Study Tips for Students
Make full use of your planner/bullet journal.
If you are like me, with a busy schedule (from school, work or personal life) having a planner or a bullet journal could save you from all the mess. Do incorporate your classes, homework, work schedule or any important events that you have planned out beforehand. This gives you an overall view of what you are supposed to do and how much free time you have for the day or week.
Colour coded your classes.
This might seem unnecessary, but colour coding is an easy way to help you find the assignments you need for your class in your planner or bullet journal. This way, you would just have to glance through your planner instead of going through every single line to find the task that you wanted.
If colour coding seems overwhelming to you, stick to one colour per classes. For example, you can use different shades of blue highlighter for the class – blue for important information, light blue for formulas etc. I mean, companies out there have released different shades of colours so you can make full use of it.
Make a study guide.
You can make a study guide for each class. Having a study guide can help you with your studying. I don’t know how other people use their study guide but whatever method or technique you are using, make sure it benefits you in your studies. For example, some people make study guide out of the syllabus that their lecturer or professor gave out before the start of the class.
You can add in checkmarks on the study guide to assist you with your revision. Like checking a checkmark once to remind you that you have completed that topic for your mid-terms, etc.
Print or download any assessment test you can find.
By printing or downloading any test papers you can find that is beneficial for your classes, it can help you with how the format of your test papers will come out. This test papers will be helpful when you are practising and revising for your examinations as it will also give you a guide on which topic that you need to work on.
Save at least one morning/afternoon for intense studying.
It does not have to be an entire day because you will be really exhausted by the end of the day. Trust me, I did that once, and hell no am I going to do that again (unless I decided to procrastinate till the very end). Have at least 2-3 hours dedicated for intense studying. If your days are filled with classes and work, having a few hours to organise your study materials will help you.
Prepare in advance.
Trust me, I am not a good person to advise on this, but I’m trying to fix this bad habit of mine. Make a summary of the topic that your lecturer or professor will be covering for that class. This will give you a piece of brief information on what is going on if somewhat during the lecture or class, you have no idea what’s going on, you can refer to the summary that you did.
Also, prepare your materials for examinations in advance too. Do not leave it to the last minute or you will literally die from finding all your materials. Prepare at least 2 weeks in advance so that you have enough time to find and even make the materials that have gone missing.
Take regular breaks.
Take breaks. You are not a robot. You can’t study for 5 hours straight. Your body will hate you for this I swear. Have regular breaks, no more of an hour. If you are studying for an hour, you can take a 15 minutes rest. Drink up, have a snack, scroll through your social media, walk around. Once you are done with your break, start your study session again. This will ensure that your brain and body feel overwhelmed with too much information being processed.
Study the least interesting topic/subject first.
There’s got to be one topic or class that you might find boring. Start working on those topics first as you are fully concentrated during the start of your study session. If you decided to work on those topics last, you will not be interested to go through the materials since your body and mind are already exhausted.
Keep your study space organise.
If you are like me, and have a messy desk 24/7, keeping your study space organise can really help you. Make sure you have all the materials you need for that study session – textbooks, study notes, lecture slides, coffee, etc. With this, you do not have to go back and forth searching and taking your study materials.
