YMMV but what helped me during studies was for example to watch my favorite series and at least have the open book in front of me and eventually go into it. Also if there is any lengthy stuff you need to learn (I mean weeks or months) it might help to start with the most interesting yet possibly completely irrelevant and way over the top part. Other popular tips I used to hear from others include studying at night. Oh yes and some structure helps, I mean having a high-level learning plan that helps you slice your tasks and days. Also for practically every exam I used to write myself self-written summaries of the material. (5-30 pages depending on how lengthy/difficult it was; using colors can help as well for particularly boring stuff that boils down to memorizing) Not sure if it's an option but finding for a particular exam (if it's more than a month of learning) a study partner is also great help because you can keep each other motivated and try to explain to the other. (That requires actually understanding the stuff...) Personally I also skipped most of the lectures which were not mandatory for me and instead only went only to the practical lessons where we had to present our exercises.