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Good study tips -
How to study for exams
 1 Study in Short, Frequent Sessions.
It has now been proven that short bursts of
concentration repeated frequently are much
more effective than one long session. So,
even if you only have 10 minutes, DO IT.
Take a break. Then study another 10 minutes.
This “distributed learning” approach is
highly efficient because it honors the way
the brain likes to work. The brain needs
recovery and recharging time for “protein
synthesis.” The rest periods are when your
brain assimilates your effort. They are a
powerful tool which many teachers do not
acknowledge. To sit and study for hours and
hours is not only boring, it creates
fatigue, stress, and distraction. You cannot
learn if you are fatigued, stressed, and
distracted!
2 Take Guilt-Free Days of Rest.
This follows the same principle as above,
but on a longer, daily time cycle. The
reason for resting is to refresh oneself.
However, if you feel guilty (“I really
should be studying”) then your precious rest
period has been used to create more stress.
The brain will not absorb new data if it is
stressed. On days off from studying, really
enjoy yourself and do not feel bad about not
studying.
3 Honor Your Emotional State.
Do not study if you are tired, angry,
distracted, or in a hurry. When the brain is
relaxed, it is like a sponge and it
naturally absorbs data without effort. If
you are emotionally stressed, your brain
literally repels data. Forcing yourself to
sit and study when your mind is on other
things is a complete waste of time!
4 Review the Same Day.
When you learn something new, try to go over
the points the same day. If you wait a few
days and then make efforts to review the
material, it will seem much less familiar.
However, a quick review later in the day
will tend to cement the information into
your brain so that the next “official” study
session, you will recognize it and it will
seem easy.
5 Observe the Natural Learning Sequence.
Think of the activities you did when you
were in nursery school. Using your whole
arm, you probably performed the song that
goes: “Put your right hand in, Put your
right hand out.” Then, in kindergarten,
using your hand, you might have been asked
to draw lines or circles with crayons.
Later, in first grade, now holding the
pencil with your fingers, you drew smaller
lines and circles to create letters. Believe
it or not, this natural learning sequence,
moving from large to small, coarse to fine,
still remains effective even though we are
now older. When you study, if you try first
to grasp the big picture and then fill in
the details, you often have a more likely
chance of success.
6 Use Exaggeration.
Why does a baseball batter warm up by
swinging two or three bats? Why do runners
sometimes strap lead weights to their legs?
In both cases, exaggeration during practice
makes the final result seem easy. This
concept can be applied to studying anything.
For example, if you are studying spelling,
exaggerate the sound of the letters to help
to remember them. So for studying purposes,
“naive” would be pronounced “NAY-IVY.” By
getting used to this exaggerated
pronunciation, the correct spelling seems
obvious.
7 Prepare Your Study Environment.
If you require certain elements in your
environment to help you study, try to always
make these a priority. For example, do you
need special lighting, silence, music,
privacy, available snacks, etc.? Pay
attention to what works for you and repeat
it each time you study for best success.
8 Respect “Brain Fade.”
It is normal for the brain to have an
attrition rate and to forget things. This
does not mean that you are stupid! Instead
of getting mad about this fact, you should
expect it and deal with it accordingly. See
your brain as depositing layers of
knowledge. As you place more information on
top, the lower levels become older and less
available to your immediate recall. The
trick here is simply to review. Since we can
anticipate the eventual fading of our
memory, creating a review aspect to our
study session will solve the problem. Once
every two or three study sessions, simply
review older material that you will be still
needing to remember. Often, a quick overview
is sufficient. Sometimes, a complete
detailed study session of the older material
is required. “Brain fade” is completely
normal. (Unless you are gifted with a
photographic memory, which is extremely
rare.)
9 Create a Study Routine.
Generally, if you schedule certain times of
the day to study, you will get into a
routine and accomplish more. If you just
“fit it in” during your day, chances are
that there will never be any time. An
effective way to do this is to literally
mark it down in your datebook calendar as if
you have an appointment, like going to the
doctor. For example: “Tuesday 3-4:30 P.M. —
Study.”
10 Set Reasonable Goals.
One of the main reasons people do not reach
their goals is because they set them too
high. If you set goals that are manageable,
even if they seem too simple, you get in the
habit of accomplishing them and gradually
you can set higher goals. Also, recognize
the difference between long-term and
short-term goals. Set your vision on the
long-term dream, but your day-to-day
activity should be focused exclusively on
the short-term, enabling steps.
11 Avoid the Frustration Enemy.
Ironically, the quicker the person’s nervous
system, the faster they learn. Yet, this
fast nervous system also works overtime in
being self-critical. So they are the ones
who always think they aren’t going fast
enough! In contrast, the “Type B,” less
intense person who learns slower yet is more
self-accepting, ends up ultimately learning
the material in a shorter period of time.
This is because he/she doesn’t waste energy
blocking, getting upset, and thinking that
they’re not good enough — they simply keep
moving forward at a slower (but un-blocked)
pace.
These tips were prepared by Howard Richman
and are offered for free as a courtesy.
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