As a recent high school graduate it was just a month ago that I was doing some last minute cramming for AP tests (no not finals I didn’t study for those..) and I can now effectively say that I’ve developed a solid study routine. I know, what a thing to think about over the summer right? But being distinguished as a brainiac “gifted and talented” student from a young age this wasn’t always the case because well – I never studied since I never needed to. “So am I supposed to just stare at these notes and read them a million times?” I’d ask. Good news is – you don’t! For all my fellow formerly-complacent kids out there who don’t know how, here’s a guideline that’s procrastinator proof. Hopefully it can even be helpful to upcoming college students like me.
1.) The most important rule is one I never abided by because I was that overly confident kid in my studies: study like you eat. You wouldn’t have just one huge meal before bed so why cram before an exam? After a unit be sure to read at least once through your notes, THEN go through and highlight them.
2.) Once this is done you will make a review sheet for that unit and trust me these are life savers for exams. Ask yourself a couple of questions based on the original notes and if you know them then that piece of information won’t go on the review sheet, if you don’t then it will. Highlight that review sheet and star big concepts and information. I’ve gone a bit crazy with these as I memorize more of it and end up making a REVIEW SHEET of a REVIEW SHEET! Concise, concise, concise!
3.) After your review sheet is done and reviewed, have a friend “test” you over it. So it’s important that you keep simple highlighted keywords before dashes that they can just say to spark your memory.
4.) Go over old homework problems, star ones that you’re still confused about and save for future reference to take up with your teacher, or computer! The point is that you should skim through all the course material you’ve done for things that haven’t clicked yet even in your textbook notes.
5.) Now come the classic flashcards. I found a good memorization technique for myself that might work for you. Flipping through 50 index cards won’t do you any good. What I do is break them up in sets of 6. I go through 6, set aside the ones I don’t know, work on those feverishly, then move on to the next 6 and repeat, and finally start from the beginning going through all 12 together before moving on. Quizlet is fun but since my learning style is very physical I learn better through writing. That aside many studies have shown that writing helps retain information better. So if you’re in college I recommend taking lecture notes down on paper.
6.) Keep a planner. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy just something that makes you feel uber productive and important because well you have a list of tasks that need your attending to. The mental satisfaction given by just checking things off combined with the fact that it helped my not forget ONE homework assignment or test all year makes it a must have! But do remember to break tasks down into small goals.
7.) Just start on an assignment or study session for 5 minutes to get the ball rolling, if you’re anything like me it’ll irk you to leave it unfinished. The hardest part always is just getting started.
Now that the “how-to” section is over I’ll move on to an equally important part of studying: your environment. In order to maximize your productivity there are a couple of things that you should do:
8.) If your homework doesn’t require the internet don’t have your laptop open. But if it does and oh boy do I hate that nowadays it does with our current internet culture of endless click-bait distractions, block distracting websites. I recommend the program Cold Turkey because unlike with Chrome extensions, it’s not easy to disable once you have withdrawals.
9.) Although it seems shallow, use nice stationery/pens. Having aesthetically pleasing notes and a work environment will only motivate you and won’t keep you trying to decipher your old notes for an hour. Not to mention that a good, smooth pen won’t tire your hand out and will encourage you to keep on writing.
10.)Change your environment if you keep getting distracted. Go somewhere where others are working like to the library. Being surrounded by people who also are studying motivates you, whereas at home you can do whatever you want and there’s no social pressure. I’ve found it forms a sort of unspoken of comradeship as a whole room bustles away for mid-terms.
Most of all I want you to inspire yourself. Think about your successful role models, learn their stories. Think about how you’re not studying to get a future M.D. degree but to save a woman’s life. You’re not studying to get a future law degree but to exonerate the wrongfully convicted.
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