Top 10 Scientific ways to Study smarter

Study isn't just for the night before an assignment's due or the night before an exam.

It's never too early or, too late to develop good study habits. The sooner you get into a good study groove, the easier everything will be and the more your chances of getting good marks will improve.

Better results mean more choice and opportunity.

For more than 100 years, psychologists have done research on which study habits work best. Some tips help for almost every subject.

Here are our top 10 tips for getting the most out of study.

1. Pick a place to study

Everyone has their own idea about the best place to study. Whether it's your bedroom or the library, find a study space that works for you and stick with it.

Set up your study space -- Your study space should be quiet, comfortable and distraction-free. It should make you feel happy and inspired. Decorate it with your favourite pictures or objects. If you want to listen to music or burn incense, pick a space that lets you do that.

2. Find The Right Time

Some people find they work best in the morning, some in the afternoon, and others find evening is their ideal time. Everyone has

their own time to study. Whether at night or after school. Find a regular study time and stick to it.

Find your best time – Some people work better in the morning. Others work better at night. Work out which time suits you and plan to study then. Don't study much later than your usual bedtime – pushing yourself late at night can make you too tired to study properly.

3. Study every day

If you study a little bit every day you'll be continually reviewing things in your mind. This helps you understand things. It also helps you avoid the stress of last-minute cramming.

Early in the year an hour or two a night might be enough to stay on top of things. Later in the year you might need to study more each day.

It’s usually better to do some work every day, rather than spend two days a week working frantically.

Why? - Because we all have more productive and less productive days. That’s just how it is. Some days you’re tired, or unmotivated, or you’d rather be outside in the sunshine. If you adopt a policy of ‘little and often’, you can afford to work more slowly on an unproductive day.

4.Plan ahead

Make sure you allow enough time for assignments and exam revision. At the beginning of each term, note down due dates and exam dates on a planner, and schedule in time for research, editing and final review.

Each week create a schedule that sets out specific and realistic study times. By putting set study sessions into your diary you will feel more inclined to stick to the routine and it will become second nature.

Make a plan and stick to it - Try to stick to a routine, too. Have a set time and place where you do schoolwork and studying. It may seem odd at first. But, by the time week two rolls around, it becomes a normal thing.

5.Plan your time

It helps to have some plans in motion so you can make the most of your study time.

Set alarms – Set alarms to remind you about your study plans. A regular reminder keeps you honest and your plans on track.

Make to-do lists – Lists break tasks down into manageable chunks. At the start of the week, make a list of the things that you need to have done by the end of the week. Make a to-do list at the start of each study session too, so that you're clear about what you need to be doing with your time.

Set time limits – Before you start your study session, have a look at your to-do list and give yourself a set time to spend on each task. If you don't get something done in the set time, consider whether it's the best use of your time to keep going with it, or to start working on something else.

6.Organise your notes

It helps to rewrite the key points of a class or subject as a diagram – try using a mind-map or flow chart, or colour coding the key elements of the topic. Then you can give it a quick glance before you go into an exam.

Keep Your Notes Clean - It's hard to focus if your notes are messy and covered in scribbled-out words. Rewrite your notes to keep them neat or type them out to make sure you can actually understand what you're reading.

Color Code Your Notes - Try taking notes and doing homework assignments with colored pens, markers, and highlighters. The colorful notes could improve your visual memory and allow you to access information from your brain during an exam more efficiently. Plus, having organized, color-coded notes makes reading through them so much easier!

Before starting your study session, make sure you’ve got all the books, login details and stationery you might need before you get going. Start calm, study calm!

7.Discover your learning style

Most of us have a preferred way of learning. Get to know the learning style you're most comfortable with and study in the ways you learn best.

Note that these styles are just a way to think about different studying techniques – they're not hard and fast rules that say you should only study in one way. Try each of these out and see which ways you prefer.

Auditory learners - They prefer to learn by listening. Try reading your notes aloud and discussing them with other people. You might like to record key points and play them back.

Visual learners - They prefer to learn by seeing. Try using colours in your notes and draw diagrams to help represent key points. You could try to remember some ideas as images.

8.Review and revise

At least once a week you should go back over the things you've studied in class. Thinking things over can help you to understand the concepts and help you remember when you need them the most.

Make your own study materials – Think up some practice exam questions or create your own flashcards to help you study. This way you learn it all twice: once when you make the study materials and once when you use them to revise.

Review your notes quickly and often - After a lecture or class, read through your notes quickly again. It helps store the information in your long-term memory.

9.Take breaks

It's important to take breaks while you're studying, especially if you're feeling tired or frustrated. Working too long on a task can actually decrease your performance.

When you take a break, make sure you get away from your desk or study space. A bit of physical – even just a walk around the block – can sometimes help you to look at a problem in a different way and could even help you to solve it.

Play Some Music - While music is a great stimulant for our brains, some music can overwhelm and exhaust them. That said, not all music is bad for studying. If you dislike the silence of a library or your roommate won’t turn the TV off, try putting in some headphones and listening to some classical or instrumental music while you’re studying.

10.Explain things to others

It helps you get things clearer in your head if you try to explain your answers verbally to people who do not know much about the subject. Your parents and annoying siblings could be useful for this!

Teach A Friend - What happens if you have difficulty finding a way to explain your answers or put your thoughts into words? This can be difficult, even if you're familiar with the material. Lecture to a friend, as this allows you to train and prepare your mind to explain complex topics. It's especially useful if your final consists of a speech or presentation.

Ask for help - If you're stuck on something, or something just doesn't seem to make sense, you can always ask for help. Talk to your teachers or lecturers about the things you don't understand. Talk to your friends and fellow students too.

When you’re at school, teachers are trained to assess who is struggling and offer them extra help. But once you’re studying independently, the only one who is going to assess whether you can cope is you.

Stay motivated!

When you're studying it helps to keep in mind your reasons for doing all this hard work, like a course or career you're working towards. It can help to have something in your study space to remind you of your goals.

You could also decorate your study space with inspirational quotes or photos of people you admire and family members you want to make proud of you.

It all comes down to attitude. Be enthusiastic about your subjects, and use positive affirmations to tell yourself that you will succeed and meet your goals.

These tips are only some of the things you can do to get the most out of your studies. You might already have other things that work better for you.

Whatever it is, whatever strategy you come up with, when you find something that works for you, put it into practice and go for it!