Make a study plan for exams
A study plan is a calendar, not a resolution. Six steps that turn “I still have to study” into concrete appointments.
As of 22 October 2026
In short
A good study plan works backwards from exam day, splits the material into short units, spreads them over many days and leaves room for testing yourself. You don’t need an app for that. A calendar and ten minutes are enough.
1. Write down the date and the material
Note the exam day and everything that will come up: chapters, topics, types of tasks. A list of ten lines is better than a feeling of “quite a lot”. Estimate for each item how long you need. Better to estimate a bit high, most people calculate too tightly.
2. Count backwards from exam day
Count the days between today and the day before the exam. Cross out what is already taken: classes, training, appointments, free evenings. The days that remain are your space. The last unit falls on the day before, the exam day itself stays free.
3. Split into units of 25 to 45 minutes
Split each item into short units. Fokuno uses 25 to 45 minutes for this, and that is a default, not a law of nature. What matters is that a unit is small enough to begin within two minutes. “Chapter 4, tasks 1 to 5” is a start, “study maths” is not.
4. Spread out rather than cram
Spread the units evenly over the free days instead of putting everything on the night before. A large review of ten study techniques rates only two as highly useful: distributed practice and testing yourself (Dunlosky et al., 2013). For remembering words and facts, a review of 839 assessments from 317 experiments shows that spreading improves retention (Cepeda et al., 2006).
5. Test yourself rather than reread
In each unit, don’t just reread. Close the book and try to write down from memory what you know, or solve tasks without the answer key. Rereading and highlighting did poorly in the review by Dunlosky and colleagues. The testing is up to you, no app does it for you.
6. Build in a buffer
Don’t plan every free evening. Leave one evening or two units empty each week, as a reserve for anything that falls through. If you miss a study day, move the unit to a free slot before the exam instead of merging it with the next one.
An example
Exam on a Friday two weeks away, six chapters. Between today and Thursday there are ten school days, four of them with training. You plan twelve units of 40 minutes: one per chapter to work through and one per chapter to test yourself, spread over eight evenings, with two evenings left free. The last unit falls on Thursday: go through all the questions once and mark the weak spots.
If you don’t want to do it by hand
Fokuno does steps 2 to 4 and 6 for you: if you mark a task as an exam, it spreads the studying in units of 25 to 45 minutes over the days up to the day before and finds a new slot if a unit falls through. The testing stays your job. More under Fokuno for school and university.
Try it in your week.
Sign up. When it’s your turn, the invitation arrives with the download.