Study Session Log

Who this is for

One line for every session you actually sit down to. Record when you started and finished, how long it came to, what you covered and how it went, and the sheet adds up the minutes and turns them into hours.

Students who want a record of the work rather than an impression of it — revising for exams, working through a distance course, or keeping evidence of study hours for a tutor, a bursary or a home education record.

What this helps you track

• When each session happened and how long it lasted
• Which subject or module the time went to
• What was actually covered, in enough detail to pick up from
• How the session went, in your own words, while it is still fresh
• The total minutes and hours for the period the sheet covers

How to use it

1. Write your name, the subject or course and the period the sheet covers at the top.
2. Start a row when you sit down: date, subject, and the time you began.
3. Write the finish time when you stop, and the minutes the session came to. The hours column and the totals are worked out in the browser version and the workbook.
4. Fill in what you covered — pages, topics, questions, chapters — specifically enough that you can start from it next time.
5. Add a line on how it went while you remember: what was hard, what clicked, what to go back to.
6. Read the summary at the end of the week to see where the time actually went, which is rarely where it was planned to go.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why enter minutes rather than work them out from the times?

Because sessions get interrupted. Writing the minutes you actually worked keeps the total honest when a forty-minute block had a ten-minute gap in the middle of it.

How are the hours worked out?

The minutes divided by sixty, rounded to two figures, for each row and for the total. Nothing else is assumed.

Does it set a number of hours to aim for?

No. There is no target on this sheet. If you have one — set by you, a tutor or a course — write it in the aim field at the top and compare it with the total.

Can I log sessions for several subjects at once?

Yes. Each row has its own subject, so one sheet can cover everything and the workbook can be sorted by subject when you want to see where the time went.