The following advice on developing an EPPP study schedule is taken from Dr. Graham Taylor’s post ‘How to Develop an EPPP Study Schedule (and other advice after a two-time fail‘
…be proactive and deliberate in creating an effective EPPP study schedule. If you try to just study whenever life allows you to, without a clear schedule and plan, the chances are you will constantly be alternating between exhaustion and frustration. Because everyone’s life is different, no two person’s study schedule will look the same. But there are some general principles that can guide us in creating a study schedule. One principle is that little and often is preferable to long periods of concentrated study. This is called the “Spacing Effect” and has a lot of research to back it up. Of course, everyone needs to make their study fit their schedule, but in general we should keep in mind that research shows that spreading out your study generates a greater likelihood for effective learning then trying to do it all at once.
In an earlier article I explained the principle of spaced learning by comparing it to watering a plant. Imagine there is a plant you’re taking care of for a month, but you only have one gallon of water. Would it be more effective to use up the entire gallon of water at the beginning to give the plant a big drenching, or what it be better to water the plant little and often throughout the entire month? Obviously the second would be preferable. The human brain is like that plant. Just as spaced watering, interspersed with periods of dryness, is the most effective watering strategy, so spaced learning is the most effective strategy for cementing long-term memories in the brain.
Another principle that should guide your EPPP study schedule is something called the Principle of Neurotransmitter Depletion. I have explained about this in my blog post on the EPPP study break, but in general what it means is that your study schedule should include within it regular structured breaks to prevent mental fatigue.