There are no shortcuts to architecture exams or ARE cheats. But here are some strategies that may help you enjoy your studying more

1. Set a routine

Depending on your schedule, what you are accustomed to, or when you believe your brain is most active, set aside the same time each day to study. Building a habit and a routine is more conducive to deep focus and will help you slowly build up satisfaction and enjoyment. This may feel painful at first, just like starting at a gym, but having a stable routine will eventually start to feel gratifying. 

2. Reward yourself

The first step to this is to set a timer for incremental studying. Everyone’s brain works differently so it may take some trial and error to figure out what your time increment is. This is the amount of time you feel you are able to achieve deep focus and concentration without starting to feel burned out. For many, it’s around 45 minutes, but it could look like 30 or even an hour and a half for some. The next step is to allow yourself a little reward after each increment. This reward could be a snack (something on the lines of healthy and energy boosting, avoiding sugar, alcohol, heavy carbs and gluten) or a small break doing something you enjoy, like watering your plants or watching a bit of youtube. 

3. Log your hours in a fun way

Logging hours is often critical to holding yourself accountable for putting in the time needed to pass the exams. Look to ideas within Bullet journaling for creative ways to represent your time graphically. Using color markers for color coding, even stickers, symbols for how you felt your day’s studying went. Anything to make the habit of logging hours a fun exercise.

4. Make studying a game

Finding ways to make it fun and create challenges for yourself. One of the best ways is to use flashcards, which sounds like a no-brainer but there are tools out there to make it fun. ARE Inquizition makes studying with flashcards and quizzes more accessible when you’re on the go. It makes studying just a little bit more enjoyable, and incorporating joy into the process is an important part of absorbing all that information. Another way is to use real-life situations to test your knowledge. Passing by a construction site? Try to identify the type of construction or structural system. Integrating knowledge more seamlessly into your everyday life and having fun doing it helps you absorb the content better.