With winter term well under way we all have big dreams of academic success. However, as we all know those dreams can crumble pretty quickly. We all fall back into old habits, and repeat old mistakes. So here are five common mistakes people make when studying, and five ways to correct them. Here’s to making 2019 your best year!
Time Management
Don’t prepare to study for extended periods of time/ Do use 25-5 min method
Lots of students tend to cram during exam season, or they set ambiguous, difficult-to-achieve study goals. We’ve all been there, holing up in the library and telling ourselves we’ll study for the next six hours straight. This is a definite Don’t. It is so easy to get distracted when we set ambiguous goals, and suddenly that 10 minute break has turned into a 3 hour Netflix session. Furthermore, it becomes easy to trick ourselves into thinking we studied, after all we just sat in the library all evening.
Instead Do use the Pomodoro Method is a simple and effective way to manage your time. You focus on one task for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break, and repeat! After a couple of repeats you can up the ante and increase the 25 minutes to 30. This method was a lifesaver for me this past term. Instead of feeling like I’m studying endlessly and not getting anywhere, I felt accomplished every half hour. 25 minutes is just short enough that you won’t be tempted to take breaks in between, and 5 minutes is just long enough to give your brain a breather.
Don’t pull last-minute all-nighters / Do start ahead of time
Don’t study for an exam the night before. Lots of students, especially those new to university, tend to cram the night before and exam, till the early hours of the morning. This is not an ineffective way to study, very little information is retained this way. Furthermore, the exhaustion that sinks in after pulling an all-nighter is detrimental to exam performance.
What you can try Doing instead is starting ahead of time. Study a chapter or two every day in the weeks leading up to an exam helps not only to retain more information, but also helps reduce stress. By starting ahead of time you can figure out which areas are most difficult and put more time in. It also gives you time to ask questions on anything you’re unsure of. Hopefully this way you’ll be energized and confident walking into the exam. Remember to get a good night’s sleep, and relax the night before. Watch Netflix, eat a great dinner, and feel assured that you studied all the material already.
Retaining Information
Don’t copy notes verbatim/ Do reorganize information and create schemas
Copying notes seems to be a go-to studying technique for many students, myself included. Well, Don’t. Copying notes verbatim simply puts our brains on autopilot, and ultimately makes it difficult to really retain information. It is this exact reason that makes it so appealing. It is a relatively easier and more relaxing form of studying, our brains process relatively little information. I’m sure we’ve all sat in an exam, stared at a question and remembered exactly where the information was on the notes, just not what it said.
What we should Do is reorganize information and create schemas. Try looking over class notes and PowerPoints, then putting those away and writing notes regarding what you just read. I personally find drawing diagrams very useful in making higher-level connections. Making those connections allow us to build schemas, which in turn allow us to better organize and retain information. Instead of rote memorization we are now pushing ourselves to understand the big picture, and where various bits of information fall within it.
Don’t rely on reading notes over and over / Do teach the information to others
Another favourite study method is rereading notes over and over and over again. Again this is a Don’t. Rereading notes can be helpful in the early stages of studying, where you’re familiarizing yourself with the content, but not so helpful when it comes to really retaining and understanding the content. This is similar to rewriting notes, we prefer it because it allows us to shut down our brain, which is precisely why it doesn’t work.
Try instead teaching the information to someone else. When you Do this you’re making higher level connections – to be able to explain the information you have to fully understand it. This works best with someone who is in your field, they’ll be able to understand what you’re talking about and they’ll be able to ask inquisitive questions to further test your learning. Of course, you can try this with anybody else, friends, family, dogs, cats, even stuffed animals. As long as you put in effort and enthusiasm it’s bound to work.
Working it Out
Don’t just follow the norms/ Do figure out what works for you
What you Don’t want to be doing is following what others are doing, when it really doesn’t work for you. When I was in high school I would study like everybody else, writing notes, cramming, because that’s what I thought studying entailed. Only when I figured out what worked for me was I able to excel and destress. Social media is flooded with memes on procrastinating, and how nobody ever gets all their work done. Don’t take this as an indicator as to how most people study, and definitely don’t take this is an indicator as to how you should study.
Most importantly Do what works for you. When you’re studying, think about whether the studying techniques you’ve been using are actually effective. Assess if you’re being as productive as possible, if you’re using your time as efficiently as possible. Figure out what works for you and stick to it! You know yourself better than anyone else, so trust yourself to know what’s best.
There you have it! Hopefully some of these tips will work for you and help you achieve the academic success you desire this term. Make this year your year!
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