Studying for any exam can be difficult and stressful. In fact, studying is not as hard as it seems to be. The difficult part is concentration. Despite numerous attempts, the students are unable to concentrate properly on their studies. We are going to tell you some small and simple tips in this article which can really help you to concentrate better on your studies.
Effective study tips
What should be done so that studies do not seem to be a burden and become more enjoyable:
Best way to study and memorize: Study with a knowledgeable classmate
If there is a sensible and focused classmate, then you can study with him/her. Choose a study partner who is more knowledgeable and better in studies. You can compete with one another to find who can complete the task faster with accuracy, which helps to increase interest in the study pattern. With this tip, you will be interested to study.
Select the correct place to study
It is necessary to choose a quiet place with a suitable environment for study purposes. The place of study should be away from TV, pets, and distraction. For example, you cannot study properly when you in front of a TV because you only do your homework when the ads come in. By doing this, time is wasted and you cannot focus on your studies properly. Apart from this, you should have a comfortable chair and a good lighting system.
All important things to study should be on the study table
Your pencil, pen, highlighter, and books should be within your reach so that you do not get distracted during the study. Keep your study materials organized. There should not be anything that causes you to get up again and again.
Write down your study goals
First, think about how much work you have to do today. Write your goal first so that you know how much work you have to do today. Suppose, you have to read 100 pages this week, you can write on your list that today’s goal is to complete studying up to page 20.
Turn off cell phones and other electronic devices
To study effectively, it is important that you switch off using your phone or other electronic devices. If a computer and the internet are required for studying online, then only turn on your computer. Make yourself sure that keeping the phone off or away from you for some time will help you study properly.
Make a timetable
You can only focus on your studies when you have time to handle all the work on time, therefore it is necessary that you make a timetable. You can take 5-10 minutes of short breaks after studying for 30-60 minutes to study effectively. Making a timetable will also help you with proper time management.
Changing work in between
Try to change the subjects every one hour. Continuous studying of the same subject for a long time tend to become monotonous and boring. A new topic will create interest and motivation which will help you ineffective studying.
All the points discussed above are in one way essential to be followed if you want to study effectively. To help you more, here I am giving you 10 direct commandments and methods to study effectively in order to rank higher during the examinations. Remember, studying effectively is not a matter of chance but of choice.
The below-discussed commandments are sure to help you throughout your life, just follow them lifelong or at least as long as you study.
1. Making a study schedule:
Some students have a habit of procrastination. They waste 2-3 days in a week doing nothing and then spending maximum hours of days studying in the remaining days of week or month. This is not a good habit to be nurtured for long. The best way is to dedicate certain hours of each day for the studies. Nourishment, sleep, and socialization is also an important part of each day. To manage the day keeping all this in mind.
This is true that some students have to devote some extra hours depending on their learning speed and skills related to the subject matter, but not the whole day for sure. Few hours of study each day will keep you motivated on the path of learning for longer periods of time. Make a schedule to suit all your study needs. Make a list of all your needs beforehand and then start making a schedule.
2. Fix a setting for studying:
This is a very important aspect to be kept in mind if you want to study effectively for long. An appropriate setting with the right surrounding helps to increase the concentration power. First of all, identify which surrounding helps you to learn more interactively, passionately, and effectively.
Some students like to learn while roaming in the garden, while some others like to sit at the desk and concentrate on the book in the straight light of the lamp. So, first of all, identify which setting suits you the most. Once you are clear that try to study at the same surrounding at the same time every day. It is a shared experience that when one studies at the same place at the same time every day, he/she develops a habit of that and it increases their concentration power.
3. Make all the resources available near you:
Now, you have fixed the place and time of the study. The next step is to equip that place with all the material that you may need while studying. It is very annoying to get up from the place or leave the place of study all the time to get one thing or the other. Keep pencils, pens, a dictionary, snacks, liquid to drink, stapler, paper clips, etc. with you at the place of study. This helps to avoid distractions and makes the study process quick.
4. Practice more without waiting for any inspiration:
Most of the students solve the questionnaires or solve the assignments only when the teacher directs them or if the exams approach nearer. This is the wrong psychology that needs to be done away with. Does an Athlete practice until the formal announcement of some sporting event? No. An athlete practices daily in order to remain prepared for any competition which may arise at any time in a year. So, you have to prepare like an athlete. Don’t wait for the inspiration to get motivation. Keep practicing daily as if exams are nearing.
5. Make and take notes effectively:
See, during the times of the exam, notes work like an insurance policy, which saves you against forgetting the learned material. Teachers in one way or the other always emphasize the important topics to be learned for exams. You just need concentration and effective notes taking skills. Without notes, it is very difficult to revise the whole material just before the exams or assignments. When the content of 200 to 300 pages can be summarized in 3-4 pages, isn't it a better deal to do so?
6. Using engaging and interactive learning methods:
Now, you have made all the preparations necessary for the study like making a schedule, fixing the place of study, taking the notes, keeping the resources with you all the time, etc. It is now the time of proper learning. Learning requires different skills than notes taking. Notes taking requires one to listen properly and then write it down in a systematic way so that everything can be learned easily afterward. Learning requires some more effort. Learning needs understanding and memorization. Memorization is a difficult part to deal with. For this, you need to train your mind with memory training.
There are various methods known to increase the memorization power of the students like using flashcards, making acronyms to remember words in a specific order, use mnemonic devices like graphs, spellings, images, etc., speaking out loud in front of the mirror, etc. Find the best method or you that helps you to memorize things for long. You can use a combination of different methods also. For e.g., for remembering the date, you can use different body parts and relate the date to that, while for remembering the different parts of the flower, you can make a diagram of that and then label it.
7. Always keep yourself updated about what is already done and what needs to be done:
It is important to know what you have done and what needs to be done. Some say that we always remember what we have already done, so why we need to note it done? Yes, it is true that what we have done, we remember, but in the longer run, we can even forget that. The probability of forgetting is also high. Writing down what has been done, also helps to give us a clear idea about what needs to do. So it is always advised that one must remain abreast of what he/she has learned/done and what needs to be done.
8. Keep everything organized:
Those students who are found to be organized are also found to be more successful in the examinations. Orderliness and high grades seem to be directly proportional to each other. If you keep your notes, notebooks, semester calendar, resources, etc. organized all the time, it helps to find your material at the right time. This saves time and energy, and at the same time, it saves the student from getting nervous during the examinations. During examinations, you cannot waste even an hour if you really want to succeed. And who knows it better than you?
9. Try over-learning:
It has been observed by teachers and students in general that more is the over learning of a material the more and longer it is remembered. For e.g. we overlearn the alphabets in our childhood. So do we need to give any stress on our mind when we grow old to remember the alphabet? No. It is because we recite and write the alphabets so many times in our childhood that it gets engraved in our memory. The same is the case when we grow old. More do we overlearn by reading, writing, touching, hearing, etc., the more is the probability of remembering the material for a longer period of time. So the rule is, overlearn whenever possible.
10. Revise and review the material again and again:
When we learn new material, we feel that it is fresh in our memory and we will remember it all the time. But after two weeks, if you test your memory for the material learned, you will find that you do not remember even 50% of what has been learned. It is because you haven't revised the material.
For e.g., when we learn a new word, we feel that we will remember it for a lifetime and will be able to use it whenever we need to. But if we do not make use of or revise the word again, the probability of forgetting the word increases with the elapsing time. The same is the case with the learning of the class material or notes. We feel that we will remember the material we have learned for long, but forget it quickly. Revising what has been learned safeguards a student against forgetting. If you do not want to waste your effort of learning that you have invested for once, revise the learned material at least twice or thrice to remember it for long. It increases retention.
The above 10 commandments are not new and are frequently directed by the teachers as well in the class. But out of our ignorance, we do not pay attention to them and at the last moment, we regret doing so. If you do not want to waste your time regretting later, follow these commandments and make them a part of your life. They are sure to help you to study effectively and help you grab the best marks during the time of practical tests or examinations.