Study Tips for 2017 (Part 2 of 2)
Last time, we offered big-picture study tips. 👀
👩💻💬 As promised, this post will focus on practicable methods and strategies:
1. Study when you’re sleepy. 😪
Yes, you read that right. Try studying for a few minutes right before going to sleep. During sleep, the brain strengthens new memories, so there’s a good chance you’ll remember whatever you review right before you pass out. (Just make sure that you also get a good night’s sleep.)
⚠️ 💁 WARNING: This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t study when you’re not sleepy. Just give it a try—in addition to your regular study routine—and see if it proves effective for you.
2. Space it out. 📏
A learning technique called “spaced repetition” involves breaking up information into smaller chunks and reviewing them consistently over a long period of time. So don’t try to memorize an entire chapter in one sitting — focus instead on a few pages or concepts every day and review what you studied before starting on a new topic or chapter. Your knowledge and understanding will gradually (and permanently) accumulate, greatly decreasing the need to cram or pull desperate all-nighters for exams.
3. Mix it up.
Don’t stick to one topic; instead, study a wide range of materials in one sitting. Besides breaking up the tedium and repetitiveness of the subject matter, mixing it up will make important facts, dates, formulas, etc. stand out in your memory instead of being drowned in a sea of similar information. You can try using the Pomodoro Technique (see below) to designate 25 minutes (or however much time you choose) per subject before moving on to the next subject or task.
4. Write it out by hand. ✍
Research suggests we store information more securely when we write it out by hand than when we type it. Start by recopying the most important notes from the day, week, month, or semester onto a new sheet of paper. It’s a good idea to have a separate notebook or journal for each subject. Generally speaking, the best students take copious amounts of (excellent) notes and review them regularly. (If you want to make your notes aesthetically pleasing 📝✨, check out the hundreds of studyblrs on Tumblr for inspiration.)
5. Read aloud. 🗣
Reading information out loud means mentally storing it in two ways: seeing it and hearing it. If you want to take it to the next level, record yourself reading a book, your notes, vocabulary flashcards, etc. aloud and play it on loop while you sleep. 🎧 🔊
6. Study in a group. 👨🎓👩🎓
Group work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who benefit from a little team effort, a study group is the way to go. Pick a few studious pals (avoid the slackers) and get together every few days to review the material. Put one person in charge of delegating tasks and keeping the group on target with its goals. Thanks to Google Docs, Skype, and a host of other online tools, meetings don’t even have to take place in person. If you’re a night owl, find other students who study late at night and meet online at 10 pm or later. Use Google Docs to share and compile notes. Keep each other awake and focused on studying.
7. Don’t just sit there. 🚶
Research has found just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise can improve our brain-processing speed and other important cognitive abilities. Go for a walk. Stretch. Run in place. Do push-ups. Do jumping jacks. Do something that will boost both your heart and brain.
Research also suggests that studying the same material in a different place every time makes us less likely to forget that information. Every time we move around (from the library to the coffee shop or the coffee shop to the toilet seat), we force the brain to form new associations with the same material so it becomes a stronger memory. If it’s too cold to go outside, just move from your desk to the kitchen table, and then to other parts of your home.
8. Stay off the Internet. 🖥 🙅
We’ve all been there, wasting minutes (if not hours) while doing “research” online. There are simply too many sites and apps that suck up time. If a computer is absolutely necessary for studying, try an app that blocks the Internet for a short period of time and see how much more you get done. You can find some of them here.
9. Get your work done BEFORE you reward yourself. 😅
You probably know this feeling all too well: you have a three-day weekend, which is plenty of time to study or complete an assignment. So what do you do? You relax, play video games, and binge on Netflix for the first two-and-a-half days, leaving you stressed out on the third day. Not only that, but because you’re subconsciously worried about the assignment you haven’t started yet or the studying you haven’t done, your “chill time” is not very enjoyable. On the third day, you become cranky, your studying is unproductive, and you inevitably finish your assignment in a manner that just gets you by. Had you finished your assignment and studied on the first — or even second — day, you would have had the entire third day to enjoy yourself. So do your work first and then have fun.
10. Try the Pomodoro Technique. 🍅 ⏰
Our productivity has improved dramatically by using the Pomodoro Technique. The way it works is simple: pick a task, work at it for 25 minutes (without distractions), then take a five-minute break. Then pick another task, work at it for 25 minutes, then take another five-minute break. After the fourth task, take a longer break (e.g., 30 minutes), then repeat until everything on the to-do list is done. Henry uses the five-minute breaks to walk around, do a few push-ups, etc., so he is not only being productive but also improving his health. #WinWin
Good luck! Feel free to comment on which tips/methods worked best for you. 👍
