Studying is hard! In high school and college, a lot of us haven't yet gained a lot of experience in studying complex material. Add that to the extracurricular and social demands on our time, the task can seem daunting. Check out these tips below for a sure way to succeed in the most difficult high school and college courses, to keep you on track for whatever goals you have for your future!
The hardest part
There are two things that are hardest about studying:
Looking at an expansive amount of information and figuring how to organize it into pieces that you can learn and memorize.
Staying focused, motivated, and optimizing productivity.
The solutions below are organized in two sections according to this.
Organizing, Planning and Studying
Stay organized
Keep your notes organized neatly in a binder or notebook so you can find things quickly.
Clean up your workspace after a night’s studying so you feel fresh in the morning.
Use sticky notes to jot down things you need to go over later.
Plan
At the beginning of the week, look at your schedule. What days will you have the most and least time to study? What days do you have tests or quizzes?
At the beginning of each day, sit down and plan out what you want to get done each day.
Small, specific, measurable goals will keep you on task, engaged, and feeling satisfied as you complete them.
Keep a running to-do list. The best is to use an app, so that you can store things to repeat every day or week.
Plan to get the hardest or most time-consuming tasks done first.
Always be aware of when your next midterm is and when you plan on beginning studying.
I generally try to start thinking up a plan for studying 2 weeks in front of an exam. For finals, 4 weeks.
Studying Itself
The worst thing you can do for yourself is to set out time to simply “study.” This will lead to frustration, loss of motivation, a headache, and unproductiveness.
Never study by staring at your notes or reading extended textbook passages. You will never remember anything, bore yourself to death, lose focus, and want to sleep.
Ways you will memorize information:
Rewriting your notes or writing outlines of the textbook as you read them.
Making flashcards. (You have to actually use them to quiz yourself, too.)
Drawing flowcharts.
Drawing diagrams.
Creating study guides of information you need to learn.
Organize sets of information into charts.
The key is to take the information you learned (a combination of textbook notes, lecture notes, old quizzes, homework problems), and reorganize it in your own way, consolidating it into the things that are most important to remember.
A key to memorize information is to quiz yourself.
Be creative.
Your study plan
Two weeks before your exam, prepare your study plan.
Look at all of your notes and your textbook and think about how you can break it down into sections and organize it in your brain using the techniques listed above.
Make a list of broad topics you want to do to study.
Break those topics down into tasks (see “how to study”).
Next to each, write the day you will do that task.
Break down big tasks into smaller, achievable goals.
Example study plan for Organic Chemistry Lab Final:
Make a list of mechanisms to memorize. (Tues.)
Go through and draw these mechanisms one by one on the dry erase board until they are memorized. (Wed & Thurs.)
Complete midterm review guide. (by Sat.)
Complete practice spectrometry problems on Carmen. (Mon.)
Make notecards for all reactions to memorize and memorize them. (Lectures 1-5 Tues, Lectures 6-8 Wed, Lectures 9-12 Thurs.)
Look through notes and write down important things that aren’t already listed on notecards. (Sat.)
II. Focus, Motivation and Productivity
Keep in mind your big goals
Make a list of goals at the beginning of every semester.
Make a list of top 3 goals at the beginning of every week
Make a list of top 3 goals at the beginning of every day.
What is your big motivation? A scholarship? Grad school admission? Making your parents proud? A gift you're going to buy yourself if you succeed? Have an image that represents your goal and hang it up on the wall near your desk.
Prepare yourself
It is your responsibility to study. In order to succeed, you need to make decisions about your priorities and your time.
Follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself and don’t let others or other interests distract you from your goals.
To get the results you want, you will have to make sacrifices.
You’re going to miss a few get-togethers with your friends.
You’re going to miss watching that game or show on TV.
Discover your key productivity periods and places: Morning, afternoon or evening? (This is especially important during the weekend when you have extended time lengths to study.)
Find spaces where you can be the most focused and productive
Prioritize these for your most difficult study challenges
Breaks
Music can help you focus. Experiment with which types work best for you.
Find a good pair of noise-proofing headphones to keep you in the zone.
Limit yourself to a 5 minute break every 20 to 30 minutes and a 10 minute break every hour.
Keep your phone on silent and out of reach except during those break times.
Short breaks:
Listen to a favorite song
Pick out a new recipe to make
Get yourself a glass of water or cup of tea or coffee
5 minute yoga/stretches/pushups
Daydream
Tidy your desk or room
Make your bed
Pet your dog
Longer breaks:
Write an entry in your journal
Read a couple pages of your book
Take a shower
Call a friend/family
Have a snack
Paint your nails
Take a walk around the house/block
Your environment and focus
Before you sit down to study, go to the bathroom, have a snack, check your email and phone, so you won’t be distracted while studying.
Get yourself a glass of water/tea/coffee.
Put your phone on silent and out of reach.
When it’s time to study, it’s time to study. Everything else, you do in your break time.
Doing anything while studying will keep your focus away:
eating
lying down (makes you tired)
talking on the phone (obviously)
watchingTV
listening to music that is distracting
keeping “feeds” up on your computer (social media, sports updates, a video you want to watch later, etc.)
Your study space:
Make it somewhere you’re comfortable, but not too comfortable.
Desks work best for me, that way I can spread out my notes while keeping them organized.
Never study on your bed.
Never study on the couch.
Never study near a TV.
READ: never study anywhere you will be tempted to do what you really want to be doing: watching TV and sleeping
Make it homey: light a candle, put up a picture or two.
Discouragement
Take a break.
If you find something you don’t understand, but don’t feel like looking it up, make a list and come back later.
Remind yourself of your goals.
You will need to force yourself to some extent and stress is good, in small amounts. If it gets to be too much, do something else for a while.
We all have days we can’t force ourselves to get anything done. Look at it as a chance to rejuvenate. Don’t look at it as you’re not being a good studier.
Your Health
Eat healthy
Eat healthy, fruits and vegetables, that will keep you awake and energized.
Eating too much will make you tired.
Good Study Snacks:
Almonds or other nuts or trail mix
Dark chocolate
Blueberries and other berries
Peanut butter and whole wheat bread
Exercise!
Take a walk around the block. Ride your bike for a few minutes. Go for a run. Do some pushups in your room. You’ll feel more energized, motivated and happier.
SLEEP!
Start your studying early, that way you get lots of days of sleep in between.
Sleep full nights to keep yourself motivated and awake the next day.
Never sacrifice sleep to study! Plan ahead so that you don't procrastinate and get to that point.
Your Attitude
Your attitude, of course, is the most important thing!
Believe in yourself.
Don’t get overwhelmed and convinced that there is too much information and not enough time: remind yourself that you’ve got a plan, and that you will be able to stick to it.
Take it one day at a time.