2023 (which included Q1-Q3 data), dwell time had halved. By the time we wrapped up the year things had stabilized. As is often the case, understanding the details is important.

Figure 12: The dwell-time numbers wobbled a bit throughout 2023, but still landed firmly below the previous median dwell time of 10 days

One reason we choose to look at dwell time (and many other measures) using its median value is to reduce the impact of outliers. For example, in 2022 we had a case with a legitimate dwell time of 955 days. If we compare this dataset with one that omits that case, the mean reduces by a little over 6 days, but the median is unaffected.

What a Difference a Case Makes

Figure 13: A single extraordinary outlier in the dataset can cause outsized distortion in the numbers, which is why we like to look at median values

Another value that we track, but don’t usually draw much attention to, is the standard deviation of a dataset. Put simply, the standard deviation measures the spread or variability of data from its mean. Using the dataset in Figure 13 as an example, we also experience a dramatic lowering of the standard deviation in dwell time, from 95.32 days to 58.11 days, when we omit the outlier. In other words, the set of values that make up the data are closer to the mean.

The problem with some outliers is that they can obscure patterns in the data. With this in mind, we examined the dwell time data for the past three years, while controlling for the outlier in 2022 as shown above:

Figure 14: Having eliminated the effect of the outlier from the 2022 data, the year-to-year trend of decreasing dwell times becomes clear

We posited in a previous report that shrinking dwell times were likely due to several factors, including increased detection capabilities, and that attackers have likely sped up in response.

In addition to shrinking median dwell time, we also observed, as we see in Figure 14, the remaining values declining despite similarly sized populations. Things get even more interesting when we separate ransomware from all other attack types:

Figure 15: Again with the 2022 outlier dismissed from the data, we see that the decrease in dwell times applies to both ransomware infections and (to a lesser extent) all other attack types

It makes intuitive sense that ransomware attackers would spend less time than other types of attackers inside networks. Today it seems some of these attackers rely less on individual payouts and more on volume. (This is apparently working out for them; according to statistics published earlier this year by Chainalysis, payouts for 2023 likely surpassed $1 billion USD.) The attacks themselves can be noisy, especially when payloads are introduced into the network. In contrast, web shell implants and coin miners are meant to be stealthy and persistent.

Measuring dwell time and commenting on its meaning has been a fixture of this report since its inception. We’ve included it here for completeness, but like many aspects of the threat landscape and attacker behavior, we think dwell time has reached stasis. It is unlikely that these dwell time values will change dramatically in the short term. Like ransomware prevalence, there might be some variability from year to year, but the overall trend will remain stable, and it will of course never reach zero.

Dwell time is a lagging indicator. It can only be calculated after the intruders have been discovered. One way to shrink dwell time is to detect intrusions sooner, and there are other time-based indicators that can help defenders spot suspicious activity in the network – if, of course, you’re watching for that sort of thing.

Stats #2: To AD or not to AD: Active Directory takes the stage

A side that says: That's not what "before the attack" means here. When investigators define an attack's timeline, they attempt to identify the start of the attack using available evidence. In some cases, the evidence has indicators of compromise (IOCs0 that pre-date the agreed-upon start time of the attack in question. This is usually indicative of initial access broker (IAB) activity.

Where available, we also recorded the operating system version of affected AD servers. This can be significant since Microsoft steadily improves the baseline security of AD over subsequent releases. We found that 90% of AD servers were running Windows Server 2019 – which exited mainstream support in January 2024 – or earlier versions. (The case dataset included three deployments of Windows Server 2008.) We further noted that 79% of AD servers were protected only with Windows Defender, and at least two servers had no protection whatsoever.

Sometimes, as all researchers will tell you, what looks interesting in a smaller dataset gets overturned by examining a larger one. Since no good deed goes unpunished, we went back to collect the time-to-AD data from the 152 cases investigated in 2022 so we could understand the bigger picture and compare the values. As it was for dwell time, the 2022 median time-to-AD was 1.34 days — more than double the median for 2023. The earliest time-to-AD was -208.29 days (yes, a negative number; in that case, the customer experienced an AD compromise that long predated other artifacts related to their network breach) and the longest was 140.64 days. In 2022, 98% of AD installations were Windows Server 2019 or earlier, and 69% were protected with Windows Defender.

Armed with the knowledge that some attackers are making a mad dash for Active Directory servers, we must be prepared to detect them post-haste. Part of that preparation includes having the right solutions in place to detect suspicious activity, the people available to investigate suspicious signals, and the necessary telemetry to determine what happened.

Moving past the necessary grind of statistics, we turn our attention now to…

Stats #3: Exfiltration (you don’t know what it’s got ‘til it’s gone)

Data theft is another opportunity for detecting an intruder. When faced with data exfiltration or data extortion, time has already run out. However, when facing a ransomware attack, there is still an opportunity to detect the intruders and evict them from the network before they proceed to the final act.

All-cause data exfiltration occurred at roughly the same rate in 2023 as it did in 2022. We could confirm exfiltration in 40% of cases; a further 14% had indications of possible exfiltration or of data staging (an activity one would expect to see in the course of an exfiltration attempt). The previous year saw 43% confirmed exfiltrations with an additional 9% determined as possible data theft.

Another area where missing logs hampers investigations is in determining whether exfiltration has occurred. In 42% of cases, incident responders were unable to determine from the available evidence whether any exfiltration had occurred. This was largely due to there being no evidence available for responders to confirm or deny whether exfiltration happened. Breaking it down further, of the 55 cases lacking sufficient evidence, 29 cases (53%) were missing logs and an additional 6 cases (11%) had logs erased by the attackers.

For ransomware attacks we could confirm data exfiltration in 44% of cases, with an additional 18% showing possible data exfiltration or data staging. Unfortunately, we were unable to determine if data was stolen in 30% of cases. Of those cases, 69% were hampered by missing logs, with 56% due to missing logs and 13% due to cleared logs.

Alarmingly, 72% of network breach investigations found no evidence of data exfiltration. More than half of the missing evidence was due to missing (43%) or deleted (14%) logs.

There is an inverse relationship between time-to-AD and data theft. Where attackers rush to get access to AD, the data exfiltration component of a ransomware attack appears to come at the end of the campaign. For example, in the 2023 data, the median time between the start of the attack and the deployment of a ransomware payload in a confirmed exfiltration was 3.76 days. In contrast, the time between exfiltration and deployment was 0.6 days.

As with time-to-AD, this metric is only useful if an organization has the necessary elements in place to detect and respond to a data exfiltration event. If exfiltration is the ultimate goal of the attackers, the organization can quickly determine their exposure and begin the process of notifying regulators and other stakeholders. As governments around the world increase their rules and regulations concerning data breaches, victim organizations will need to respond in kind. If the exfiltration event is a precursor to a ransomware attack, detecting a data exfiltration event could mean the difference between a bad day at the office and a very bad day in the news.

Stats #4: Ransomware’s night moves

One of the most surprising results from our data analysis for the mid-year report in 2023 was a strong pattern in the local time of day when ransomware was deployed. For that report, the dataset included all cases from the first half of 2023. Analysis showed that 91% of ransomware payloads were deployed outside of traditional business hours. As we did for time-to-AD, we eagerly awaited the full-year data to see if the results would be upheld by a bigger dataset, since (as noted above) larger datasets often expose biases in data and effects can get watered down. While we waited, we re-examined the data and corrected for countries where business days are not traditionally Monday to Friday. (The original analysis assumed the “workweek” to be five standard working days of 8am to 6pm, Monday through Friday; the “weekend” was held to be the period between 6pm on Friday and 12am on Monday.)

While there was a small correction applied by doubling the dataset, we found that 90% of ransomware deployments were deployed outside of business hours in 2023. A total of 11 attacks were launched during local business hours in the workweek.

Since we were already re-analyzing cases for time-to-AD, we also attempted to capture the ransomware deployment time for 2022. What we found was that 94% of ransomware deployments occurred outside of business hours. Only six cases fell within office time.

While we won’t consider these results definitive – we don’t have visibility into every ransomware attack – we can pronounce with high confidence that ransomware deployments are most prevalent outside of traditional business hours. When looking at both 2022 and 2023, 92% of ransomware attacks support this finding.

One thing we can conclude by analyzing attacker timelines is that time can be on our side during an attack. Despite shrinking dwell times, defenders still have a median 6 days to detect an intruder. However, these times change dramatically when a motivated actor strikes. In the case of ransomware in 2023, the median time shrinks to 5 days, versus 10 days for all other attack types.

In addition, there are signs along the way that can alert defenders to a potential danger lurking in the network. Immediately detecting an intruder on an Active Directory server can mean stopping an attack in less than 24 hours. Spotting a data exfiltration event can prevent an even more devastating outcome.

We know that through years of practice many ransomware criminals have honed their skills. But this is not a one-way battle. Defenders can also sharpen their skills by practicing response playbooks – and, as this section has shown, by the true understanding of what the statistics are saying.

Same as it ever was: Artifacts, LOLBins, and other findings

Turning our attention from the statistics to the usual examination of tools and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), analyzing this year’s crop evokes strong feelings of déjà vu. We observed the same items in each top five, albeit in slightly different orders, year-on-year. It’s not until we look past the top ten that we start seeing variability. Nowhere is this stasis more apparent than in the tools used and abused by attackers in the past three years. In both the detected tools and Microsoft binaries, the top ten are nearly identical. It’s almost as if the attackers aren’t being challenged and can simply re-use the same tools and TTPs ad infinitum.

Figure 16: SoftPerfect Network Scanner leads the list of artifacts spotted in 2023 IR cases, displacing Cobalt Strike from the perch it has held since the start of the Active Adversary Report series; however, Cobalt Strike still leads the all-time occurrence list

Despite the top tools being similar year-on-year, there is one trend that might signal a change in attacker behavior. Cobalt Strike, the longstanding leader, has seen its share decline steadily in the past three years. While it still maintains the top spot in the all-time rankings by absolute count, the percentage of attacks using a Cobalt Strike payload has declined significantly; in the period from 2021 to 2023, the share of Cobalt Strike has gone from 48% to 27%. A potential reason for this is that Cobalt Strike has been so heavily abused that we have become very adept at detecting and blocking it.

The overall leader this year was SoftPerfect’s Network Scanner, which is routinely abused by attackers to map out networks and discover potential targets. We’ve seen abuse of this software for many years and its utility hasn’t gone unnoticed by the attackers. Another frequently abused, albeit legitimate, application is AnyDesk, the popular tool for administrators to manage their endpoints.

One interesting element of the top 10 is that 50% of the tools facilitate data exfiltration. Both 7zip and WinRAR (again, tools with legitimate uses, but abused by attackers) are routinely used to create archives that enable and potentially obfuscate data theft, while the others enable the collection and transfer of said archives. Unfortunately, many organizations still don’t have a firm enough grasp on what normal looks like, so they miss large transfers of data leaving their network. (As an example, the MEGA cloud storage service is all too often abused by data exfiltrators; if you have traffic either coming from or going to MEGA and you have no pre-existing business relationship with the company, that’s worth investigating .)

An interesting side note is the incidence of the tool Impacket in our dataset. As described by the maintainer of the project: “Impacket is a collection of Python classes for working with network protocols.” As this is a collection of tools, we record their individual use (e.g. Impacket/atexec, Impacket/secretsdump, Impacket/smbproxy, etc.) to better understand how each is used in an attack. However, if we roll all the individual tools into one “Impacket” data point, a significant result emerges. All uses of Impacket in 2023, counted together, would rank sixth in the artifacts list.

With few exceptions, most of the tools in this category are prime candidates for monitoring and blocking.

Figure 17: RDP continues to rule the MS-LOLBin roost, with PowerShell the constant runner-up

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is once again the most abused of all the Microsoft LOLBins (living-off-the-land binaries). We won’t spend much time discussing RDP in this report – instead, please see our special supplemental coverage , which goes into both statistics and recommendations for dealing with the protocol — but we do think it’s on track for a lifetime achievement award. RDP abuse has reached new heights, with 90% of attacks using it for internal lateral movement and 20% for external remote access. As for the 18% of organizations who still have RDP exposed to the internet, you should ask yourself, “My God, what have I done?” (To find out how that has worked out for one Sophos customer, keep reading; this report’s Case Study section is just ahead.) At publication time, there were approximately 4 million exposed RDP systems on the internet.

Figure 18: In 2023, nine out of ten attacks handled by our IR team included evidence of RDP abuse

Setting RDP aside, PowerShell continues to power many attacks due to its ubiquity, privilege, flexibility, and usefulness. It is difficult to argue for its removal from networks; therefore, the only option is to strictly monitor and control it. Strategies for using PowerShell safely and securely include (but are not limited to): logging all PowerShell activity, applying the principle of least privilege to which accounts can run scripts, running the latest version, and enabling constrained language mode.

The rest of the binaries in this list are used for various purposes, including execution, persistence, defense evasion, discovery, and lateral movement. Having visibility into all your devices and the capacity to act when necessary is a requirement for today’s defenders.

Figure 19: A traditionally more volatile category than either Artifacts or LOLBins, the catchall Other category has been led for two years now by Valid Accounts; it was preceded in 2020 and 2021 by Malicious Scripts

The techniques and other indicators that we observed this past year are also very much standard operating procedure for many attacks. This section of our findings data is usually where we see the most variability. For example, we use this category to track specific exploits that are being used in the wild, and those often change from year to year, but those mostly make up the long (>200) tail of this dataset. Front and center are techniques and observations that contribute to the fog of war that surrounds many investigations.

A few words about missing and cleared logs, a topic we’ll tackle more fully in a later Active Adversary publication: Attackers have become adept at disabling protection and clearing their tracks. This concerted effort to blind defenders is usually in the service of remaining undetected. However, there are unintended consequences to disabling protection that can be to a defender’s advantage. A telemetry signal going dark should be a beacon that something is happening in the environment which requires immediate attention.

Never mind attackers trying to blind us; in many cases we’re blinding ourselves.

In 2023 we started capturing the incidence of missing telemetry, since the data showed that this was the case in 54% of attacks we investigated. What was most surprising was how prevalent this new metric turned out to be: In its first year of AAR scrutiny, it cracked the top 10 in our all-time ranking. While there were several reasons why the logs were unavailable, in most cases it was because organizations hadn’t taken the necessary steps to ensure they would be there when it mattered most.

And, as if the overwhelming amount of credential compromise wasn’t enough, 43% of organizations had neglected to enable MFA on their external services. There is no other way to put this: When a solution exists that can stop an attacker in their tracks, and it is not implemented, it is willful negligence. In the final section of our report, we’ll look at how that worked out for a specific MDR customer.

Case study: You got another thing comin’ (and another and another and)

Over and over in the Active Adversary report series, we’ve repeated three fundamental security principles – basic hygiene for defenders. Here they are again in large-print haiku form:

Close exposed RDP ports,

Use mfa, and, patch vulnerable servers..

Why do we keep hammering away at this? Because these three security tenets still aren’t universally adopted, and we see the results. One particular MDR customer last year learned this the hard way, falling victim to compromise four times within a six-month period. With business requirements preventing the customer from addressing the root cause, the attacker gained initial access through the same vector each time – brute force attacks against exposed RDP ports. We’ve changed some of the details to protect the customer’s identity, but we offer a year in the life of their story to encourage our readers to avoid this fate by prioritizing basic security hygiene.

December 2022 (prologue): Initial access occurred via successful brute force attacks against multiple exposed RDP ports. The attacker leveraged multiple PowerSploit modules and Rubeus tooling to compromise authentication, before dropping a number of malicious binaries and downloading an EDR-killer tool. Sophos MDR’s response actions quickly contained the threat. However, the customer declined the MDR recommendation to restrict access to exposed RDP ports, citing business needs.

Recommendations: After this case, MDR recommended the customer close various RDP ports exposed to the internet; the customer declined, citing business needs. (A recommendation for domain-wide credential reset was not addressed; a patching recommendation was likewise unaddressed.)

Summer 2023: Initial access was again achieved through successful brute force attacks against exposed RDP ports. The attacker then created and leveraged the open-source PAExec tool to run Nltest commands to enumerate domain controllers within the estate. Following enumeration, the attacker moved laterally and modified registry values to enable Remote Desktop connections, allow unsolicited remote assistance requests, and disable Network Layer Authentication for RDP.

Recommendations: After this case, MDR reiterated the earlier recommendation that the customer close the exposed RDP ports, and also recommended that the customer enable multifactor authentication, especially if the RDP ports were still required to be exposed. The client again declined the port recommendation and stated that MFA options were under business review.

Through December 2023: About five months later, a welter of attacks hit at approximately two-week intervals, each triggering a fresh round of response engagements. Initial access each time was achieved by brute force against exposed RDP. Once again, following initial access, the attackers performed enumeration, moved laterally and modified registry settings to reduce restrictions on RDP access. Response actions were taken swiftly; however, investigators found a publicly exposed employee web portal with no MFA. Meanwhile, six ports first identified a year earlier were still exposed to the internet. Despite MDR’s persistent recommendations, internal business requirements continued to prevent the customer from implementing the appropriate security measures, leaving them vulnerable to ongoing targeting by threat actors using brute force attacks.

January 2024: Two weeks later, the customer greeted the new year with another attack via the same open ports. The timeframe of this report ends here, but in all likelihood the attacks on the customer did not. The customer’s business requirements do not allow them to restrict access to exposed RDP, nor have they enabled MFA; under those circumstances, there’s not much barrier to wave upon wave of further attacks, nor much further advice incident responders can offer them.

Risk acceptance is up to every organization individually; there is no one-size-fits-all for risk management. However, when the risk as accepted leaves you continually fighting fires in all directions, it’s probably time to reassess. No matter how much the rest of your defenses are tightened, without following basic security principles, the organization will persistently be left defending against threat actors whose initial access could have been stopped at the first hurdle.

Looking back on 2023’s data we are left with a feeling that not enough is being done to protect organizations from harm. Sure, some businesses may have the necessary protections in place, but no one is paying attention. Often, the sole differences between organizations that are breached and ones that aren’t are 1) the preparation entailed by selecting and putting the proper tools in place and 2) the knowledge and readiness to act when required.

Ransomware attacks have reached a stasis point with respect to prevalence, tooling, and timelines. Unfortunately, we are also still seeing the same mistakes being made by defenders every year. It’s with this in mind that we think organizations need to urgently participate in their own rescue. No industry, product, or paradigm is perfect, but we’re still fighting yesterday’s battles with, too often, the day before yesterday’s weaponry. Most of the tools and techniques described in this report have solutions, or at the very least, mitigations to limit their harm, but defenses are simply not keeping up.

Stolen credentials and unpatched systems should be a statistic from a bygone era. Unprotected systems, overprivileged users, and uncontrolled applications are problems that have solutions. Missing telemetry may not be entirely the fault of the victims (determined attackers will continue to make defenders’ work harder by interfering with that), but insufficient logging, or no logging at all, is an unintended oversight at best and a deliberate failure to act at worst. These are all unforced errors, and they must stop now.

A retrospective analysis such as this, especially during a relatively quiet moment in the struggle, is an opportunity to learn from previous mistakes. It can be tempting to look at our failings and get angry that we aren’t progressing like we should. We say: Don’t look back in anger — look forward to how you can make positive change today for a better tomorrow.

Acknowledgements

MDR’s Hilary Wood co-authored this report’s case study (“You got another thing comin’ [and another and another]”); Lee Kirkpatrick contributed the Active Adversary Special Report on RDP (“ Remote Desktop Protocol: The Series ”) to which this report makes extensive reference. The authors wish to thank Chester Wisniewski for his insights during the analysis process. Figure 6 was excerpted with thanks from work released in 2023 by World Watch – Global CERT – Orange Cyberdefense . Special acknowledgement for Figure 7, which is the work of the late Vitali Kremez . He is greatly missed.

Appendix: Demographics and methodology

As we put together this report, we chose to narrow our focus to 154 cases that could be meaningfully parsed for useful information on the state of the adversary landscape as of the end of 2023. Protecting the confidential relationship between Sophos and our customers is of course our first priority, and the data you see here has been vetted at multiple stages during this process to ensure that no single customer is identifiable through this data – and that no single customer’s data skews the aggregate inappropriately. When in doubt about a specific case, we excluded that customer’s data from the dataset.

A world map showing all the countries in which the IR team did their work in 2023

Figure A1: Around the globe and up your street, it’s the Sophos X-Ops IR team

The full list of nations and other locations represented in the 2023 report data is as follows:

The full list of industries represented in the 2023 data for this report is as follows:

Methodology

The data in this report was captured over the course of individual investigations undertaken by Sophos’ X-Ops Incident Response team. For this initial report of 2024, we gathered case information on all investigations undertaken by the team in 2023 and normalized it across 43 fields, examining each case to ensure that the data available was appropriate in detail and scope for aggregate reporting as defined by the focus of the proposed report.

When data was unclear or unavailable, the authors worked with individual IR case leads to clear up questions or confusion. Incidents that could not be clarified sufficiently for the purpose of the report, or about which we concluded that inclusion risked exposure or other potential harm to the Sophos-client relationship, were set aside. We then examined each remaining case’s timeline to gain further clarity on such matters as initial ingress, dwell time, exfiltration, and so forth. We retained 154 cases, and those are the foundation of the report.

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John Shier is a Field CTO at Sophos. John is a popular presenter at security events, and is well-known for the clarity of his advice, even on the most complex security topics. John doesn't just talk the talk: he also gives hands-on technical support and product education to Sophos partners and customers.

Angela Gunn

Angela Gunn is a senior threat researcher in Sophos X-Ops. As a journalist and columnist for two decades, her outlets included USA Today, PC Magazine, Computerworld, and Yahoo Internet Life. Since morphing into a full-time technologist, she has focused on incident response, privacy, threat modeling, GRC, OSINT, and security training at companies including Microsoft, HPE, BAE AI, and SilverSky.

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