I’ve been getting quite a few questions about how I organise my university work and keep stress levels at bay. I think study habits are something very personal and what works for me might not work for you. How you study most efficiently depends on how you memorise and internalize things and, perhaps most importantly, what factors motivate you. For example, I hate leaving things until just before the deadline, but many other people I know are motivated by the extra time constraint. Everyone needs to figure out their own system. Don’t just follow the common approach to studying (taking endless notes during lectures, rereading text books, cramming like mad for days before exams), because you think that’s what should work best.
Here are four techniques to try if you are on the market for a better study system.
Get into a routine
Identify tasks that you have to do every week and assign a time slot for tackling each one. For example, decide that you will do the reading for your art history class every Friday after lunch in the library and your calculus homework every Wednesday before class. Try to spread out your work, don’t aim to do too much in one day. Once you have followed your routine for a couple of weeks all of your regular work will get done without you having to think about it too much, you will always be on top of readings or homework and you can concentrate on bigger assignments, such as your thesis.
Write papers in small batches
Instead of pulling an all-nighter to write your term essay, try to start working on it as you as you receive the assignment. Then work on it for no more than one or two hours at a time throughout the term, each time writing a few more paragraphs and slowly building up your argument. One of the advantages of this method is that it makes the writing process seem a lot less daunting. It also allows you to think more carefully about the topic, which will ultimately lead to better marks. And, of course, you can spend the night before the deadline doing something more fun, like celebrating or sleeping.
Stop taking notes
Okay, don’t stop taking notes completely, but stop scribbling down everything you hear or read that sounds vaguely important. Instead, make your note taking more goal-directed. The aim of every lecture and every book is to answer a specific question; try to define this question as soon as possible. For scientific papers or books the question can usually be found in the abstract or the first few paragraphs and every (good) professor will usually outline his intentions in the beginning of the class. Note down the question, and then listen or read on until you find evidence that could answer the question and write it down in your own words. In the end write a short one-sentence conclusion. If you do this for every reading or lecture you will have a pretty comprehensive stack of truly helpful summaries, meaning you won’t have to go through pages of notes and decipher what is important and what isn’t when revising for an exam.
Motivate yourself
It is difficult to motivate yourself to study if you don’t know why you should be doing it in the first place. At the beginning of each term, spend a bit of time thinking about what you want to accomplish and psych yourself up about your goals by visualizing how you will feel once you have achieved them. This technique also works for overcoming short-term dips in motivation. If you cannot bring yourself to do something, imagine how great you will feel in a few hours when you have finished it. Don’t forget to reward yourself even for little things; for example, make a deal with yourself that you will work on your assignment for just another hour and then get to watch the new episode of your favourite show.
If you have a tendency to procrastinate, check out this post: Advice for Hardcore Procrastinators.
How do you combat school stress? Do you use any special studying techniques?
Thank you so much, this was beautiful advice!!
I think I’ll try the routine thing for my studying, I tend to never have time for studying. :P
Thanks for the advice! I have one to add: I downloaded a countdown app that tells me exactly how much time I have left until an assignment is due (down to the last second!) and it motivates me that way. :) &Thanks for the like on my shopping post.
While I’ve been out of college for a couple years now, I found visual organization & rotating schedules kept things from getting too monotonous. Depending on how your job outlook is on graduation, having a personal system will make the transition easier.
Getting into a routine adds monotony, but lets you keep focus on the things you do regularly.
Nice advice, good post.
Thanks for the good advice!
Excellent post! I’m about to start my Honours year so I’m devouring all the advice I can get :) I find that certain times fo day work better for me than others. For exmple I’m super focussed in the morning and at night, but afternoon study never works out well. So I plan to use my afternoons for going to the gym and more general things this year.
You sound so on top of your college work, thanks for the motivation to do the same! Trying to turn over a new leaf and be motivated this semester :)
The one about notes is never repeated enough. Most people I know waste a lot of time writing notes that are like books and can’t highlight the most important things.
Thanks for the “like” on my knitting post! I find that your strategies for organizing really apply to balancing work/life in general, even outside of school/university life. I’m a teacher, and an artist, and a tattooer, so I wear a lot of different “hats.” For me, it helps to not only have routines but specific spaces in which certain things take place. For instance, I always plan to do my drawing and painting when I’m at the tattoo shop. And I try to never leave school without tying up loose ends (lesson plans, paperwork). If I stick to doing my work when I’m in the right “place” to do it, I know that whenever I do get to be at home, I’m good to relax, read, blog or whatever I feel like, guilt and stress free.
This advice couldn’t come at a better time! I’m actually reading your blog whilst I’m writing an assignment due in tomorrow and I’m nowhere near finished!! I used to be someone who absolutely hated last minute work but somehow I managed to change all of this and now I just find myself doing work so last minute which is incredibly stressful.
After an undergraduate Psychology degree in the UK and a five year doctorate program of study, I can wholeheartedly agree with your advice here! The one thing that worked for me was planning and more planning. It was the one thing that kept me on track.
http://www.styleonthecouch.com
this post came at the right time. I’m here avoiding this reading I intended on having done by now. Thanks for the post!
yes, DEFINITELY do not wait until the last minute. I’m pretty motivated and I start my stuff early. it works very well for me!
It’d be great if everyone actually followed this advice from Day One of Freshman Year. However, if you’re anything like me, you won’t truly subscribe to the idea of not saving papers and assignments to the last minute until about Day One Hundred of Senior Year :-)
I did find, though, that those papers that I wrote gradually, researched well, and actually edited received higher accolades from professors and felt much more rewarding… Go figure!
Good luck getting through these years of education. And just a bit of advice–these habits will continue to benefit you in “the real world” when you’re through.
This post is great! Thank you so much for sharing such helpful tips. Have a great day! :)
Going back to university this year, thanks for the tips!
You have been so prolific in your blog writing, I’m impressed! I’ve been neglecting mine but coming back to it now.
Don’t wait until the last minute. It’s just a recipe for disaster. Doing assignments ahead of time can be your be your bff. While others pull all nighters to get things done, you’ll be relaxing and watching bad reality TV, because you already finished the assignment three days ago.
As someone who is pretty much graduated…I wish I had listened to this four years ago. Gooooooood advice!!
very nice…i’ll pass onto my daughter (senior in high school)
Jelly Beans, coffee, Cuteoverload.com. Without these things I would have never made it through college. I was one of the last minute people. I actually did a lot of my papers the night before they were due and most of the writing process was spent writhing in agony and picking out the blueberry jelly beans (eww). But at the end, I would have the paper the professor would use as the example for the next class – I guess I need to be under the gun to do great work.
But if I could be my ideal self, I would use your method of careful, thought out writing ahead of the deadline.
I’m part of that small group of students who love deadlines and last-minute work. It helps me focus and prioritise. If the deadline is in a month, I keep thinking I have all the time in the world and waste a lot of time pretending to work for that certain assignment without actually doing anything useful. If I have a few days left, I found I’m much more efficient with the pressure of the deadline looming. Or maybe I’m just a serious case of procrastination.
Have you tried taking notes with a mind map? It is a different approach to usual academic note taking, but in my experience it may well be fruitful.
Yes I have, but mainly for planning essays. I could imagine it to work well for in-class note taking actually, thanks for the tip!
wow, you have a beautiful site with great posts!
xxx
http://www.ladyalamode.com
“For example, I hate leaving things until just before the deadline, but many other people I know are motivated by the extra time constraint.”
I completely agree with you, and even if you paid me, I couldn’t be one of those people who will literally leave an essay to the day / night before. I would estimate that 3 weeks before a deadline I start getting all shaky and need to start reassuring myself. My friends who left a 10,000 word essay (the writing part, not the research part, they’re not that daring), to the night before, really are thrill seekers.
..not a student anymore.. and I actually had to crystal clean my desk/bed/chair or whatever place I was studying, cause it made my mind clear and ready for learning.. but I admit..RedBull (or as I nick named it CrackBull) was a favorite ..
in any case, it’s a nice time to be a student.. and it’s great to learn stuff ”sometimes” :)
and good advises!
good morning u have a nice weekend and greetings from Spain and less stressful v hearts
When I was working on my advanced degree, I would get tired and start to slack off. When I did that, I pulled out my last grade slip from my undergraduate degree and say to myself, I can do better. I found two things that really helped me: learning how to speed read at about 1,200 words per minute and the joy of just learning new things. I went into each class with no preconceptions about the material and tried to focus on the pieces of information that I found new and different. I tried not to think of it as drudgery learning facts and figures, but what new knowledge could I take from this class. It made a big difference.
Thanks for the advice!! Last year I had to write a major essay for literature and I started two days before the day it was due. Luckily, I was quite inspired and ended up with an 18 / 20 but I don’t want to have that experience again :P
Great advice! I also like to spread out my homework, projects and studying so I’m not panicking to get everything done at the last minute. One thing that I do and that has made a significant improvement in my test scores is, about an hour (sometimes longer) before I have to take an exam I find a quiet place to re-read all of my notes while I’m listening to Mozart Radio on Pandora. The Mozart music has REALLY helped.
Chelsie
Red bull and gummy bears huh? i like that! great advice by the way :)
Great suggestions–especially on note taking. As a professor, I see some students trying to take down every word and some students writing nothing. Clearly, there’s a happy medium. Goal-oriented is a great place to start. I would even venture to say outlining the assigned chapter or other readings will (should) give students a good idea of what the goal of the topic is. Great post.
I’m no longer in college but this is definitely great advice!!
Another advice that may help: Take some breaks and clear your mind every now and then! It usually works for me and makes me more focused and “fresh” for re-starting!
[By the way, I'm also a post-grad psychology student ;)]
Good advice that can be tailored to other areas of life, as well!
Awesome advice, I love it. Thank you! xoxo
Add your good advise to a good helping of inner drive