Top tips to mix up your study session
Chris Ebbs
Author: LWD Team
Feel like you are in a bit of a rut? Are things not sinking in? Do those words on the page look like a worm pizza gone wrong? Give these three tips a go to help beat the study brain drain.
1. Flash cards. I find that flash cards are a great way to study. They work best for content-heavy subjects where you need to remember facts, like history or biology. But you can also use them to help remember quotes or formulae. The process of making them is a great way to revise content – writing things down helps you remember them more easily.
Using small cards instead of writing notes onto A4 pieces of paper is a good way to split the information into bite-size chunks. You'll remember information more easily if you single it out.
Double-sided flash cards can be used on your own or with someone else. Ask you family to get involved in your study if they have time. Teaching content to someone else is one of the best ways to learn or revise it. Involving your family can also demonstrate to them that your study is important and confirm their place as part of your support team.
2. Sticky notes. You can also make single-sided flash cards like small posters to stick up in your study space. Short and sharp facts are important here. This can be very useful for maths formulae or reminders of things you have to do.
You can put them anywhere: around your desk, inside your books, on your windows, on the fridge... You could even stick them to the outside of the shower – just remember not to stand there for too long and waste all the water!
Using multicolour sticky notes is a great way to add a splash of colour and fun to your study. There are studies that suggest our brains retain more information when it is presented to us in colour. Read more here.
But before you go sticky mad, make sure you have somewhere at home where there are no study notes. It's important that you have a place where your mind can take a break.
3. Don't waste time practicing things you already know. When you're studying, it can be tempting to go over the same thing multiple times. You can convince yourself that it's really important to practice the same thing over and over. And it feels good to know that you're really on top of a particular part of the course. But you are actually doubling your workload by wasting precious time on something you already know.
I know that there are things you're not so good at or just don't get. So take a deep breath, get some sticky notes, choose one of the tougher topics and launch into it.
Read the chapter in the textbook. Do the textbook questions. Do a related exam question. Ask your teacher or tutor for help. Practice something you know you're not good at and you will ensure you study time is not wasted. And you'll definitely get a rush afterwards of learning something new.