Helpful Hints For Studying

1. study for a while and then take a power nap (20 minutes are good, but no longer than an hour. set an alarm!) before studying again. there are proven benefits!

2. find the perfect place for YOU. it might be outside under a tree, at the library, in a quiet room, etc. for me, it's at the library where they have great lighting and really comfy chairs (but not too comfy to make me fall asleep!)plus seeing everyone else studying makes me feel like i should be too! it motivates me.

3. keep water handy to sip and keep you alert. mints have also been known to help you concentrate (mint gum is best as you are forced to keep alert with the chewing)

4. if you are studying for a test, break the material up. dont leave large amounts of reading for the night before. it's too daunting a task and your brain cant soak up all of the info in a limited amount of time. plus you'll get too stressed out and to do well, you need to be well-rested. keep up with reading!

5. MAKE FLASHCARDS OF KEY TERMS!

6. read a page (or a few paragraphs), cover up the page and summarize the main points out loud in your own words.

7. get a tutor or study buddy. actually, ive found that explaining/teaching someone else the material helps you understand it even better!

8. read over the notes you took that day, at night. if you don't understand something, you can ask the prof/teacher the next day.

9. if you are a college student, use your prof's office hours. if in high school, schedule a time to ask your teacher questions. when you go in, you get the material sorted out AND you show your teacher that you are a diligent student who is interested in doing well. brownie points!

10. look into taking a speed reading class. im trying to get faster myself. :)

11. if you are given essay questions to a test in advance, by all means make an outline! dont write out the entire essay as this will be much too difficult to study/memorize.

12. make a written schedule (i like using excel :)). put in time slots for school, activities you're involved in, mealtimes, etc. then schedule in studying times and stick to them. make sure you also schedule in fun activities as rewards!

13. always carry a school book with you (the smallest one, preferably). when i was in high school, i would carry whatever book we were reading for english class with me in my purse. that way, if you have 15 minutes waiting in the doctor's office, 20 mins in the car on the drive to school, 5 mins at the bus stop, etc. you use those minutes wisely.

14. also for english class reading, look into audiobooks. i had to read james joyce's "a portrait of the artist as a young man" and decided to try out audiobooks. by listening to it on my ipod (at night before going to bed, in the car on roadtrips, etc) i enjoyed it more (the guy had a cute irish accent!) and I finished it faster than if i had read it. i buy mine from audible.com. libraries also carry them.

15. i often get easily distracted with worries and the list of things to do (or random ideas even) while im trying to study. so what i do before i start is take a notebook and just write down everything that's floating in my head onto paper (what i need to buy at the grocery store, people i need to call, payments i need to make, etc) and leave the notebook nearby in case something else comes to mind.

16. here's a heavy-duty studying technique that my roomie and i developed last year during finals week that actually made us want to study! crazy, i know. this works best if you do it with a buddy who will keep you on track. Work/study/read for 45 mins (set an alarm). then watch 1/2 of a FRIENDS episode (or another 30 min show on dvd). again, make sure you set a 15-min alarm during the break. then read/work/study for another 45 mins and then finish the show! taking breaks is really important. you can mix up watching shows with taking a walk, getting a snack, stretching, etc. i find this method works best for me because im motivated to work hard in order to earn the reward and i want to find out what happens at the end of the episode!

17. stay positive. i know it sounds really silly, but it has been proven: if you think that you can do something, you really can. when you get stressed out, stop what you're doing. relax your limbs. close your eyes and take deep breaths. inhale for 5 seconds. exhale for 5 seconds. do this a couple of times and i swear you will feel better.