Plan your study schedule before exams โ know exactly how many hours you need
There's no single right answer โ it depends entirely on how much you need to cover and how much time you have. What the research does suggest is that most people can sustain focused, high-quality study for about 4-6 hours a day. Beyond that, the returns diminish pretty quickly and you're often just going through motions without retaining much.
The Pomodoro technique โ 25 minutes of focused study followed by a 5-minute break โ is one of the most well-researched approaches for maintaining concentration. Four Pomodoro blocks is 2 hours of actual study. That sounds low, but 2 hours of genuinely focused work often beats 5 hours of distracted studying with phone in hand.
Not all subjects deserve equal time. Subjects you're weakest in โ or that carry the most marks/credits โ should get more time. A common mistake is spending disproportionate time on subjects you already know well because they feel easier to study. That's comfortable but not strategic.
A rough rule: if a subject has a lot of theory, plan for slower reading and note-making (maybe 15-20 pages per hour effective study). For numericals and problem-solving subjects, it's more about practice sets than pages. Conceptual subjects like Economics or Philosophy need time for understanding, not just memorisation.
The last 3 days should not be the time you're learning new material for the first time. Ideally, you use this time for revision, not study. Go through your notes, solve previous year papers under timed conditions, and identify any remaining gaps. Attempting at least 2-3 full previous year papers is probably the single highest-value activity before any exam.
Also โ sleep matters more than most students think before exams. An extra 2 hours of sleep the night before is almost certainly worth more than those 2 additional hours of cramming at 2 AM. Memory consolidation happens during sleep, and you need your recall to work on the day of the exam.