Is it really possible to study efficiently?
When it comes to studying, we know that it’s hard, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you have an exam coming up, or an essay you’ve been struggling to research, you’re definitely in the right place. If you want to learn how to study effectively for exams, you’ll definitely want to study this article well.
As we approach 2020, demands in schools are climbing, and that means that the workload climbs with it. While an exam may be intimidating, you don’t need to worry, because we have your back.
Therefore, today, we’ll be showing you a couple of great tips and tricks to help you study more effectively. If you want to pass a final exam, or even if you’re studying for a professional designation, these tips will definitely help you walk out of the room with the grade you want.
We’re not going to guarantee anything, because this is a two way street, which means you’ll still need to put some work in.
We’ll break everything down for you, and we’ll be going over some great study tips such as:
- Taking planned out breaks
- Teaching what you think you know
- Taking exams with similar content
- Studying a group setting
- Taking care of your body
- How long you should study for in general
- A few brief organization tips
Not all of these are great for everyone, so make sure that you take the time to see what works for you, and always feel free to come back here as a guide. Now, without wasting any of your valuable study time, it’s time to break these tips down.
Take planned breaks
When it comes to studying, there is always a sense of urgency. This is especially true if you’ll be up all night trying to cram information into your brain. So while it might seem like a great idea to power through your study session, you might want to take your time instead. So in this section, we’ll be showing you how to fit breaks into an effective study routine.
The 90/20 rule
If you’ll be studying for a chunk of time, more than 4 hours, you’ll need to take a break at some point. Unfortunately, a lot of people go about this the wrong way, and if breaks are done wrong you’ll lose focus. The science behind this method is simple, and a lot of it has to do with the way our brains work. Ready for a science lesson? If you’re studying the brain, consider this a bonus lesson.
The brain consumes glucose, as do other cells, to perform tasks like focusing. The interesting thing about this process is that your brain will actually burn through that glucose in about an hour. Therefore, if you want to stay focused throughout the study session, you should always give your brain at least 20 minutes to recharge. Plus, breaks sound a whole lot more fun when they’re helpful, right?
The 60/20 rule
The 60/20 rule will also serve the same purpose. Everyone’s brain works differently, so play around with these two methods before you commit to one. If your brain needs a refresh after an hour, you don’t want to push yourself. Therefore, you’ll need to gauge these methods out based on your tendencies.
Taking a break is an essential part of studying. We know that you want to get it all done super fast, but you need to give your brain time to rest. It doesn’t have to be a long time, but interval studying will make sure what you’re studying is remembered come exam day.
Try to teach what you already know
If you really know the information you’re studying, you should be able to teach it to others. This is why teachers are able to teach in the first place, because they’re experts in the topic. So if you ever want to know how prepared you are, try explaining it to someone else. Unfortunately, if they look at you like you have 10 heads, you’ll probably need to hit the books again.
How should I go about this?
Obviously you’ll need someone to help you, and to be quite honest with you, finding someone uneducated in the subject is a good idea. This is due to the fact that they’ll have little to no understanding of the topic, and if you can teach it to them, you’ll definitely be in a great spot come exam day. While it’s okay to use a study group to do this, starting from scratch may be a much better idea.
If you’ll be teaching someone else, make sure they know that they can provide you feedback. If they just agree with you, the process will be in vain, so make sure they ask you plenty of questions. The more questions you can answer, the better off you’ll be come exam day. Practice makes perfect right?
Taking exams with similar content
One of the best ways to gauge your readiness for an exam is to practice on an older one. This is one of the single most important options, because it will make sure that you’re familiar with the questions that may arise. You don’t need to go too crazy, but if you’re getting most of the practice questions right, chances are you’re ready for the exam.
How much should I take?
There is no set number for the amount of practice exams you should take. If you feel comfortable after 5, so be it, you’re good to go. The real key here are the grades you’re getting on these practice exams. Therefore, a good way to gauge your progress is to measure your average. If you’re consistently getting 80-90% on practice exams, with a wide variety of different questions on the topic, you’ll probably get the same grade on your exam.
Where can I find practice exams?
If you’re studying with a textbook, then you can find a lot of these exams towards the end of the book. Most of them will have answer keys, which will make it easy to check your answers to see how you did. The best way, though, is to hop on the good old internet. You’ll find plenty you’ll practice exams, and the questions will come in a wide variety. This will make sure you’re prepared for anything come exam day. Try using different resources to get a wide variety.
If you’ll be taking practice exams, take one before you study, and use that as a guide. This should never be your primary study method, but it will go a long way once you study for a bit. Think of a practice exam as a progress tracker for your studies.
Study with a group
If you’re studying for a big exam, and your peers are as well, you’ll want to try studying in a group. This is a great idea, because it will help you bounce ideas off of each other. Remember when we talked about teaching what you know? This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
How large should the group be?
There are no size requirements, and even studying with just one peer will do the trick, but you want to make sure you’re getting work done the whole time. This is why studying with only one peer is difficult, because it can lead to a lack of focus. Therefore, a group of 4 will likely do the trick, and is not too many people to keep up with. Keep a close knit study group, and you’ll definitely watch your exam scores skyrocket.
What’s too big of a group?
If you’re curious about the most people you can have, that really depends on the group. When making a study group, you’ll want to understand everyone’s characteristics to make sure it’s efficient. For this very reason, a group of over 6 people can start to become dangerous, because focus on the task might start to decline.
You’ll want to avoid people like:
- Jokers
- Slackers
- People who lack ambition
- People who are looking to wrap up early
These personalities might make the group work more smoothly, but they can also cause the group to be less efficient.
If you’ll be using a group to study, make sure you choose wisely, because you want to be focusing on the task at hand most of the time. Therefore, a close knit group is a better option in this case.
Take care of yourself
If you don’t take care of yourself, your studying will all be for nothing. If you’re dehydrated, malnourished, or just plain tired, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. Luckily, we know some great ways to keep yourself healthy on a study bender, so you’ll want to pay close attention to this section.
It all starts with sleep
Sleep is going to be the foundation of your health, and it will also be the baseline of your mental function. If you’re tired, come exam day, you’ll definitely be in a world of trouble. The human body needs between 6-8 hours of sleep to operate properly, and too much or too little can ruin your brain’s ability to focus. So if you were planning to stay up all night for an exam, you might want to avoid that at all costs.
Here are some of the negative impacts that a lack of sleep will bring:
- Decreased memory
- Reduced motor function
- Trouble staying focused
- A headache
- Pain in your eyes
- Drowsiness
- Fatigue
Keep in mind that these are only a few ailments that come with a lack of sleep, but to be completely honest, any one of those can ruin your chances of passing.
Stay hydrated
This might be part of your normal waking routine, but if it’s not, you might want to start drinking ample amounts of water. For the human body to run efficiently, you need to drink between 8-9 glasses of water per day. The number varies per person, but that’s a safe amount to start with.
Now, while you might have to use the bathroom more, you’ll definitely receive a boost in your cognition. Plus, when it comes to studying, cognition is exactly what you need. Therefore, if you want your brain to retain information, make sure that you have plenty of water to work with. Not only will this help you study better, but it will have you feeling better come exam day.
Eat enough food, and make sure it’s brain food
Finally, the last portion of taking care of yourself has to do with eating the right amount of food. Not only do you need to eat the right amount, but you also need to keep an eye on your nutrition. This is due to the fact that your body uses different foods differently, so you’ll want to pay close attention to the foods we list for you here.
Here are some great foods you can use to give you an extra edge before exam day:
- Eggs
- Avacado (on toast is delicious)
- Chocolate (dark is your best bet)
- Blueberries
- Walnuts
- Fish (omega 3 is golden when it comes to studying)
- Berries (you can get creative with your choices)
- Coffee (while you shouldn’t overdo it, coffee can really help you remain focused)
When it comes to food, while that bag of chips might seem appealing, it might not be the right food for your brain. You’ll want to make sure that the food you eat includes plenty of healthy nutrients. Also, when it comes to studying, never skip breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day for a reason. You should also avoid energy drinks that can cause you to crash, because they can end your study session before you even get started.
If you’ll be trying to cram a solid study portion in, you’ll need to prepare your body first. Always make sure you get enough sleep, drink plenty of water, and fill up your belly. If you do this right, not only will your eyes stay open longer, but you’ll crush it on exam day.
How long you should study in general
Studying for 8 hours won’t work for everyone, and while we did touch on breaks, some study session lengths are just unsustainable. So if you’re curious about how long you should study for, you’ll definitely want to stay focused for this section.
We went over the right break method, but not the exact amount of time. When it comes to studying, though, it’s actually best to break it up over the course of many days. A study session before an exam is always a good idea, but you’ll be much better off if you start studying a week or two prior. This will net you much better results as opposed to cramming everything in a night or two prior to the exam. As for the length of those sessions, well, we’ll get into the details in just a second.
How long should a study session be?
If you’ll be studying in a spread out way, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t study for more than 4 hours. This will make sure that you don’t burn yourself out, and will make retaining information so much easier. You should also prioritize topics, and make sure that you break each section of the exam by topic. Not only will this help you learn, but it will help you make good use of your time.
What if I have to cram?
If it’s already too late, there is no need to worry, because we have you covered there as well. If you’ll need to cram information, you’ll want to limit the amount you try to cram in. Therefore, if your exam is tomorrow, try having two separate 6 hour sessions. This will allow you to absorb more information, and will be much more effective than studying for 12 hours straight.
When it comes to time, while you may have a lot of it, you never really want to burn yourself out. Sure, you can use breaks to help you manage, but studying for 12 hours straight is always a terrible idea. Think about it… how much information from the first 3 hours will you really remember? Choose your study session lengths wisely, and you’ll do much better come exam day.
Organization
Finally, our last tip is organization. This can be done in many ways, but we have a couple of great tips for you to keep yourself organized throughout your studies. We’ll be presenting these in a nice easy to read list for you.
Some great organization tips are as follows:
- Keeping flashcards handy is always a good idea
- Use highlighters to highlight key topics, and bright colors are well received by the brain
- Use dividers to keep your binder organized (if using one)
- If you’re using a notebook, be sure to tab important pages
- Color code as much as you can, this way you know where to look
- You can even try rewriting your notes, because this will make things easier to read if you wrote them quickly
When it comes to organization, everyone is different, so try using some techniques you’re already familiar with. Then, aside from those techniques, try implementing some of ours to help you condense your information properly. You’ll save time this way, and you’ll be much more prepared for exam day.
When it comes to organization, you’ll want to make sure that you keep things nice and clean. If you know where the information is, you’ll have a much easier time when it comes time to study.
Recap
We know that we threw a lot of information at you, so if you ever feel lost or confused, please feel free to revisit this article as a guide. When it comes to your exams, you don’t need to be alone, and sometimes having someone to count on can make all of the difference. Well… we want to be that someone.
As we mentioned in the beginning, not all of these tips will work for everyone, so always make sure that you test out which options work well for you.
While it may seem hard to pass an exam, especially when you have no where to begin, it really doesn’t have to be this way. If you follow these tips you’ll be perfectly fine, and that exam will meet its demise.
Now that you know the methods, how will you tweak your study plan for the next coming exam?
