11 Study Secrets Every Student Should Know

Being a student can be exhausting

Exhaustion, Enervation, and Excuses; the three “E’s” that mess with your success. We all want to do yoga, travel, and most of all to get good grades after studying for hours. We all want time, comprehension, and a stable study routine, but sometimes obtaining those requires effort; mental and physical. Our day to day lives can be very chaotic, time, and energy-consuming as well as stressful and demanding. Often-times, people forget the importance that being healthy and active has not only body appearance and positivity but mind regeneration and soul connection. To overcome these three E’s and find stability in ourselves, as students, it’s important to stop making excuses, maintaining a routine, and being consistent with our goals.

Here are the best study tips to consider when preparing for an exam:

1) Put the Phone Away

Your phone is the biggest distraction and will really get in your way if the distraction is what you are trying to avoid. Hide it if that’s what it comes down to. Turn it off and put it in a different room. Trust me, this will save you a lot of wasted time browsing social media when a student like you should be studying.

2) Limit Distractions

Again, if you see anything that has the potential to distract you, then hide it. This can be a game, earphones, a book, or even a person. Make sure you arrange your priorities from most important to least and go by studying while following that list.

3) Take Breaks

Your brain will need breaks when studying for a long period of time. You won’t be able to concentrate if you do not allow yourself to take a breather between hours. Take a stretch, do some yoga, a quick workout break, or a healthy snack are all great ways to regenerate motivation and brain capacity.

4) Focus on Key Words

Keywords will help you narrow down the information to what will be on the test/ what is most important. Sometimes concepts are harder to grasp than single words, so build sentences or concepts based on the keyword you are focusing on.

5) Make Study Guides

As a student, study guides will be your best friends! I promise. Nothing is more helpful than seeing all the information from each chapter or each topic on one page. 

6) Reach Out

Sometimes, studying with friends is a lot more beneficial than studying alone. You can learn from them if you are having trouble understanding complex topics. 

7) Draw it Out

Drawing can help visual learners put a picture with the word/topic. You will be able to use color and artsy ways to better comprehend what is going on. 

See Also

20 Mistakes Every University of Illinois Freshman Makes

8) Plan your Study Session

PLAN! PLAN! PLAN! I highly recommend planning your session based on the amount of chapters/ topics you would like to cover. 

9) Teach What You Lean

This is a great way to fully understand concepts. Once you are able to teach others, you can be confident in what you know!

10) Build a Routine

Following a routine, that we stick to and that we love will get rid of the second E: Exhaustion. Of course, when we begin something new it is hard to keep up, due to its unfamiliarity as well as the bizarreness this new habit can have on the brain and the body. Research shows that it takes sixty-six days for a system or practice to become an automatic, conventional routine. How long it takes to form a new habit is also widely dependent on one’s behavior, personality, and circumstances. In a study done by a school in Washington, it took anywhere from eighteen days to two-hundred and fifty-four. If we create a routine that works for us, based on our school-work, our jobs, and our families, then sticking to it will not be a problem. For example, if you would like to start working out and going to the gym for one hour per day, then you must create time for it. Whether exchanging one hour of sleep in the morning for an hour of exercise or at night or even during the middle of the day if your schedule allows you to. Motivation and routine go hand in hand because after a while that motivation becomes routine.

11) Last but not least, Get Rid of the Three E’s

We, humans, are fantastic at picking from our pre-prepared book of ready-to-use excuses to limit our capabilities: whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. Indeed, there are days where we become couch potatoes with food all around us as we binge to our favorite TV show. There are days that fatigue is so prominent that we sleep all day. There are days where we make excuses for ourselves to feel better about our decisions: “but it must be alright if I just skip one day at the gym”, “I have a lot of work to do, which is more important than burning a few calories.” Those days aren’t bad, they’re days where our minds and bodies just need to feel the importance of relaxation. Sometimes when we are given this “get out of jail free card”, we perform better from then on. However, if these days seem to be your only days, then that’s when it becomes a problem. Yes, having cheat days once in a while is not only healthy for the brain, but also the body. That’s not the problem, the issue is making excuses for ourselves and our ego. Making a change in this “excuse-making” behavior is challenging because it is a subconscious process that requires conscious effort. Remember, making excuses, especially as a student, can be controlled, and it only takes so much to refuel your awareness, self-love, and mental strength – without even having to try so hard.

Good luck to all my students, hope this helps!

Thank you for reading, please feel free to share this with your friends and comment on what works for you!