Organisation and Planning
Have a planner or some area where you can write your plans for the day so you can easily see when you have a class or event.
Update your planner/ calendar every day
Have weekly to do lists. I taped mine in each week of my planner so i can see all tasks and events in the one glance.
Clean your desk or work space every night or after a session, this way it’s so much easier to get started the next day.
Have a post it note near you to jot down important things you remember for you to do later that way you don’t get sidetracked.
Get out any power cords, pens, food etc. that you need for a study sesh before you start.
Stick on your wall a list of upcoming assignments or class work due dates and tick of as you do them, or post it note them and remove when done.
Break down tasks on lists so it seems more achievable.
Always make a plan before starting an assignment, maybe a mind map of what needs to be done and where you’ll get what info. I love doing this for essays.
Make sure you know what things you need to do before each class whether its reading or printing slides, come prepared.
Keep all notes for a subject together whether in a folder or digitally, this will help in exam season and don’t leave papers in your bag to be forgotten about.
Empty your bag everyday and put handouts or information in its appropriate place.
Pomodoro! Most people i know do the 30 mins study 5 min break but this has always been too short of time for me to accomplish something with too little of a break so i tend to do 45 or 60 minutes with a 10 minute break which is pretty much the same time it just works better for me.
ASMR! i know this sounds cringe or cliche but asmr can be super relaxing and provides that white noise that we like without listening to music which may prove distracting. I suggest the Harry potter common room ones they are beautiful.
Attitude. This is so important because if you go into studying pessimistically you will end up annoyed, go in with the mindset of getting a lot done and reaching your goals.
A pretty work space is a used work space, well at least for me. When my walls are covered with artwork and my desk is neat i feel most motivated, cleaning your desk is a small task that might inspire you to get working.
Watch YouTube videos on the subject you’re studying, for visual and auditory learners this is especially helpful.
Make summaries after your notes, mainly focusing on explicit points in the syllabus.
Make sure your summaries are done as you complete the course work so you are prepared for exam season.
A few weeks before exams make a list of all you want to get done before then and start working!
If you have your textbook on your device get a program that will read the text to you, save your eyes and this is normally a quicker way to digest material.
Find the study space that works for you, e.g. home, the library etc.
As much as i love it, coffee makes you peak and come down so if you can water and good snacks can be better for sustained energy.
DO PRACTICE QUESTIONS! For some reason i thought it was okay to think about a practice question and then just look at the answer? No, this did not work, you need to actually see what you know and write a response.
When possible work under exam conditions, it’s going to be stressful to be put under those circumstances but you need to actually get used to working that way.
Set a time and write down all you know about a small topic on a page, what you miss is what you need to go over.
Most textbooks are a base resource that can help you if you don’t understand a concept but there shouldn’t be too many notes to gather that you shouldn’t have already gotten in class, this is obviously different for each class but for me this has been the case. Don’t waste good revision time relearning what you know.
Highlighting allows us to tune out of the actual reading so avoid when possible and take notes as you go if you need to as this makes you focus more.
Flashcards are fun to make and they are proven to work, just make sure if you make question cards you don’t cheat when using them and look at the answers.
Making your notes is pretty but time consuming, don’t feel pressured to have that aesthetic all the time, the work is more important.
Find online quizzes on the topics you are studying. Many people have done your course before and already put in the hard yards, take advantage of this.
As above there are many resources for topics online, find these before you start a new section to be extra prepared.
Rereading notes before bed makes sure it stays in your head as your brain will be processing it overnight or some science but it does work.
When studying put your phone in another room to relieve the urge to check it all the time.
Have a good trusty pen. Mine is the uniball signo. We have a friendship, it’s good.
I’ve learned recently you don’t need 100 coloured pens and the entire fine-liner collection because i only like a few colours and often don’t have enough time to use a brush pen, markers, highlighters and pens all in the one page of notes.
Don’t feel pressured to have pretty equipment, functional equipment is 100 times more important
Small dot or grid notebooks to do summaries in or mind maps really has helped me feel motivated because they do look really pretty and gets me focused in exam times.
There is a movement towards digitising notes but i think it is still good to have a binder for handouts and articles etc.
Only take to college/school/university the essentials and save your back.
Keep a few bad ballpoints in your bag to save giving friends your nice pens and never getting them back.
Don’t buy stationery that doesn’t work, yes the New York post its i got were beautiful, did they stick at all, no. This clutters your work space and steals your money.
Don’t feel guilty for taking breaks, realistically know your limits and think of it as refuelling.
Try to eat healthy not for weight or looking good but because your body will hate you when you are always giving it takeaway and then asking it to do 14 hour study sessions.
When struggling to focus of a morning, get up and have a shower. This will wake you up and get you feeling motivated.
Have a support person. Mine is my boyfriend and is the person i can just let out all the stress onto, have a cry and then get back to work. You just need to let it out sometimes.
A more relaxed study method is to group up with friends and test each other, create little games etc.
Make sure you still socialise and go to events during crazy stressful periods because you need an outlet and a break.
write out your goals for a term, semester, class or year and refer back to them when you get your results, this will make sure you are judging yourself by your own standards and not compared to anyone else’s.
Reach out for help or advice, whether that’s to friends or people on tumblr or your professors, if you are struggling its ok to get a hand.
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