Ah, yes, exam season: the true nightmare before Christmas. Over the years, I have gathered a few tips that help me make the most of my study time. I am by no means an expert, but I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to share some of my tips with fellow students – at least we’re all miserable together, right?
Here are my top 5 study tips:
1. Manage Your Time
We’re all guilty of waiting until the last possible moment to study, but cramming is proven to have poor results and will also lead to unnecessary stress. Instead, break up your studying as much as you can and start early. Focus on working on each subject a couple of hours each day. By the time your exam rolls around, you’ll feel relaxed and confident that you covered all of the material.
2. Rewrite your class notes
Personally, this helps me a lot more than just reading my notes. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it’s worth it. I find that the material sinks in a lot more and is thus easier to remember. I also find it useful because something I didn’t understand during lecture may be clear to me now. But, I want to stress that you actually write your notes – studies have shown that typing is less effective in memory retention.
3. Take Breaks
Like the rest of your body, your brain can become exhausted if you overwork it, which results in less productive study time. Set goals for yourself (i.e I’ll read this chapter or go through these notes) and then take a quick break – half an hour max. During your break, do something you enjoy; grab a snack, watch a YouTube video, call your mom, whatever makes you happy. Now the opposite to this, however, is that during your study sessions, try to have complete focus by putting your phone out of your reach or temporarily blocking certain websites (like Facebook) from your computer.
4. Use outside resources
This may not be possible for every class depending on how niche it is, but for the most part I find this to be valuable. One of the greatest perks of being students in the technological age is that we have access to thousands of sources of information at the click of a button. I like watching YouTube videos about key points in my class, or reading other people’s opinions on the subject matter. This can help difficult concepts become clear or allow you to consider something you didn’t think about before. Use everything you can!
5. The night before, get a good night’s sleep and have a healthy breakfast in the morning
Sleep is critical to brain performance. If you only get two hours of sleep the night before, your brain will not work to the best of its ability during the exam. Aim for eight hours and leave enough time for yourself in the morning to make a breakfast full of healthy protein, fats, and carbs.
Not all of these tips will work for you, but I hope that at least some of them do. We’re so close, HC UBC – you’ve got this.