Things NOT To Do When Studying
I was going through some old papers from freshman year and I was thinking about what I was doing wrong when I didnât achieve the grades I wanted, even though I got As in my classes. What things could I have done better to get a 100 instead of a 96? I donât ask myself this so much as to be a perfectionist (even though I am one). I ask myself these questions because: 1) I must not have had a completely solid understanding of the material if I couldnât get a 100 on it. 2) Maybe my less-than-stellar test-taking skills got in the way. 3) Iâm a tutor, so I want to be sure I understand everything thoroughly enough to help others with the material.
I may add to this later, so you can always check out the original post here. As always, feel free to comment or message me if you want to add something to this list!
Donât simply read over your notes to study. It doesnât work. You might pick up pieces here and there or even memorize certain things verbatim, but reading something 20 times is very inefficient. Your brain learns by making connections, so if youâre only straight reading the material youâre not making extra connections. Youâre much better off going through your notes to make your own questions and quizzing yourself on them, marking down connections as you read (either in the margin or by literally connecting them in the text with a pen), or creating a study sheet (whether in text format or a mind map).
Donât simply highlight, either. While there is a proper way to highlight, most people I see using a highlighter are doing it wrong. If youâre the person who highlights 90% of the paragraph, Iâm talking about you. Okay, so highlighting is physically more active than glancing over your notes 20 times, but itâs about equally as effective if youâre highlighting everything. I recommend instead highlighting (or marking with eraseable pencil) things you want to go back to later. But, again, highlighting and reading alone is not useful. Go back to your highlighted parts to reread something that was hard to understand the first time, a topic you want to revisit to make a review sheet, etc. Whatever you use it for, make sure the purpose is to quickly find information later, not simply so you can read those things again. Try making a study sheet, in your own words, based off of your highlighting.
Donât forget to write things down. And I donât mean just in your planner when you have homework or papers due. This isnât so much about getting absolutely everything down in terms of notes, either, I have a separate post regarding that. But in class you should always write down questions you have and the answer. If you donât get a chance to ask during class, ask ASAP whether itâs directly to your teacher or asking a classmate. If itâs that important, do some research on it, too. Also, make sure you write down information on due dates or paper topics. You probably already do that, but I would recommend having a piece of paper with you every day where you can write anything important down like dates and to-dos to organize all in one shot. If you simply write down âpaper dueâ in a block in your planner before rushing to the next you may not see that reminder until close to the due date. I like to take all of the information on the piece of paper (which also has my day planned out and a to-do list) right when I get up in the morning so Iâm prepared for the day and donât forget anything.
Donât take it easy at the start of the semester. To be perfectly honest, Iâve pretty much always done that, but my freshman year of college it wasnât a huge deal since I pretty much already took those classes. Sophomore year, however, everything was new, so memorization and understanding didnât come quite as easily. The harder your classes are, the more essential this is, especially if you actually want to sleep during finals week. The best thing you can do is start doing work before the semester even starts if you have a syllabus handy, or even just looking through your books to see whatâs ahead. While everyone else is doing fun things the night of that first day, make sure you get some work done first before you have your fun. This sets the tone for the rest of the semester and gets you into the habit of working. Donât let yourself get behind! Itâs easier to stay ahead than it is to struggle catching up.
Donât leave your notes to rot after class. Meaning, do something with them right after class! ⌠or at least ASAP. Mark them up, edit them, rework them, copy or type them (if your handwriting sucks like me), or, best of all, write a short summary. Take the several pages of notes you have and condense them into one or two paragraphs. Donât worry about the details, just make sure youâre hitting on the key points. As a bonus, you can type up some questions based off of your notes to save for later studying (details are allowed here). Everything will be fresh, making this a much easier process than if you did it right before the test. At the end of the week, make a summary of your summaries and quiz yourself on the questions you made. Youâll probably want to use those questions again, so try to reword them or even combine them into bigger questions that cover many topics. That way youâre being active with the material and will actually understand what youâre answering as opposed to parroting.
Donât make study sheets by copying off of something else. Yes, I made this mistake. I wasnât copying initially, but rather, using a review book as a reference to make study sheets. However, the more I was pressed for time the less I started putting things into my own words. Now, this wasnât a big deal in terms of legality, since I kept them to myself, but it didnât turn out to be all that helpful in the end. If you want to make study sheets, you could either take concepts youâve been learning and put them together in different ways or make a summary in your own words. I recommend both, but whatever you do, make sure youâre actually creating something new or else youâre not going to remember it. For example, in organic chemistry I took the reactions and grouped them in different ways (by subtstrate, reactants, products, etc.) as a reference while studying. The act of sorting and looking through the reactions in order to make the sheets helped me remember them, then I had the sheets to look at while doing practice to help me memorize them further.
Donât save the bulk of lab work for after the lab and donât wait to write your report. By this Iâm referring to the post-lab report. Spend the extra time while prepping your pre-lab materials to start your report! Youâre expected to know the theory behind your labs before you perform them, so writing the introduction to your report should not be a problem. If it is, then youâll be glad you took the time to understand the lab before you tried actually doing it. By doing this you may also find that you have questions that can be answered by the professor before you get confused in the middle of a procedure. Also make sure you have data tables prepared (not just in your notebook, but in the report file to fill in after) and anything else youâll need to take down data. Once the lab is finished do the report immediately. Everything you did will be fresh and youâll be glad you finished it well ahead of the deadline. At this point you can show your lab to your professor and get any corrections fixed so youâre ashooinâ for an A!
Donât try to write a paper in one shot. I understand if you feel like your papers flow better if you do it all in one shot, but at least make sure you plan it out thoroughly ahead of time before you actually write it all out. But even then, you will likely benefit from splitting your paper into chunks to tackle one day at a time. If you have a research paper thatâs double-digit pages then youâll be forced to do that anyway, but be sure youâre splitting up the work for small papers, as well. It may not seem like a big deal to do a short paper in one day, but if you end up having other assignments or tests due around the same time it might up your stress if youâre crunched for time trying to finish that âinsignificantâ paper while juggling a few other assignments as well as some test prep.
Advice Suggested By Others:
Donât listen to distracting music while studying. To some degree, the types of music that are considered âdistractingâ vary when it comes to the subject youâre studying and personal preference. However, the general rule of thumb is that you avoid any sort of music with lyrics if youâre studying a subject that involves language. Art, math, and certain sciences are an exception if youâre working with pictures or numbers, since language usually doesnât interfere with those things in the brain. But if youâre reading anything, even if itâs worded directions to a math or science problem, lyrics will probably be distracting. Some people suggest that listening to new music with lyrics is okay because you wonât be tempted to sing along with something you donât know while others get distracted by hearing any type of language. Again, itâs truly up to you, but genres such as classical, jazz, and nature sounds are usually recommended. Heck, if youâre a musician and get distracted by any type of music, silence or brown noise may be the better option for you. (Suggested by aslongasitsfiction)
Donât study in bed. Scientific studies have shown that doing anything in your bed that isnât sleep or sex-related affects your ability to fall asleep in your bed. When your brain primarily associates your bed with sleep, itâs much easier to fall asleep. But having trouble sleeping in your bed isnât the only part of the problem. While studying in your bed is really comfy, youâre also more likely to fall asleep if the association with sleep is strong enough. Itâs generally recommended that you donât even study in the same room as your bed, but as college students this may not be possible if you want to use your desk. So if you donât want to make the trek out to a more secluded study space, at least try to make sure your desk doesnât have your bed in view. Because letâs be honest, if youâre exhausted, simply seeing your bed might be enough to make you nod off. (Suggested by rare-footage and ane-mia)
Donât go on tumblr. Okay, this may seem obvious, but sometimes a reminder is all you need to get off your computer! I suppose itâs better that youâre looking up information to help you study, but I think we both know what the better choice would be. (Suggested by oneofakindgizibe)
Donât study in a place you canât focus just because your friends are there. Us humans are social animals. We like being around other people. But this can cause you problems if youâre trying to study. Unless youâre in a productive study group, make sure you separate study time and social time. Youâre probably more likely to gravitate towards fun, social things over studying, so make sure studying is a priority and you get it done before seeing your friends. If you have a roommate or two, then your dorm room is probably not the right place to study. Find a few of your focus hotspots and go there for your study time. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
Donât forget the little things you know youâll need. This includes but is not limited to things such as chargers, books, snacks, and water. You donât want to be in-the-zone and all of the sudden realize you need to run back to your dorm room to get a book. And then 10 minutes later realize youâre hungry and need to run to the cafeteria. If you donât already have certain things that are always in your bag, simply keep a list of things you generally need to bring with you, leave it as a reminder on your desk, and check it over before you hit the library. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
Donât take naps while studying without setting an alarm. Or even better, avoid naps all together. If youâre like me, 15-minute naps usually turn into 2-hour events. But regardless, if you need to get some extra sleep, get the extra sleep. Itâs better to take a nap when you know you need it as opposed to falling asleep on your desk unexpectedly when you have a paper you need to get done for the next day. 15-20 minutes the recommended time for a short nap, but if you need something more robust, try for 90 minutes or use sleepyti.me to figure out the right time to wake up. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
Donât wear uncomfortable clothes. I personally find that âdressing for successâ works really well for going to lectures and virtually everything else, but terribly if youâre hitting the library for a long study session. Youâll probably wanna look cute if youâre heading somewhere public, but just make sure youâre comfortable. Yoga pants are fine for the occasion! (Suggested by fitspoforever)
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