how to study less and get higher grades

00:11:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBB_O37bhnE

Summary

TLDRThe video outlines various strategies for studying efficiently to improve academic performance while reducing study time. The speaker illustrates their personal experience as a top student to highlight the importance of studying smart rather than hard. Effective techniques include disassociating hours spent studying from actual effectiveness, using reverse reading for efficient material review, batching similar tasks to reduce context switching, setting tight deadlines to enhance focus, and utilizing AI tools for writing assistance. The importance of prioritizing manageable tasks and tagging notes for focused review is also emphasized, ultimately guiding students to optimize their study habits and maximize results without unnecessary stress.

Takeaways

  • ⏳ Focus on quality of study, not quantity.
  • 📖 Try reading backwards for better comprehension.
  • 🔄 Batch similar tasks to reduce context switching.
  • ⏲️ Set time constraints to improve focus.
  • 🤖 Use AI to assist with writing tasks.
  • 🚫 Don't get stuck on difficult problems; move on.
  • 💡 Do fixed tasks first to fit all tasks in time.
  • 🔖 Tag your notes for quick review later.
  • ⚡ Avoid wasting time by minimizing distractions.
  • 🎯 Prioritize understanding over rote memorization.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video introduces two types of students, A and B, illustrating how long study hours do not equate to better grades. The speaker, a top student from high school and MIT, shares tips on studying efficiently. The first tip is to focus on the quality of study time rather than the quantity, explaining that self-quizzing and addressing weak areas yield better results than simply spending hours on passive studying like rereading notes. The second tip involves reading chapters backwards, from summaries to headings, and finally skimming sections to gain a comprehensive understanding before deep reading, allowing for better retention in less time.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:11:16

    The video continues with practical strategies for maximizing study efficiency, including batching tasks to minimize context switching, which helps to maintain mental focus and save time. Following this, constraints are emphasized as a method to reduce study time, with the explanation of Parkinson's law: the notion that work expands to fill the time given for its completion. Setting shorter deadlines can lead to surprisingly quick outcomes, enhancing productivity. The speaker also discusses the importance of strategically navigating challenging problems, suggesting to skip over particularly difficult questions and tackle them later, along with organizing tasks by ease to maintain momentum. These tips aim to streamline study sessions and improve academic performance.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • How can I study effectively in less time?

    Focus on how you study instead of the hours spent. Use techniques like batching tasks and setting constraints.

  • What is the benefit of reading backwards when studying?

    It helps you grasp the main concepts quickly and understand the structure of the content.

  • What does batching tasks mean?

    It refers to grouping similar tasks together to minimize context switching and save time.

  • How can I reduce study time and still perform well?

    Set strict time limits for tasks and utilize AI tools for efficient writing and brainstorming.

  • What should I do if I get stuck on a difficult problem?

    Move on to other tasks and come back to the problem later.

  • Why is it important to tag my notes?

    Tagging helps you quickly identify and focus on topics you're less familiar with during review.

  • How can I minimize distractions while studying?

    Limit the number of transitions between different types of tasks with batching.

  • What is the sunk cost fallacy in studying?

    It's the tendency to keep investing time in a problem that you're stuck on, even if moving on would be more beneficial.

  • How does Parkinson's law apply to studying?

    It states that work expands to fill the time given. Reducing study time can help increase efficiency.

  • What types of tasks are considered fixed and variable?

    Fixed tasks are routine and mindless (like flashcards), while variable tasks require more mental energy (like essay writing).

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Subtitles
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  • 00:00:00
    there are two kinds of students in the
  • 00:00:01
    world here we have student a who has
  • 00:00:03
    been studying for 6 hours is on their
  • 00:00:05
    third coffee cup and has been
  • 00:00:07
    highlighting their notes rereading the
  • 00:00:08
    textbook and doing flashcards all night
  • 00:00:11
    long and here we have student B student
  • 00:00:14
    B has a very calm 2hour study session
  • 00:00:16
    they know exactly what to review how to
  • 00:00:18
    review it and barely waste any time
  • 00:00:20
    highlighting their notes or rereading
  • 00:00:22
    the textbook come exam day I think you
  • 00:00:24
    know who gets the better grade if you
  • 00:00:26
    couldn't tell it's me by the way wait
  • 00:00:28
    how I studied four times longer than you
  • 00:00:30
    in this video I'm going to teach you how
  • 00:00:31
    to study less and get higher grades so I
  • 00:00:35
    graduated as the valid dictorian of my
  • 00:00:36
    high school and I went on to double
  • 00:00:38
    major at MIT and I'm not saying that to
  • 00:00:40
    flex instead I want to provide some
  • 00:00:42
    context so back in high school I took 11
  • 00:00:44
    AP classes peing at five my junior year
  • 00:00:47
    and then at MIT I decided to double
  • 00:00:49
    major pretty late which required me to
  • 00:00:51
    stack up on a bunch of classes all at
  • 00:00:53
    once so as you can imagine I had to be
  • 00:00:56
    very efficient with my studying and the
  • 00:00:57
    entire time I had to keep my GR grades
  • 00:01:00
    up so my first tip is to disconnect
  • 00:01:02
    yourself from the number of hours that
  • 00:01:03
    you study as a student it's very easy to
  • 00:01:06
    get fixated on the amount of time you
  • 00:01:07
    spend studying instead of how you
  • 00:01:09
    actually study and I get it right
  • 00:01:11
    because it's very hard to measure the
  • 00:01:13
    effectiveness of a study session but
  • 00:01:14
    something like the amount of time you
  • 00:01:16
    spend is a very concrete measure though
  • 00:01:18
    it usually masks the true nature of the
  • 00:01:21
    study session for example let's say I
  • 00:01:23
    study for 5 hours now did I spend those
  • 00:01:25
    5 hours rereading my notes and
  • 00:01:26
    highlighting everything I possibly could
  • 00:01:28
    or did I quiz myself pretend to teach
  • 00:01:30
    others and Tackle my weakest Concepts
  • 00:01:32
    first those two behaviors would yield
  • 00:01:35
    drastically different results all right
  • 00:01:36
    so now that you're in the right mindset
  • 00:01:38
    let's move on to tip number two read
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    backwards this sounds really weird I
  • 00:01:42
    know but bear with me this is a very
  • 00:01:45
    valuable tip especially if you're
  • 00:01:46
    cramming for an exam at the last minute
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    so the night before an exam you're
  • 00:01:50
    probably tempted to pull out your
  • 00:01:51
    textbook and read the chapter the test
  • 00:01:53
    is on but there's a problem the chapter
  • 00:01:55
    is probably very long and you don't have
  • 00:01:57
    enough time so what you're instead going
  • 00:01:59
    to do to start at the end of the chapter
  • 00:02:02
    you're going to start by looking at the
  • 00:02:03
    chapter summaries and the key points and
  • 00:02:05
    then work your way to the beginning and
  • 00:02:07
    now that you're back at the start you're
  • 00:02:08
    still not going to read the chapter
  • 00:02:10
    normally you're going to do what I like
  • 00:02:11
    to call a first pass you're going to
  • 00:02:13
    look at all the headings all the charts
  • 00:02:15
    all the bulit terms all the colorful
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    boxes to get a high level understanding
  • 00:02:19
    of what the chapter is about but of
  • 00:02:21
    course you're still missing some of the
  • 00:02:22
    key details so now you're going to do a
  • 00:02:24
    second pass and no you're still not
  • 00:02:26
    going to read the chapter normally
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    instead you're going to go Section by
  • 00:02:29
    section and read the first paragraph
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    skim the body paragraphs and read the
  • 00:02:33
    last paragraph So now after the second
  • 00:02:36
    pass you should have a decent
  • 00:02:37
    understanding of what the chapter is
  • 00:02:38
    about but if you still have time to
  • 00:02:41
    study now you can go back and read every
  • 00:02:43
    single word individually all right and
  • 00:02:45
    with that let's move on to tip number
  • 00:02:47
    three batch your tasks so a huge problem
  • 00:02:50
    that a lot of students deal with and
  • 00:02:52
    maybe even you is something called
  • 00:02:54
    context switching so for example the
  • 00:02:56
    mindset that you have while reading
  • 00:02:57
    something is different from the mindset
  • 00:02:59
    you have while writing something which
  • 00:03:00
    is different from the mindset you have
  • 00:03:02
    while solving math problems switching
  • 00:03:04
    from one form of thinking to another
  • 00:03:06
    takes time something I like to call the
  • 00:03:08
    transition cost for example let's say
  • 00:03:10
    you spend an hour answering some brutal
  • 00:03:12
    calculus problems and then you have to
  • 00:03:14
    write an essay for your English class
  • 00:03:16
    both of those tasks require very
  • 00:03:18
    different forms of thinking it's
  • 00:03:20
    probably going to take you a good 10 to
  • 00:03:22
    15 minutes just to get into the groove
  • 00:03:23
    of the essay writing process so to save
  • 00:03:26
    time while studying you have to minimize
  • 00:03:28
    the number of transitions through a
  • 00:03:30
    technique called batching and the
  • 00:03:32
    premise of batching is very simple
  • 00:03:34
    you're going to group together similar
  • 00:03:35
    tasks and Tackle them together so for
  • 00:03:38
    example instead of doing some math
  • 00:03:39
    problems then an English essay then some
  • 00:03:41
    science problems and then a history
  • 00:03:43
    essay you're instead first going to do
  • 00:03:44
    the math and science problems first
  • 00:03:46
    together and then you're going to do the
  • 00:03:48
    two essays this way you only have one
  • 00:03:51
    mental transition instead of three now I
  • 00:03:53
    use batching all the time in fact I'm
  • 00:03:55
    using it right now once I finish filming
  • 00:03:57
    this video I'm going to go ahead and
  • 00:03:59
    film another one because I already have
  • 00:04:00
    the light set up I have the camera set
  • 00:04:02
    up I have the background set up if I
  • 00:04:03
    were to film these videos at separate
  • 00:04:05
    times I would just waste time taking
  • 00:04:06
    everything down and then putting it back
  • 00:04:08
    up oh and I have another quick tip for
  • 00:04:10
    batching tasks once you batch your tasks
  • 00:04:12
    you might notice that within a batch
  • 00:04:14
    different tasks have different degrees
  • 00:04:15
    of difficulty I always recommend that
  • 00:04:17
    you tackle the easiest task first within
  • 00:04:19
    any given batch this way it's much
  • 00:04:21
    easier for you to transition into that
  • 00:04:23
    new mental state that you might need to
  • 00:04:24
    be in so for example if you bash
  • 00:04:26
    together a bunch of writing tasks like
  • 00:04:28
    write an essay work on a presentation
  • 00:04:30
    and write a discussion post you should
  • 00:04:32
    probably do the discussion post first
  • 00:04:34
    because that'll take the least amount of
  • 00:04:35
    effort and then you can follow this up
  • 00:04:37
    with the outline and then the essay tip
  • 00:04:40
    number four is to give yourself
  • 00:04:41
    constraints now one of the easiest ways
  • 00:04:43
    to spend less time studying is to give
  • 00:04:45
    yourself less time to study and no I'm
  • 00:04:48
    not being factious I'm 100% serious so
  • 00:04:50
    there's an old adage called Parkinson's
  • 00:04:52
    law that goes as follows work expands so
  • 00:04:55
    as to fill the time available for its
  • 00:04:57
    completion now this idea sounds fancy
  • 00:04:59
    but it's simple however much time you
  • 00:05:01
    give yourself to do a task is however
  • 00:05:03
    much time you're going to take for
  • 00:05:05
    example if you give yourself 3 days to
  • 00:05:07
    work on an essay you're going to take up
  • 00:05:08
    the full 3 days but if you give yourself
  • 00:05:11
    only 3 hours you might be surprised to
  • 00:05:13
    see how fast you can actually finish
  • 00:05:15
    that essay so now while it's nice to
  • 00:05:17
    space out your deadlines you don't want
  • 00:05:18
    to give yourself too much time to work
  • 00:05:20
    on an assignment because then you're
  • 00:05:22
    just going to have the mental comfort of
  • 00:05:23
    telling yourself oh I have hours or days
  • 00:05:26
    or even weeks to complete this task and
  • 00:05:28
    then you'll just work at a slower Pace
  • 00:05:30
    now the easiest way to take advantage of
  • 00:05:32
    Parkinson's law is to set a timer before
  • 00:05:34
    you start an assignment first ask
  • 00:05:36
    yourself how long is this assignment
  • 00:05:37
    going to take then reduce that number by
  • 00:05:39
    10 to 20% and set your timer accordingly
  • 00:05:42
    again you might be surprised by how fast
  • 00:05:44
    you can actually finish that work so
  • 00:05:46
    this technique is something that my apsy
  • 00:05:48
    teacher actually used at the start of
  • 00:05:50
    the school year he only gave us 30
  • 00:05:51
    minutes for each exam towards the middle
  • 00:05:53
    of the school year he only gave us 25
  • 00:05:55
    minutes and then towards the end of the
  • 00:05:57
    school year he only gave us 20 minutes
  • 00:05:59
    minutes now Believe It or Not by the end
  • 00:06:01
    of the school year most students were
  • 00:06:03
    able to finish the exams even when only
  • 00:06:05
    given 20 minutes I remember at the start
  • 00:06:08
    of the school year he told us he was
  • 00:06:09
    going to do this and we all thought that
  • 00:06:10
    it was nuts but turns out he was on to
  • 00:06:12
    something DeMarco if you're watching
  • 00:06:14
    this shout out to you you helped me
  • 00:06:15
    learn how to take test effectively all
  • 00:06:17
    right and my next tip is to leverage AI
  • 00:06:20
    now one of my favorite ways to cut down
  • 00:06:21
    on study time is to use AI tools like
  • 00:06:23
    grammarly who's the sponsor of this
  • 00:06:25
    video so many of you know grammarly as a
  • 00:06:27
    spelling and grammar tool but do you
  • 00:06:29
    know that does way more than that let's
  • 00:06:31
    say you have to write an essay you're
  • 00:06:32
    staring at the prompt but have no idea
  • 00:06:34
    what to write about this is where
  • 00:06:36
    grammarly can help just open up
  • 00:06:37
    grammarly and ask it to help you to
  • 00:06:39
    brainstorm topics then tell grammarly
  • 00:06:41
    what your essay is about and almost
  • 00:06:42
    instantly it'll give you a handful of
  • 00:06:44
    topic ideas oh and it doesn't stop there
  • 00:06:47
    once you have your topic grammarly can
  • 00:06:48
    also help you draft a research plan and
  • 00:06:50
    even give you an outline now once you
  • 00:06:52
    have the outline you start writing your
  • 00:06:54
    essay and along the way grammarly
  • 00:06:55
    ensures that your writing is clear and
  • 00:06:57
    concise it'll check for common mistakes
  • 00:07:00
    like passive voice subject verb
  • 00:07:01
    disagreement and misplaced modifiers but
  • 00:07:03
    it'll also analyze your piece as a whole
  • 00:07:05
    and provide suggestions for cohesion
  • 00:07:07
    flow and tone in fact with grammarly Pro
  • 00:07:10
    you can indicate the exact tone you'd
  • 00:07:11
    like to go for whether it's personable
  • 00:07:14
    confident empathetic engaging witty or
  • 00:07:16
    direct oh and once you're done writing
  • 00:07:17
    you can also use grammarly's plagiarism
  • 00:07:19
    detector to ensure that you can submit
  • 00:07:21
    your essays with confidence grammarly is
  • 00:07:23
    a must have for all students sign up and
  • 00:07:25
    upgrade to grammarly Pro for 20% off
  • 00:07:28
    using my link and now now back to the
  • 00:07:30
    video so tip number six is don't idle
  • 00:07:32
    and this again comes from an AP psych
  • 00:07:34
    teacher so while you're working through
  • 00:07:35
    an exam or doing some homework problems
  • 00:07:37
    you are inevitably going to come across
  • 00:07:38
    some problems that stump you and I'm not
  • 00:07:40
    talking about problems that are just a
  • 00:07:42
    little bit challenging I'm talking about
  • 00:07:44
    problems that you legitimately do not
  • 00:07:46
    know how to answer no matter how hard
  • 00:07:48
    you try now the best thing that you can
  • 00:07:50
    do in this scenario is to swallow your
  • 00:07:52
    ego and move on and this was a huge
  • 00:07:54
    issue for me back in school if I had
  • 00:07:56
    spent 20 or 30 minutes trying to solve a
  • 00:07:58
    problem I would feel terrible if I moved
  • 00:08:00
    on without figuring out the answer but
  • 00:08:03
    this ties into a psychological
  • 00:08:04
    phenomenon known as the sunk cost
  • 00:08:06
    fallacy now if you're not familiar with
  • 00:08:07
    the sunos fallacy it is the phenomenon
  • 00:08:10
    whereby a person is reluctant to abandon
  • 00:08:11
    a strategy or course of action because
  • 00:08:14
    they have heavily invested in it even
  • 00:08:15
    when it's clear that abandonment would
  • 00:08:17
    be more beneficial in other words just
  • 00:08:19
    because you put a lot of time and effort
  • 00:08:21
    into solving a problem that's going
  • 00:08:23
    nowhere does not mean that you need to
  • 00:08:24
    waste even more time in most cases
  • 00:08:26
    you're better off tackling other
  • 00:08:28
    problems first and then coming back to
  • 00:08:29
    the ones that stumped you and this
  • 00:08:31
    requires being comfortable answering
  • 00:08:32
    things out of order so if you're doing a
  • 00:08:34
    homework assignment maybe you answer the
  • 00:08:36
    last problems first and the middle ones
  • 00:08:37
    and then make your way to the start and
  • 00:08:39
    if you're working through an exam the
  • 00:08:40
    same principle holds don't ever feel
  • 00:08:43
    compelled to answer all of an exam's
  • 00:08:44
    questions in order unless they build
  • 00:08:46
    upon each other just try to find a
  • 00:08:48
    foothold somewhere work off that and
  • 00:08:50
    then tackle everything else so tip
  • 00:08:52
    number seven is to do mindless work
  • 00:08:54
    first so there are two kinds of tasks
  • 00:08:56
    you have fixed tasks and then you have
  • 00:08:58
    variable tasks fixed Tas tasks are
  • 00:08:59
    usually mindless work like working on
  • 00:09:01
    flashcards or trying to find images for
  • 00:09:03
    a presentation variable tasks usually
  • 00:09:05
    require more mental energy for example
  • 00:09:08
    writing an essay or brainstorming ideas
  • 00:09:10
    for a group project now you should do
  • 00:09:12
    your fixed tasks first and here's why so
  • 00:09:15
    this bar represents the amount of time
  • 00:09:16
    that you have for studying if you drop
  • 00:09:18
    in your variable tasks first they're
  • 00:09:20
    going to follow Parkinson's law in other
  • 00:09:22
    words they're going to inflate and take
  • 00:09:24
    up all of your available time and now
  • 00:09:26
    you won't have time to fit in your fix
  • 00:09:28
    tasks now fixed tasks on the other hand
  • 00:09:30
    don't inflate like variable tasks
  • 00:09:32
    something like create 20 flash cards is
  • 00:09:34
    always going to take the same concrete
  • 00:09:36
    defined amount of time so by doing your
  • 00:09:38
    fixed tasks first you create a
  • 00:09:41
    constraint for your variable tasks so
  • 00:09:43
    when you drop them in yes they're going
  • 00:09:44
    to inflate again but this way you manage
  • 00:09:47
    to fit everything so this is a concept
  • 00:09:49
    that's much easier to understand
  • 00:09:51
    visually and shout out to my editors who
  • 00:09:52
    I know have done an amazing job showing
  • 00:09:54
    you how it works oh and by the way this
  • 00:09:56
    is a concept that I came up with and
  • 00:09:58
    have been following for years let me
  • 00:09:59
    know in the comments how you feel about
  • 00:10:01
    it and if it makes sense because I'm
  • 00:10:03
    down to craft more productivity rules
  • 00:10:05
    but I just want to make sure I don't
  • 00:10:06
    sound like I'm crazy up here okay and
  • 00:10:08
    the eighth and final tip is to tag your
  • 00:10:10
    notes so students waste a ton of time
  • 00:10:12
    rereading notes I have wasted a ton of
  • 00:10:14
    time rereading my notes and this is
  • 00:10:16
    usually because in the days leading up
  • 00:10:17
    to an exam we don't really know what to
  • 00:10:19
    focus on we just tell ourselves oh my
  • 00:10:21
    God there's an exam coming up for unit 3
  • 00:10:23
    time to read everything I have about
  • 00:10:24
    unit 3 but the reality is within any
  • 00:10:26
    given unit there are topics that we know
  • 00:10:28
    like the back of our hand hand and
  • 00:10:29
    others that we're not super familiar
  • 00:10:31
    with so if you want to spend less time
  • 00:10:33
    studying you have to spend less time on
  • 00:10:35
    the topics you're already comfortable
  • 00:10:37
    with and that's why you should tag your
  • 00:10:38
    notes during lecture while your teacher
  • 00:10:40
    is speaking if they say something you're
  • 00:10:41
    not too familiar with just put a star or
  • 00:10:44
    some other symbol next to the bullet
  • 00:10:45
    point this way when it comes time to
  • 00:10:47
    review your notes your eyes are
  • 00:10:48
    automatically drawn to the areas that
  • 00:10:50
    you need to focus on now if you forget
  • 00:10:52
    to tag your notes during lecture don't
  • 00:10:53
    worry you can also do it after class
  • 00:10:55
    just pull out your notes skim them as
  • 00:10:57
    quickly as you can and tag any points
  • 00:10:59
    that you're not super familiar with so
  • 00:11:00
    that wraps up today's video hopefully
  • 00:11:02
    you enjoyed it and by the way comment
  • 00:11:03
    below to let me know how the school year
  • 00:11:05
    is going for you so far are you enjoying
  • 00:11:07
    it is it tough I would actually love to
  • 00:11:09
    hear more from you guys and of course if
  • 00:11:10
    you haven't already be sure to join the
  • 00:11:12
    Discord join my newsletter And subscribe
  • 00:11:13
    for more study tips
Tags
  • study tips
  • efficient studying
  • time management
  • batching tasks
  • reverse reading
  • AI tools
  • note tagging
  • education
  • sunk cost fallacy
  • Parkinson's law