How to Study Effectively

Studying can be a daunting task. Whether you have an upcoming exam or are trying to improve grades, studying is a great way to achieve success; however, there is a stigma that the longer you revise, the more information you will take in. This is simply not true.

A great way to revise is to work smarter, not harder. This can save countless hours of you trying to take in information with no success. A way to learn smarter is by doing things you enjoy and learning at the same time. For example, if you like songs and you are studying for a science test, it would be a great idea to find an educational song for the topic of your revision; this will help your brain to maintain information, as you will think of the song and its educational lyrics in the exam.

Another way of studying is by getting more sleep. Sleep is a very important factor in maintaining information. If you study for a long time, but you sleep for a short amount of time, your brain will remember little of the information in the morning; however, if you study for a little bit and sleep a full night's sleep, you will be more likely to remember the information in the morning. Sleep is an essential part of retaining information and should not be overlooked in a study schedule.

Rewarding yourself is also a great way to study. For example, if you test yourself on a subject and you get the majority of the answers correct, you should give yourself a reward, for example, a chocolate bar. The brain loves rewards and will work harder to retain the information to get more rewards; however, you must be disciplined, otherwise you will eat the snack anyways and your brain will do the exact opposite.

Studying in groups is also a fantastic way to study; you get to test each other and learn new information that you didn't know beforehand. It is also a fun method, as you and your friends can develop study games, and fun is a very effective way of retaining information. However, it is easy to be sidetracked, so you and your friends must maintain discipline and not go off task.

Another way of studying is by setting an interval. The method goes like this; set the task to be done, then set a timer to be 25 minutes long, work on the task until the timer ends, then take a five minute break, and after every four breaks, you should take a longer break between 25-30 minutes long. Intervals help you to maintain information, and studying in short bursts doesn't overload your brain in a short space of time. Intervals allow your brain to relax and prepare for more information that is being taken in.

Lastly, getting rid of distractions is very important to study effectively. Turn off your phone so you wont get distracted by notifications. Distractions can help you waste time while you could have been studying. Turning off all devices while studying is a very effective method of overcoming this hurdle, and you could possibly place your devices in a locked container or at the furthest point from you in your house so that you will not get the urge to use your phone.

Furthermore, healthy students are better learners. Research shows that nutrition affects student achievement. Being energised is very important to studying, as it gives energy to do so.

These are all very effective methods of revising, and using all these methods simultaneously will make sure that your studying quality is the best that it can be.