5 TIPS TO STUDYING EFFECTIVELY

Everyone is different. Different methods work for different people; the following are only suggestions on improving your current studying techniques.

1. Make a Study Plan: Time is precious. Nobody is more aware of this than the student who hasn’t studied a thing until the night before an exam. By then, of course, it might be too late. The key to breaking the cycle of cramming for tests is to think ahead and create an effective study plan. Not only will this help you get organised and make the most of your time, it’ll also put your mind at ease and eliminate that nasty feeling you get when you walk into an exam knowing that you’re not at all prepared. As the old saying goes, "fail to prepare and be prepared to fail".

2. Study At The Right Time: Don't study later than the time you usually go to sleep, you may fall asleep or be tempted to go to sleep, instead try studying in the afternoon or early evening. If you are a morning person, then try studying in the morning.

3. Frame It In Your Own Way: Imagine reading back over your notes. They’re a complete mess. Your chicken-scratches don’t help, sure. But there’s a bigger problem. The ideas don’t really seem to flow in a way that makes sense to you.

Guess what? That’s ok. There’s not really one best way to present ideas for everyone, because our minds are all different. But, you can reorganize the ideas your way.
Rearrange the ideas. Represent them in a manner that clicks for you. Pull out the major points and make an outline. Put them in a table. Draw a diagram. Create a concept map. Re-visualise them in a way that you understand best. Make them yours.

4. Establish a Study Routine: Your study routine is comprised of more than planning what to learn and when. One of the main concerns is your study environment.

Find a place to study that is quiet and with few distractions. Alternatively, you could also try switching it up by sitting in a different place in your school library every day and seeing how this works for you.
There really aren’t any hard and fast rules to play by when it comes to best times for studying or how long you should work for. Everybody is different, so the best way to establish a routine is to try different things and see what works best for you, then modify your routine for maximum learning effectiveness.

5. Finally, ALWAYS Be Positive: Your attitude has a big impact on the level of study that you get done and the effectveness of your learning process. If you keep saying that you can’t do it and won’t commit to the idea of learning, attempting to study is only likely to become more difficult. Instead, focus your mind on positive outcomes and on how you can use your own individual strengths to achieve them. When you think positively, the reward centres in your brain show greater activity, thereby making you feel less anxious and more open to new effect.

Remember: PUSH YOURSELF BECAUSE-NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT FOR YOU BEST!!!

Listed above are some of the major tips on your way to a successful habit. If you find out that you are unable to adapt to the above tips, you can try out the SQ3R Method.