Many students are not effective learners and that’s why, today, I will go through tips on “how to study effectively”. There are no shortcuts in learning, but if you approach learning the wrong way, there can be more drawbacks than benefits.
That’s why, today, I will share the tips to master learning and help you become an effective learner.
There is a confusion among the students of this age. Many go for long sessions and then forget the material the very next day. Let’s get started with the tips to master learning and become an effective learner.
How To Study Effectively: 7 Tips To Master Learning
Learning Basics
How many times, you have found learning or studying boring? I guess, a lot of times. The real reason behind the thinking is how students approach studying.
Studying should always be a task where you learn with joy. Only then, you can retain most of the learning. According to researchers, being the right mindset is the game changer here.
In short, studying smart is the key here. If you force yourself to study, the session will be full of frustration and you can find yourself in a position, where neither you learn anything nor you are in a position to pursue more.
The motivation wears off, and the end result is not warranted in any case.
To overcome this, you need to simplify the process of studying. Understand that studying is like playing a game. If you are not in the mood of studying, just skip it, until you feel right doing it.
Also, distraction is what makes studying a lot tougher. Every one of us has something in life going around us. It is better to keep those aside and study for the moment. You will always have the time to fix other issues with life.
Focus is what makes studying more fulfilling and joyful.
So, how to create a mindset for studying? Try to do the following.
- Think you can grow. Learning is all about expanding your previous knowledge. Many of us are constrained by the fact that we are not capable of learning, and that this negative thinking can really hamper you in a long run. Just keep negative thoughts aside, and focus on your abilities and skills. Positivity is the key here.
- Students are more likely to think adversely and put themselves in trouble when they find themselves short of time or notes or anything related to study. Thinking like, “I cannot do it” or “Why, I cannot learn X?” can really hamper the learning. It is better to focus on the task than trying to focus on the surroundings.
- Learning is full of failures and mistakes. Many students might feel disappointed when they find themselves not able to solve the problem on their first go. When mistakes are embraced, you will be more able to understand the learning process and not the end result. The Right answer is just the end point and not the reward — the reward is the learning process.
- Compare yourself and you are doomed. Comparing doesn’t yield anything, but can only fuel disgrace for own self, unnecessary jealousy and hampering your own learning. It is not a good idea to feel bad about yourself and underperform. Everyone is unique and there is no way the comparison can be done between two students and their skills or abilities. And, yes grades doesn’t tell you the truth. They are made for the system to judge your intelligence and how you fit in the system.
Chunked Sessions For the Win
If you are on the internet and finding it hard to read through a single article and changing tabs, checking Facebook or any other social media platform, you are now part of the generation where attention span is decreasing day by day.
The web has made human spans less compared to what we had. The attention spans are also true in studying. Chunks are the only way, one can refill their attention and then get back to learning with full potential.
In short, learning is chunked sessions of 25-30 minutes can easily make you more balanced, more focused with higher retention rate. In the end, the smaller sessions really help, and you should try to make your studying less of a marathon and more of small sprints. In the case of small sprints, you are more likely to reach your goal compared to that of the marathon.
Taking breaks is the key here. You refill your attention span and hence can come with more energy to complete the task at hand.
Find a dedicated place to Study
Studying is all about concentrating on the task at hand. How many times, you find yourself irritated or distracted by your surrounding?
It is always a bad idea to study in the computer room(not if you are using the computer to study), TV room or a room where there are people passing and talking every two minutes.
Choose a place that fits your style. Many people will find it easy to study in a coffee shop. Others require complete silence. Using campus grounds for studying is also a good idea. A dedicated place for studying will help you to learn better.
Note Down Important Facts and Concepts
Noting down concepts and fact can really help you understand them better. Facts, for example, are hard to remember and gets off the memory lane fast.
Also, rewriting your notes later and combining them to highlight important parts can help you gain more information in the long run.
There is no single way of taking down notes. Many people like to take notes in bullet points, others just like to write a long paragraph about the topic so that they can make better sense of the topic later on.
Going back to notes from time to time will help you gain an insight on the material and help you keep in the long term memory.
Schedule Your Studies
Like the way you like to play every day at a prescribed time, there are chances that our brain is wired to do certain activities at a certain time of the day.
Scheduling has its own benefits and if you aim to study at a certain time of the day, you are making your brain more trained to be in the study mode. This will help you take studying more of a routine than a hassle.
Also, keep in check that you don’t study for long hours. Our brain just cannot keep up with the information that is processed in long studying sessions. For me, it is always a 30 mins studying session, followed by a 5-10 mins break. In the break, I get up and walk around, see the scenery and make my mind feel less strained.
The idea of starting studies late or when the semester exams are knocking is a bad idea. You might be able to rack up some knowledge and pass the examination, but there is less to no chance of you remembering the information. This can hamper your understanding of your trade and will not help you to stay ahead of the race in the next semester.
Group Study
Group Studies have shown how powerful they are. If you keep practicing with your friends about the concepts and the facts that you learn in the class or during solo studying, you only reinforce them into your understanding and memory.
Also, discussing the topic can reveal many aspects that no one knew. Group studies are very effective if done right. Everyone in the group study should be serious and help each other as much as possible.
They should also test each other knowledge and plan ahead of time what they want to study in their next sitting.
Exercise Daily and Stay Fit
Learning how to keep your body healthy can easily help you gain an upper hand in studying/learning. If you don’t keep your body exercised, you will feel drowsy and not at the top of your game.
Learning when substituted with exercising is the best practice. It keeps your blood flow better and helps your release endorphins that keep your moods elevated and your brain active.
Eating habits should also be monitored for good health. A great brain should be accompanied by a great body, then only you really focus on the studying part.
Read Books
I don’t know many guides on effective learning on the internet forget to mention the effectiveness of reading books and never mention them.
Reading books can seriously hamper your ignorance and help you recite, review or increase your knowledge about a certain topic. Reading multiple books on a single topic can really help you gain insight on the topic from the perspective of different authors.
Wrapping Up
Learning/studying is a process and should be harnessed through the above tips. Using mnemonic device or technique can further help you keep track of all the concepts and facts, and make you a super student.
It is also a good habit to keep tabs on what you expect from the subject that you are studying. It is not a good idea to expect an “A” grade when you are not into the subject or just don’t like it.
In the end, it is all about studying smart than studying hard. I have also been into thinking that the more hours I put, the better I get. That’s wrong. Practicing is great, but overdoing is not. Keep a tab on your studying hours and always take breaks. Breaks are the most powerful thing that you can do while studying, so get up every 30 mins and see the world around with your newly gained knowledge.
Have any ideas that can aid in studying process? Comment below and let us know. Also, share the article with your fellow students! They will love it.
