Personal Study Tips: Tried and Tested
I’ve always been a big fan of studyblr, and my original goal in making my own blog was basically to boost my own productivity and give back to this amazing community but just over a month has passed and I'vebeen noticed by over a thousand people and that’s just??? Mindblowing. So I wanted to thank everyone for sharing their love through making this study tips list. This is a compilation of things I learned through experience and tips that are rarely said but in my opinion really effective. Enjoy!
A lot of people say it’s better to take notes of a lecture in your own words in order to, but HONESTLY this advice has screwed me over multiple times. Remember, when you’re in a lecture, unless you’ve done advanced reading or a brief topic overview, you won’t know what parts of the discussion are important or not. There have been so many times where I was paraphrasing lectures and failed to copy a key detail because I didn’t think it was important.Another issue about paraphrasing notes is that sometimes when you’re in the middle of analyzing the contents of one slide your teacher MOVES ON to the next one and you’re just– you got nothing.
So what’s the alternative? Write down everything you can, WORD FOR WORD (minus articles ofc because they’re useless) as quickly as possible( I usually type on my laptop if I can). Don’t hesitate to make shortcuts– feel free to use 1M abbrvs bc w/ it u’ll be fstr. Blank out your brain, focus solely on copying the text. When everything on the slide is written down, switch your brain to comprehension mode and pay full attention to what the teacher is saying. This method works ideally because while your brain is on blank copy mode, the teacher is usually still explaining what’s on the slide, so you don’t actually miss vital explanations. After you finish, then focus on trying to understand what you just copied, and tune in to any extra info the teacher might give, and this is super helpful especially in a new class where you don’t know how the tests are gonna be like.
After that, I rewrite my notes. Now I know rewriting doesn’t work for everyone, especially if you don’t have lots of time. Personally, I rewrite because the slow process of writing helps me retain information, but the most important thing is that 1-2 days after making rough notes, I organize and condense the information in a way that’s easy to follow, because trying to make clean notes during a discussion is near impossible especially when you have a teacher who skips from point to point.
Either it be making a mind map, reorganizing your notes on a word file, or summarizing your scribbled mess, reviewing notes is very helpful. Not only does it reinforce what you learn in class, but it also helps you identify gaps in your knowledge so you can clarify your questions with a friend/your teacher before the exam rolls around. Also, THIS is the time you want to start paraphrasing your notes to make sure you understand the terms and definitions, and guess what? You aren’t missing any key information because you copied everything
Experiment! I personally use a modified Cornell method with headings on the left and info on the right (no summary), but that was after 2 years of different note taking styles. Whenever you find that your notes aren’t helping you, try to reflect and find out why. Do you need more visuals, or are your diagrams confusing you? An example of a notetaking style I developed over time is separating concepts notes and practice problems in Math. I found having them together was super distracting when trying to study either one, so separation really helped.
While flashcards like Quizlet can be great for a review, they can be really tedious to make. If you need to review something, a simple alternative is to write all the key terms on an index card and define them in your head or out loud without referencing your notes. If your exam is heavy term-based, you can up this strategy a notch: start out with a blank index card, then slowly fill it with all the terms you remember, then later reference your notes for terms you forgot. This strategy is a variant of “active recall” and what makes it effective is that it forces your brain to remember, which passively reading your notes usually fails to achieve.
Record audios! Saying your notes out loud not only helps reinforce the information into your brain, but having recordings can help you study when you’re doing something else like commuting or cleaning your room. Personally, I have a group chat where I send audios to my friends, and as an audio-visual learner my memory did improve for the topics I recorded.
Move Around. Whenever I have to memorize a speech, I ALWAYS do it while walking. Somehow it helps the words flow better. That said, movement in between study sessions can really revitalize the brain. From 5 minute walk breaks to quick exercises, giving the body some time to move can boost your mood and concentration.
While acronyms can be really useful, they can fall short at times. I remember being in a test and just getting so frustrated because I forgot what the O in my SOAP acronym meant. In order to prevent the “oh no I only remember the letter not the word”, I decided to use a Symbol Method. I’d make a simple drawing with symbols with each line/ doodle representing an idea I had to memorize, and I found it way more effective than acronyms. It doesn’t have to be complicated drawings; you could do —> means progress oriented while // means stop bad habits. The drawings don’t need to be close to the actual concept, all it does it help make a connection for better remembering.
Whenever you feel like you’re in a motivational slump, find someplace else to study. Get out of your room and go to a library or a coffee shop or wherever is comfortable but the idea is study in a place where people are busy. I actually find I can focus more when I’m in studying my classroom than at home simply because I’ve been induced to feel that the room was built for studying, and whenever I see others studying I feel kind of compelled to be productive too. Peer pressure, I guess but in a good way??
Block out your time schedules, but don’t block out individual tasks. What do I mean? Well, how many times have we taken 4 hours on what we thought would be a 1 hour essay and then just ruin our ENTIRE daily schedule??? To fix this, I started blocking out “work time” in my daily schedule. No tasks, just “work time”, and in these timeblocks I just do whatever’s on the to do list. Now, you can optimize this system by making “low intensity” and “high intensity” work times, where you identify your most productive hour of the day and do your hardest task in that time block, but that’s up to you.
Don’t feel guilty about making yourself feel more comfortable. Turn up the AC for a long study session. Buy coffee from your favorite coffee shop, even though it’s more expensive than something homemade. Take a long hot shower, prepare a big bowl of snacks, whatever. If you feel horrible (which I think we usually do before big tests) you won’t be able to retain info and study well. Take care of yourself, have a break now and then. I always have to fight the guilt I feel when doing this, but YOUR COMFORT IS WORTH IT.
On that note, please GET ENOUGH SLEEP. I know people who have pulled all nighters studying and still failed because their mind was too dead from sleep deprivation. Most relevant for math but true for all subjects, you can’t study optimally if you’re tired, so REST. Know how long you need (I personally require 7.5 hours on average) and make it a point to sleep long enough for it. If you’re a power nap person, then go, but naps aren’t for everyone (me included) so I prefer just getting my hours in.
And that’s about it! I really hope you find this helpful, and thanks again for the support <333 much love!!
