I never really managed to get into the habit of studying for school, and even when i tried and sat down somehow always in like half an hour i caught myself thinking about or doing something completely different. Now that im about to enter university im afraid that i will not be able to continue like this without heavy consequences. What systems and tips did you find useful for school related work and doing stuff without interest in general?
Hi. This is a very good question. I am a professor myself, and all of our students are now required to take a course with a name like “Learning to Learn”. You are not the only one worrying or thinking about this. Most of your cohorts and peers will be in the same boat as you.
20 years ago when I was a student, my first year at uni was a waste of money and time. By second year I had it figured out:
- Take notes, by hand. It will hurt at first, but that will pass. Some schools copy the Cornell method
- Do homework as soon as possible so the theory from class is still fresh.
- Read notes out loud when you can, as if you are practising a speech.
- Don’t cram or study until the last minute.
- If you are very serious, be prepared to lose sleep (I had 38 hours of class and 4 jobs that added up to about 50 hours… I slept 3 hours a night) or get a new rhythm like going to bed very early and getting up before everyone else.
- Use the library as a study place, or a café. Seeing others work helps you get in the mood.
My students have the same troubles I did, but with the added distraction of phones! Mute them, airplane mode, whatever. Study time and school come first if you actually care about grades. Weekends are the worst for distractions, but don’t feel bad for having fun.
I strongly second the recommendation for the free online class Learning How to Learn. I’ve taken it twice, the second time as a refresher after a few years. It’s light, well presented, easy, and really revolutionized my approach to learning new things.
Thanks a lot! Im kind of worried about sleep, cause there is obviously a good balance somewhere for everyone where it is worth sacrificing sleep, but i feel like its probably subjective to the point where i can convince myself that sleeping more than it is really needed is the better option.
I went all in on grades and work. I have no memories from university. I was baked morning, noon, and night. Just study, work, eat, sleep, smoke, exam, etc. I wrote my final exams with mononucleosis. Said, “peace out” to my “friends” and moved to another country 4 months later. I only speak with one person I was at university with who I also went to high school with.
I check in on certain people. They don’t remember me. My professors still wish me “happy birthday” though.
Socialising cannot be ignored. Some of your courses, especially the intro courses and electives, can be given a lower priority sometimes if you need to disconnect from school stuff.
Search YouTube for Justin Sung and watch a bunch of his videos.
If you made it through HS by paying attention in class, turns out you were doing that part right. Rapidly switching from watching a lecturer to trying to write everything down in shorthand is not necessarily better than just focusing on the lecture in the moment and processing some form of notes afterwards.
Many university classes provide lecture notes / digital versions of the slides and/or allow you to record audio during lectures. Pay attention in the class, then later that same day go over the slides again with some sort of system that works for you (sketch notes are good due to double encoding).
The biggest mistake many students make is assuming that rereading the textbook the day before the test is a good way to study. It’s one of the worst. Good reviews involve application/ creation. Try writing and answering what you think the test might ask.
TLDR: Watch Justin Sung’s channel.
Thanks! Scrolling through his videos this channel seems like a great resource.
What worked for me was having a couple good friends in my degree program, and always doing the homework together on campus. I never did homework actually at home, and that did wonders for my concentration. I was able to say “if I’m on campus, I’m doing my coursework. If I’m home, I can do whatever I want”, which really helped mentally.
Its kind of annoying how many times when i had the opportunity to study in school more i convinced myself that i have to go home to study more efficiently, just for me to then do nothing all day at home. Thank you, hope that hearing this from others will make me stronger to decide better next time.
Of course! The biggest help for me was having friends that kept me on track, just as I kept them on track. It’s easy to convince yourself to take a 3 hour study break. It’s hard to convince yourself and a couple friends of the same. Good luck!!!
I always went overboard with studying but I always got top grades so I think it was worth it. Best to do the below by hand.
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First do a mindmap/brain storm of everything you know about the topic- use stick men and drawings to visualise concepts and link them with different colours
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Once you’ve done that, get an A5 card and distill what’s on the mindmap into one or two sides of the card only. The idea behind doing this is so it imprints on your memory.
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Next, take a different A5 card and write yourself some questions based on the topic. Build up a few and then once a week/ every few days write out the answers to the questions (repeat as needed until you don’t need the card to remember the answers).
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I would also gamify revision. So if there were terms that I needed to remember the definitions I would write out the term on one bit of paper and the definition on another and flip over and do a matching game. When you find the right pair, write down the term and definition.
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Also come up with songs about the topic. I remember coming up with a couple of verses about the history of medicine to the tune of the Copacobana. Then in the exam the tune gets stuck in my head so I remember the words.
In case you’re wondering, no I did not have a social life. It genuinely worked though.
Other tips- make a playlist of instrumental music or music in a language you don’t know. Rainymood can be good as well. Do it in small chunks and treat yourself after completing each one (I had a cup of my favourite tea).
Also I made posters with pictures and one or two words that link back to a topic, then stuck it in my room. Post its with terms on in places where you go regularly as well.
Thank you, these seem really effective! Hope i will have the willpower to implement them.
Good luck! Admittedly I only stuck to it due to crippling depression and anxiety so YMMV
Thanks, hope you are better now!
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Always take notes by hand! It’s okay to type them up later, but don’t just sit there and type a lecture word-for-word…your brain focuses on typing instead of “learning” or analyzing what is being said.
Also, learn to academically read. Basically, read the intro chapter. Then read first and last paragraph in following chapters. Lastly, any summaries/conclusions. Note what’s discussed and where. You generally want to get the main ideas and where to locate the details when you need them. This technique can work for individual chapters, papers, or even while texts. You’ll get a feel for it. The key is if you have the time, feel free to read it all. Else, it’s about learning how to find the info you need when you need it. I had one class that required 30 books. The assignments covered 3-5 books at a time. It was unmanageable, along with other classes, if you didn’t follow the above flow. That ended up being the “point” of the class. Oh, depending on the book, I adapt this technique to read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. That works well too.
