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With a new semester starting soon, or maybe
it’s even started for some of you, I wanted
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to share some of my favorite study tips in
today’s video.
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These are habits and tricks I’ve learned
over the years that i think helped me become
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a better, or more efficient, student and a learner.
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I tried to make these tips pretty general
and applicable to most subject areas, but
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let me know in the comments if you wanna see
anything specific, like a specific subject,
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standardized test, etc.
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Without further ado, let’s get started.
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No matter what subject I’m working on, I
always try to have a blank sheet of paper
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and a pen in front of me.
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I like to pile up some printer paper near
my hand so that when I want to remember or
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jot something down quickly, I’m prepared
to do that and everything’s there.
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I just use unlined plain pieces of paper or
scrap paper where I can draw, be messy, feel
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free to do whatever with it.
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This is completely different than taking notes,
where you’re actively trying to organize
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and store information.
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The paper is meant to be a bridge between
your brain and whatever you’re studying,
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so there’s absolutely no pressure to be
organized, neat, or articulate.
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Some of the things I write here might make
it into my notes, but it’s more of a holding
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cell and a super rough draft.
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When I want to memorize a detail, I might
copy it down a few times on paper, work out
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calculations, or if I’m writing something,
I can take down some ideas.
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I use pen and paper for this kind of brain-dump,
but you can also use digital platforms, notebooks,
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or maybe a whiteboard, which one of my friends
actually does and really likes.
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Another important thing about setting up your
workspace is moving all distractions out of
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sight and out of reach.
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Personally, I’m a big couch potato and once
I take a seat, I tend not to get up easily
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unless I really have to.
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When I’m studying, this actually works in
my favor because if I put my phone where I
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have to physically move to get it, I know
I’ll be too lazy to try and actually get it,
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What I like to do is just throw my phone like
6 feet away from me, and that’s usually
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enough to prevent myself from touching it,
like 99% of the time.
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It really helps to know yourself, your tendencies,
to create a workspace that works for you specifically,
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and these are just some ideas.
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I like to keep my notes in the same format
across most of my subjects.
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This makes it easier for me to go back and
find notes later, and also saves time for
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future study sessions because every time you
sit down to study, you’ll know the drill.
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It creates sort of a mental shortcut that
saves you a lot of time, thinking, and planning.
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I consistently use the same note-taking structure
with 1 black or blue pen and 3 highlighters.
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I’ve assigned different degrees of “importance”
to each color, so for example, yellow is super
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important and I use it for headings and keywords,
while the other 2 colors are smaller subtopics.
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If I’m running out of categories or colors,
I’ll add green and red sometimes.
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But generally, my notes do look pretty similar
across the board as I try to standardize my
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note-taking process.
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It really becomes your own ritual after a
while, and I think it’s worth investing
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some time to find a format that you like and
sticking with it.
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When there's a pile of things you need to
do, it's often hard to know where to start
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or how to even start.
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I love making a checklist for literally anything
that I do, but especially for studying.
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Writing down bullet by bullet what you're
gonna do for the day, the week, and the month,
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is a good way to understand what you need
to do and what you can do.
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A checklist is perfect for this because you
can see the workload in smaller chunks, almost
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like little quests.
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And checking things off is just such a satisfying
thing to do and it helps gamify studying.
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I really think studying is like running a
race.
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In the beginning, when you have more energy,
you usually take little, if any, breaks to
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get that flow, or get into the “zone,”
and then you give yourself more breaks as
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you get more tired.
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I think the same applies to studying, and
this is why I try to work as much as I can
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before taking my first break.
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After that, I increase the frequency of my
break, so the longer I study, the more often
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I take breaks.
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This means my study durations could be anywhere
from 30 minutes to 3 hours, depending on my
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condition and most importantly, how long I’ve
been working.
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I did try the pomodoro method before, where
you work 25 minutes and take short breaks
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in between, but the rotations were a little
too fast for me.
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In general, I find it more difficult to “start”
a study session, get my brain rebooted, and
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“enter” that headspace, so I like to minimize
the number of times I have to restart the
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entire process.
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For me, that’s by working in longer blocks
of time, usually in hour units.
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And another thing is that breaks can be dangerous
because I sometimes get a little too comfy
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and just end up taking an indefinite break,
so I try not to take that risk.
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By the same line of reasoning, I think it’s
good to have a glass of water, a piece of
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chocolate, or anything else you might need
quickly to minimize the number of times you
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get up and move away from the desk.
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There’s a couple of ways you could do this,
the first one that comes to my mind is changing
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up your study spot, like studying outside
when the weather’s nice, going to cute cafes
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or any other study spots out of your usual
desk.
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This is not only physically refreshing but
might also give you new bursts of energy,
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inspo, or perspectives you haven't thought
of before.
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Especially when I'm writing essays or doing
something creative, I like to work in different
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spots to get that juice flowing and change
things up once in a while.
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Another way you could spice things up is making
a study playlist.
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I currently have a study playlist of lofi,
classical, and movie music that I listen to
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while working, and it makes studying a cozy
time in my day.
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I’ve recently been exploring ambience sounds
as well.
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There’s so many you can choose from youtube
alone, and some of my favorites are underwater
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sounds and movie ambience, which are not intrusive
and keep me entertained and in my seat.
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Listening to music while studying can be controversial,
but I really think it comes down to your preference
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and circumstances.
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I also listen to music situationally.
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When I’m doing something that needs a lot
of mental power and involvement like a difficult
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problem set or a practice test, I usually
don’t listen to any music.
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With practice test, it's extra important to
create a similar environment to the actual
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test, so I would recommend working without
music for those to best simulate what it's
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actually gonna be like in the test room.
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But if you're doing something more passive
like reviewing lecture notes or reading, I
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play some music in the background.
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Music, especially songs with lyrics, can sometimes
be distracting, but it’s also a great tool
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for starting out a study session because it
can get you excited and in the mood for studying.
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That was a mouthful, so here’s a quick rundown
of what I think about music and studying:
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1.
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It’s good when you’re working on something
passive; 2.
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It’s NOT good when you’re doing something
that involves a lot of your brain like taking
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a practice test; and finally, music helps
you start a study session.
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When there's a pile of things you need to
do, it's often hard to know where to start
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or how to even start.
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I love making a checklist for literally anything
that I do, but especially for studying.
00:07:59
Writing down bullet by bullet what you're
gonna do for the day, the week, and the month
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is a good way to understand what you need
to do and what you can do.
00:08:08
A checklist is perfect for this because you
can see the workload in smaller chunks, almost
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like little quests.
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And checking things off is just such a satisfying
thing to do and it helps gamify studying.
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I make my checklists on Notion for everything
I need to do for the day and the week.
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I like planning ahead and having multiple
days' worth of checklists at a time so that
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I can get a better overview and manage my
time accordingly.
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During exam season, I make a more extensive
series of checklists that spans a few weeks
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so that I can plan further in advance.
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The reason why I set specific goals rather
than timing myself is because when I have
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tangible goals, it forces me to focus and
get things done efficiently, instead of just
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filling up the time.
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This is a reminder that the quality and density
of time you study for matter more than just
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the number of hours you spend.
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You could be studying for hours – 5, 6 hours
— and be doing the exact same amount of
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work as working efficiently for an hour or
two.
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Having super specific goals or outlines, such
as in the form of checklists, before you start
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working can not only guide you but also keep
you motivated.
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Sometimes in school, people glorify sacrificing
sleep, pulling all-nighters, and I also did
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at one point, but I think that kind of culture
should completely be changed.
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Getting enough sleep is so important and honestly
under emphasized.
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This can be difficult during exam periods
when you simply might not have enough time
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in the day to cover all the materials, but
I would highly encourage you to still prioritize
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sleep over studying for an extra couple of
hours.
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If you plan your study schedule in advance
and divide up the work, you can definitely
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avoid pulling an all-nighter.
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And even if you're cramming, like, the night
before, I think it's better to get the sleep
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and be in a better condition.
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Although you might not have memorized everything,
you'll most likely have better intuition and
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reasoning that'll help you out more than having
crammed for a few more hours even if you're
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guessing.
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I try to get at least 6-7 hours of sleep before
the day of an exam, and in an ideal world,
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I would go for like 8 hours.
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On test days, I also make sure to get breakfast,
and just try to take a better care of myself
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than usual.
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With all the tests and assignments and the
stress literally coming at us, at least we
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should be nice to ourselves.
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Getting our hands dirty and actually doing
practice problems, manually, is really important.
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I’m sure everyone’s looked at a math problem
and just thought about how to solve it but
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not actually solve it.
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I’ve learned the hard way that this usually
doesn’t cut it.
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This tip’s pretty simple and maybe obvious,
but definitely easier said than done.
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Doing practice problems again is also really
important.
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Even if you get it right the first time, it’s
always best to try the same problem again
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to make sure.
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In elementary school, I had this one teacher
who told us to quintuple check, not even double
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or triple, but quintuple check our work before
handing in any homework or test.
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I was a pretty innocent child and actually
did that for years.
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Now.
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I think 5 times might be a little excessive
or we might run out of time trying to do that,
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but the idea behind it is still really good.
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This sounds kind of bad, but when you’re
studying or taking tests, that’s the time
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to keep doubting yourself.
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I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be confident,
you should of course be confident that you’re
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going to learn and do well, but you shouldn’t
be confident that you know the answer to a
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problem.
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I think it’s much better to do a whole bunch
of sanity checks than doing it wrong at the
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end of the day.
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And while you do the practice problems, keep
asking yourself these questions: What did
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I just read, or what did I just study?
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This helps you study actively, making sure
you’re engaged and actually retaining things.
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If there’s a test coming up, you could also
pretend to be the test-maker and be extra
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careful and mindful of what you’re studying.
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Realistically, I don’t think most of us
study because we love the actual process of
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studying itself.
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We may come to enjoy it, but it’s not what
ultimately motivates us to study.
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Studying is usually a stepping stone, a way
to get to what we want, like an A in a class,
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learning something new, getting that degree,
or more long-term goals like getting a dream
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job.
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I know it’s sometimes hard to think about
these things that feel so far in the future,
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but reminding ourselves that these exist and
are possible, and we can work toward them
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is really important to stay motivated.
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And it’s not just about the motivation,
either.
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Having specific goals in mind helps us figure
out the direction and be intentional about
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studying.
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This could look like asking ourselves what
am I going to do with my learning?
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why am I interested in this?
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For example, if you wanna work in TV production,
you might sign up for an extra challenging
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writing class; if you wanna study abroad,
you might study another language outside of
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school, and so on.
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Motivation is often temporary and comes and
goes.
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Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.
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And that's totally natural and totally ok.
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But this is also why having a broad direction,
a roadmap of where you’re going, that sweet
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destination, can back you up and help you
retain or regain that motivation.
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And that wraps it up for today!
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Thanks so much for watching and I hope this
video was helpful.
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Once again, if you want me to address anything
again, or more in-depth, feel free to let
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me know in the comments.
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I’ll see you guys next time!
