Exam season is upon university and college students and it can be extremely difficult to remain motivated to study. To combat this lack of concentration surrounding studying, a growing number of students have turned to YouTube for motivation. Study with me videos have gained popularity as a way for students to get motivated and inspired.

Many YouTube accounts create videos that utilize different study techniques such as 50/10 study sessions. This technique breaks an hour into fifty minutes of studying with ten minute breaks. Some videos range eight or more hours using this technique, while some videos are kept to less than an hour of straight studying. The community surrounding these YouTube accounts is very supportive and motivational. Other popular videos with similar themes include study and note taking tips, stationary hauls, focus techniques, memorization tips, as well as organizational and productivity tips.

The videos have a range of views. This study with me video has nearly 150,000 views, this one has over 300,000 views, and this advanced study tip video has over 1 million views.

I decided to try studying along with one of these study with me videos to see what kind of effect it would have on my concentration levels.

I typically study on my laptop and since I have a 17 inch screen, I was able to put the study with me video to one side of the screen and use the other side to review lecture slides while taking notes by hand. Using a desktop to play the video and a laptop for studying would also work well, but not everyone has access to both.

I picked a study session with music to help with concentration. While some people work better without music, I found that the music was one of the things that kept me the most focused. Music has been shown to trigger the release of dopamine which can relax a person and make studying more pleasurable in general.

Every once in a while I would glance over at the video and see how concentrated they were with their studying and it would motivate me to stay focused. I can’t say why this is, but it was almost as if I felt like I had to study harder because the person on my screen was focused. It was also less distracting than studying with a friend because I couldn’t stop and chat if something popped into my mind.

Finally, having a to-do list has always helped to keep my study sessions focused, and I think using this technique along with having a video of a study session playing, really helped my productivity. I found that I got a lot more done having the video playing rather than studying in silence.

Many people swear by this technique and the number of study with me YouTube videos is clearly an indication of their popularity.  So really, what’s the harm? Why not give it a try if you’re struggling to stay focused during study sessions. If it doesn’t work for you, at least you tried!