How To Study

How To Study​

Being in my second of year of University, I found that the work load I had to accomplish was much heavier and was filled with TESTS! The amount of studying I had to do was grotesque and I soon realized that I was wasting time in my usual routine in studying for a test or exam. Fixing these mistakes I made, hopefully this guide will help you all to actually get some work done preparing for an upcoming test/exam.

Be Organized​

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Knowing the date of the test or exam is crucial and you should always write the date down as soon as you are told. This doesn't necessarily mean start studying for it right away, but keeping it in the back of your head is important.

Get a calendar and set a time and space that you will be able to study properly for. Visualizing the work and time you need out on paper is much better than trying to figure it out in your head and get overwhelmed.

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For example, if you have a test coming up that is on say 3 chapters, set aside a day for each chapter or chunks of each chapter you will study in that day. If the test is in a week, set one day for one chapter, then that will leave you with a day or two for a review of the concepts you worked on earlier. Doing this method will help you keep on track of the work you need to do and won't cause you to freak out over the amount of material you need to cover, being calm and not stressing out is very important.

Find a Study Location
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Being organized and managing your study plan is great, but what about location? If you are studying with constant distractions like the computer, TV or loud noises, you will have a very hard time trying to pay attention to your work! Places like your local library are perfect for you to pay attention to your work, try not to sit near any computers or windows that may distract you.

Make this study location a routine, somewhere you go to on a daily basis to study for tests or work. This will put you in the habit of actually making the commitment to go and do any work in general, not just studying!

Your study place should be comfortable, don't punish yourself by sitting somewhere uncomfortable for hours on end only to complain how your backside is asleep. However you don't want to be so comfortable that you find yourself falling asleep.

Set Your Own Rules​

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Studying for 7 hours straight is not and will not be productive, taking breaks is fine but you will need to set your own personal ground rules as to when you take your breaks and how often you take them. Splitting your day into 3 segments is a good way to keep you from turning into a zombie or two sessions with a decent gap in between the two.

Remember that taking these breaks does not mean you can go on the computer or play games that will pull you away from wanting to go back to studying!

Have a walk around and go get a coffee if you are outside of the house or go make a small snack if you are at your house. Just remember not to get side tracked and end up wasting time.

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Study Preferences​

We all have our own preferences while studying that may help you study but not others. One of my own personal preferences I picked up was to listen to music while studying. It is really important that if you do this, you don't listen to anything catchy or with words that you can sing along to. This is just to get you relaxed and have it in the background and not something you actually pay attention to.

YouTube will be your best friend for finding study music playlists that really put you in the calm/relaxed mood for studying. Search "music for studying" in YouTube and click on playlists for pre-compiled music that you can listen to in the background if you are typing up notes etc.

Conclusion​

I hope you try out my technique for studying and always remember that it is important for you to not to cram all that knowledge in one day. Not saying we all haven't been there, but spreading out the work load to segments will make you so much more relaxed and prepared for that test or exam. Good Luck!

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References:
1. Images from Google Images
2. Own Personal Experience

*Any constructive criticism welcomed!

 

Extremely relevant to me at the moment due to some upcoming exams.
Thanks tiger!

 

Was my pleasure, I'm glad it helped! Im also currently studying for my finals as well haha.

 

Also, another thing is try to have friends study, with you make it a little bit more exciting but stick to the study topic.

 

The usually leads to less productivity depending on who they are.

 

Very nice, one thing that my teacher tought me is if you're memorizing something, say it out loud as you write it down because this works more areas of the brain. for example if I have a study guide I often print off 2 or three. I fill one out using my notes, do the second one from memory, fill in what I don't remember with my answers from first one, and then do last one completely from memory. may take longer depending on subject

 

@koolestkid Sounds like an interesting method! Doing this would most likely only be possible on your own at home and not at the library as saying things out loud could possibly bother others! Thanks for the input

 

lol well you don't have to say it THAT loud, just loud enough so that you can hear it. I usually do it just above a whisper, but yea no problem, hope it helps

 

Yes it does! I'm sorry if that came off as a put down.

 

' How to study ' with a computer and ps3

 

joke lol, nice thread

 

This guide actually motivated me. I started to fall apart in my math class and now I'm actually going to go to the library every week day to do homework and study. 10/10