Scientifically Proven Tricks To Study Better (and faster)
Tags: Students, Study, Tips, Tips And Tricks

As this blog is not only about administration but also about learning, this time I am going to leave you tips and methods that you can apply in your study time. No matter what you are dealing in with your studies proofreading, writing, editing, essay, assignments you name it and this guide will help you do it.

This article will be divided into tips that you will be able to apply in a general way and methods that you will be able to carry out depending on the subject of study. Let’s start.

Organize the study

Before opening any book you will have to organize yourself with the subject, which implies asking yourself: “What do I have to learn?” and “How am I going to do it?” For this I recommend that you obtain the following information:

• Academic Calendar: schedules, beginning and end of the course, date of partial and final exams.

• Information on the subjects: you must find out if the content of the subject is theoretical or rather practical, its complexity and the demands of the teachers.

I recommend that you create a calendar with the dates of exams and practical work to be delivered, which also includes personal events, such as a birthday, since they are events that will take away study time.

Place of study

You must have a space that is exclusively for studying. Your desk should be tidy and before starting, check to have everything you need at your fingertips. If it is at home, try to be away from television in a quiet environment devoid of distractions. Yes, I know it is not easy, but the idea is that you identify those factors that are harmful and minimize or eliminate them. Try proofreading an essay and your brother is sitting by and watching TV.

Some tips to achieve this: if you do not live you can only talk to your family or the people you live with so that they know and understand that at certain times you have to study. Another option is to take advantage of those quieter hours such as those in the early morning or at night. Going to the library or another similar place is another possibility.

Study sessions

When we begin to study, our attention span is high, but as the minutes go by, performance drops. That is why it is recommended to study for periods of time of 25 or 30 minutes maximum, since from that moment our attention and concentration begin to decrease. When pausing, our information retention capacity returns to an optimal level. In this way, you will implement the Pomodoro Technique, the method used to improve the management of time spent on an activity.

The technique consists of dividing the time into 25-minute intervals of activity, called Pomodoro, followed by 5 minutes of rest, with longer pauses every four Pomodoro. For instance, you are proofreading an article and its way too long to get it done in one sitting. You can divide the proofreading process in 25 minutes intervals. This is how you will be able to proofread the whole paper effectively and efficiently.

There are many mobile applications that fulfill this function, they will even allow you to silence all notifications while you study.

Study routines

You will have to prove in what schedule you pay more to study: in the morning, before going to study or going to work, in the afternoon or at night. Once this is done, try to always keep that schedule, since your body and mind will know that you have to study. Make yourself comfortable with your own schedule. Try to break it down like 1 hr for proofreading your written material, 1 hour for writing, 1 hour for reading and so on.

Another key point is to set study objectives, but not measured in hours but in the number of sheets or material to learn. If for example you say: “Today I am going to study four hours”, it is most likely that of that amount you actually study half the time, hopefully. On the other hand, if you say, “Today I am going to study six sheets”, you will have a measurable result: the number of sheets. The good thing about all this is that you can add certain rewards. For example: “If I learn these 6 sheets before 06:00 pm I can go out with my friends”; motivating you to study better and faster.

Study techniques

To memorize long-term, I will discuss some scientifically supported techniques that will help you remember concepts and facts more effectively. These techniques will help you enhance your memory as well as support you in doing tasks like writing, reading, proofreading and scheduling.

Perform self-assessments

A 2011 investigation published in the journal Science analyzed 3 commonly chosen methods to study: memorize and repeat, draw diagrams and schematics, and make evaluations.

To check effectiveness, they followed up on 200 students, who divided into 3 groups, each with a different study method. The researchers found that 3rd is the most effective, and improves learning volume by up to 50%

Conceptual maps

Using concept maps represents a great advantage since you can reduce a large number of sheets in one scheme. It is dynamic when reviewing, avoiding possible distractions that are generated by having too much text.

The steps to make a concept map are:

1. Identify the topic and the focus question that will help you develop your map.

2. Find enough information on the topic.

3. Highlight the main ideas.

4. Identify the concepts that you consider most important and necessary to explain your idea, summarizing them with keywords.

5. Begin to pose the most important concepts at the top of the sheet and the least important at the bottom.

6. You can relate concepts from different segments of the map through cross links and their respective link word.

7. When you’re done, read through the paper from beginning to end to make sure all relationships are correct and the focus question was answered.

8. Make the corrections that you consider pertinent.

According to a Harvard study, other methods such as handwriting and alternating study subjects can improve your performance.