You may think you’re too set in your ways to improve your study skills, but there are many ways to do it. This is true even as a seasoned student. Read on to find out!
Learning how to study is a skill that everyone needs in college, and it’s one that can be developed with practice over time. This article covers ten ways to increase your ability to study in the classroom, on the bus, or during breaks, all while remaining totally free of distractions.
If you really want to improve your study skills, you will heed the advice we give here. While you’re at it, think a little outside the box about how you can alter your current regimen to get more out of your day. Let’s begin!
1. Find the Right Study Space
Your environment is important when it comes to studying. If you’re surrounded by distractions, then you won’t be able to focus on your study efforts and you’ll constantly be distracted.
You want to create the perfect environment that will help you focus on your study efforts. In order to be productive, it’s important to find a quiet and clean place to study. You want to make sure that you can focus on what you’re doing without any distractions.
Even something as simple as having a little bit of background music in the background can cause you to lose focus. The best way to prepare yourself for studying is to tidy your living space. It’s amazing how much easier it is to focus when you’re not surrounded by clutter and mess, so do a quick clean and clear before you get started.
2. Use a Study Plan
When you’re studying, it’s really important to create a study plan and stick to it. Oftentimes people will start studying without a schedule and then they get overwhelmed, so they give up. The most important thing is to know what you’re going to study each day and to do it.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re studying for an exam, especially if you’re studying for more than one at the same time. A good plan can help you stay focused on what you need to get done and help you understand what you’re trying to achieve.
If you have a full-time job, it can be really difficult to find time for your studies. My advice is to find a good schedule that allows you to study consistently. I recommend working on a schedule like this: 30 minutes first thing in the morning, 30 minutes after lunch, and 30 minutes before you go to bed.
3. Learn to Ask and Answer Questions
Asking good questions is important because it shows you’re a good listener. Asking great questions also shows that you’re trying to learn and gain more knowledge and insight.
One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. If you’re trying to figure out how to do something, the best way to learn is to teach it to someone else. If you learn how to answer your own questions, then you’ll be forced to learn all the necessary skills to find the answers on your own.
You’ll learn how to search for answers, how to evaluate the credibility of those answers, and how to apply those answers. The best way to become more confident in your skills is to ask questions. This is especially important when you’re starting out.
4. Keep Your Mind Flexible
Rigidity of thinking has no place in a system of higher education. If you want to stagnate, just shut down your flexibility and see how much you retain. The more flexible you keep your thoughts, the easier it will be to understand key concepts and start to apply the things that you’ve learned in a more practical setting.
5. Get Inspired by Others’ Successes
It’s really important to be inspired by others because there’s nothing worse than being stuck in a rut, with no idea how to move forward. Look around you and find people who are doing what you want to do and find out what they’re doing differently.
You can find all kinds of places for inspiration online or in your daily life. Think about the experience of others. Try to put yourself into their shoes. The more empathy you have, the more benefits you will get from others’ examples.
6. Increase Your Attention Span
One of the main reasons why people struggle with attention span is because they’re not really engaged in whatever they’re doing. To combat that, you can try to break up your day into smaller chunks and focus on one thing at a time.
It’s very difficult to study when your mind keeps wandering, but there are some things you can do to stop it. The first thing is to get the basics right. Make sure you’re not in a rush and that you’re comfortable and relaxed. Don’t study when you’re tired or hungry.
7. Learn to Visualize
When you visualize something, you do two things: you increase the chances that you’ll experience whatever you’re visualizing, and you also increase your ability to make it happen.
There are a number of ways to build visualization skills. First, you can keep a journal where you write down your goals and visualize yourself achieving them. You can also keep a vision board that illustrates your goals and aspirations.
These tactics can be especially helpful for difficult classes or learning units. You just have to sit down and think about what success looks like. From there, you can reverse-engineer a plan to achieve it.
8. Practice With a Simulated Exam
Practice tests are extremely helpful for getting you acclimated to the exam that you plan to take. If you can, try to throw a study class that’s exam-specific on top of it. The more you work with the layout and the wording of the test questions, the easier it will be to prep for the actual test.
9. Take Advantage of Library and Internet Access
The Internet is a wealth of knowledge. It has, in many ways, become the next step in human evolution, particularly as the brain goes. You no longer have to use the brain as a data center since the Internet can do that for you. Instead, you can turn your thinking inward and hone cognitive ability to accomplish things.
The Internet is pretty much free to everyone in the US through the public libraries across our country. You don’t have to have any money whatsoever to access it and begin learning from its benefits. Take advantage of fast Internet however you can get it — at home, at the PL. Don’t attempt to live a productive life without it.
10. Analyze How You Study
Study how you study. You won’t be disappointed. Here are some suggestions to close with that allow you to do it the right way:
Frequency of study
Duration of study
Location of study
Timing of study
The amount of information that you are trying to absorb in each study session
The amount of time that you are spending to review your material
The quality of your study sessions
It pays to have data, especially on yourself. Embrace it.
There Are Many Ways to Improve Your Study Skills You May Not Have Realized
We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at how to improve your study skills. We also hope you plan on putting one or all of these suggestions to heart. Let us know how this blog can continue to serve you in the comments section below.
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
