Are you looking for ways to improve your studying? Here are 10 study hacks that will jack up the way you learn (and thus how you prepare for exams).
You have an exam coming up.
You’re pretty nervous about it because it’s worth 50 percent of your overall grade. You need to do well.
And you will.
All you have to do is follow these exam study hacks to create the perfect study environment.
So, let’s get to them:
Pick a place and time that you’re most productive
Okay, so the first thing you should figure out is when and where you feel most productive.
Is it in your kitchen, early in the morning before everyone else is awake? Is it in the late evening in your bedroom? Or is it at the library in the late afternoon?
By figuring this out, you can start to create a ritual where this time and place will be when and where you study.
This will help improve memory and retention of information as well.
As you study at this time and place (the majority of the time), you will slowly get comfortable with this environment and studying there will be second nature (it’ll become a routine).
By implementing this study hack, you will be telling your brain that this place is for studying and nothing else. This is where you go to study.
And by creating this psychological effect, every time you go to your study habitat, you’ll only focus on studying.
And you’ll study hard.
For example, when I was in college, there was this study area near the cafeteria that I always went to.
It was right beside big windows with a lot of natural light. The desks were cubicles as well, so I had privacy to study.
And the time that I normally went -right before noon- didn’t have many students there, so it was quiet.
This was the perfect study environment for me at that time. It was bright and quiet, and I was comfortable there.
I was able to trick my brain into switching into work mode every time I went to that study area.
And this is what you should try to achieve too.
Find Out Your Learning Style
There are four types of learning styles: visual, auditory, writing/reading, and kinesthetic.
By figuring out how you learn, you’ll be able to study more efficiently and effectively.
For instance, if you were an auditory learner, analyzing graphs and charts (visual learner) isn’t going to be very effective.
You have to study like an auditory learner to reap the most results.
To figure out what type of learner you are, you can take surveys provided by your teachers.
Some teachers will have you fill this out before the semester, but most don’t.
Thus, if you want to find out, just ask them for a VARK survey or test.
This will be the best way to find out. But if you for whatever reason don’t want to ask, you can try testing yourself.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I understand and remember diagrams/illustrations well? (if yes, you’re a visual learner)
- Does listening to lectures and recordings help me understand concepts? (if yes, you’re an auditory learner)
- Does reading and writing lecture notes and summaries help me think better? (if yes, you’re a read/write learner)
- Do I prefer to learn by observing, experiencing, and/or experimenting? (if yes, you’re a kinesthetic learner)
These questions, however, will not give you an accurate answer. They are just guiding questions that are meant to tickle your curiosity (much like this article on the topic).
Some people are also a combination of two styles, so those questions will not address that.
Needless to say, you really should ask a teacher for an actual VARK survey.
Use Active Recall and Test Yourself
As you are studying like how you study in your perfect little habitat, make sure to use active recall.
I’ve talked about this before (and you can read about it in more detail here), but active recall is a learning method.
By using this method, you will be constantly quizzing yourself as you learn.
So, for example, if you were studying for an upcoming biology exam, you would create questions with the important facts.
You could write the questions on one side of the index cards (or sheet of paper), and the answer (or important facts) on the other.
Then, as you are studying, you would go through the questions, which would be categorized by chapter and unit, and state the correct facts.
I will say that this method is more effective if you do it while initially studying (not for exam prep).
The reason why is because, by the time you have to study for an exam, you will have already gone through this process and will have already remembered most of the facts.
Additionally, the recall notes will be ready for you to study from.
You don’t have to go through the process of making them.
Try to Solve for 15 Minutes and Switch to a New Question If You Are Unsuccessful
Okay, since you are cramped on time, if you can’t solve a problem within 15 minutes, just skip it for now and come back to it later.
Seriously. If a question can’t be solved in 15 minutes, then you don’t know how to solve it.
There’s no point in trying to do so. You’re just wasting time if you do.
So, the efficient thing to do is to go on to a new question. Then you can ask someone to explain the unsolved questions later on.
You can ask your tutor if you have one, or a teacher or a friend.
But remember to do this after you have completed all the solvable questions.
This study hack will save you time and a headache.
Use the Feynman Technique to Take Notes
When studying, make sure you fully understand everything with the Feynman Technique.
You can do this by reviewing your notes and seeing if they are written in layperson terms (simple language). If it is, then you understand the facts.
If a person with little to no knowledge of the topic asks something about it, you should be able to clearly explain it to them.
If it is not, then your notes on that topic are probably wordy and full of jargon.
You’re going to have to fix this.
And you can do this by reviewing the unit again (read textbook and lecture notes). As you are doing so, re-write your notes.
Make sure it is in plain English and that a little kid could understand it.
You can learn more about the Feynman Technique here.
Take Breaks, Stretch, and Snack
As you study for an exam, remember to take breaks. Your brain is like a muscle and cannot run non-stop.
It needs to take a breather every once in a while.
And during these breaks, you can refuel it by eating snacks, drinking water, and stretching.
The snacks will feed nutrition to your brain, the water will hydrate your body and dome, and stretching (or light exercise) will drive blood and oxygen to your head.
All of these things will promote positive brain function, which will help you study better.
So remember to take a break. You will come back to your study session more focused.
If you don’t know how to effectively take breaks, try doing the Pomodoro Technique.
This productivity hack will assist you with timing so that you don’t have to worry about it.
All you have to do is set the timer and do work (and take breaks).
Space Out Study Sessions
You have probably heard teachers say this before, but cramming and doing all-nighters don’t work.
When you cram the night before a test, you are not actually learning anything.
You are just trying to remember information, which is not good for test prepping. You actually want to understand the concepts.
The best way to study for an exam is to constantly study for the class over a wide range of days (or weeks).
You have to stretch out your study sessions.
So instead of studying a couple of nights before, as many students do, you should start to study for the exam weeks in advance.
And the best way to do this is with active recall.
The reason why is that the studying process will begin as early as your first note-taking session.
Then the night before the exam, you can just review those notes to make sure you understand everything.
You should also check to see that you can explain the concepts clearly. And if you are able to, then you know your facts.
And if you know your facts, then you are going to do well on that exam.
Get Enough Sleep
This study hack might be difficult for some of you, but…
Do not pull an all-nighter. If you don’t understand something the day before the test, you won’t understand it more by going over it all night.
It’s better to go to sleep, and wake up refreshed and energized, ready to take on the exam.
And in addition to this, there have been studies that suggest sleep helps you remember information.
So, get some snooze before the test.
Not only will it help you memorize concepts, but you will feel better during the exam.
Breathe and Be Mindful
Breathing and being mindful probably sounds like woo-woo, new age crap. And in a way, that’s true.
These two things aren’t functional study hacks, like active recall or the Feynman Technique.
They are not going to turn you into Bradley Cooper’s character in the movie Limitless.
But it will put you in the right headspace. It will calm you down and help you focus. It will help you be more attentive and less distracted.
A simple way to practice this is to sit and breathe for 2 minutes before studying.
Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and focus on your breathing.
That’s it.
After, you’ll be calm and clear, and ready to absorb information.
When I was a student, I had slight exam anxiety. I wouldn’t freak out before exams, but I definitely got worried and breathed heavily.
But luckily for me, my dad was really into meditation and taught me how to do it.
Before entering every exam, I would find a quiet place to, basically, meditate. I would stand or sit somewhere, close my eyes and breathe.
Also, I would count my breaths to make sure that I was focusing on them.
This helped me get calm before exams. I also used this when I had to tackle complex questions that stressed me out.
I would do this for a couple of minutes, or if I’m cramped on time, count 30 breaths (in increments of 10).
Give this a try if you’re the type of person who gets anxious before exams. I know it will benefit you because it benefitted me tremendously.
Do Practice Exams
As I said in some of the earlier tips, solely studying right before exams won’t do much.
So, technically, doing practice exams won’t help you understand more than you already do.
And if you are using active recall during the study process, there’s really no point in practicing with these resources.
However, practice exams are great for getting familiar with the upcoming exam.
These, for the most part, are older exams that are being recycled. So, the exam format and questions will be similar.
Additionally, sometimes exam makers re-use questions. A question that you do in the practice test may end up in the exam.
And that would be pretty awesome.
A suggestion I will give is to start doing portions of the practice test weeks before the exam.
Make it part of your studying (do them as bonus practice questions).
Then, a couple of days before the exam, do an entire sample exam to review all the concepts.
This will help you find out what you do and do not know, and gauge your knowledge of the topic.
Conclusion
If you apply most (or all) of these study hacks, I guarantee you will create a near-perfect study habitat.
So go on and start experimenting to see what works for you.