They say that your time in school is the most memorable time of your life. Now, this may be true, but when you’re a student yourself, everything can be overwhelming. You have to deal with all of your lessons, projects and have to study all your lessons in order to pass. But with that many things to remember, it may seem impossible. But luckily, there are ways to make your studying a lot easier.
Study Techniques for Every Student
One of the best ways to retain your lessons in your head is to find a study technique that works for you. For example, some people find it easier to study in a quiet place like the library, while some can retain information better as they study while drinking a cup of coffee. It’s all a matter of finding an activity or sound that can help you remember the information. Here are a few popular techniques you can try for your next study session:
Color-code your classes
Keeping things organized can help get the information organized in your head. A good way to keep notes organized is to assign a color for that course. For example, your English notes can be written in blue ink in a notebook with a blue cover and only use blue highlighter in your textbooks. This can help you associate the lessons with the color and can help you retain all the lessons discussed throughout the semester.
Listen to music while you study
Don’t like the noise while studying but don’t like complete silence either? Then take out your headset and play some tunes while you go over your notes. You can choose the music you like, but classical music by Beethoven and Debussy have been proven to be a good choice in music while studying. Now’s the chance to associate your favorite songs to your favorite classes.
Write it down
These days, using your laptop to take notes in class is becoming more popular. However, jotting notes down on paper can help. It helps you remember the words in the lesson. Some people find this technique to be more effective than typing their notes down directly onto their laptop, while some students write down what they can during the lesson, and later on type it into their laptop. This allows them to go over the lesson a second time and look up any terms or terminologies that they may have overlooked.
Make use of acronyms and mnemonics
When you need to remember a group of words, turning it into a mnemonic can be helpful. The most popular example of this is ROYGBIV. The mnemonic stands for all the colors of the rainbow. You can apply it to other lessons so you can easily recall elements that otherwise would have been hard.
Record yourself
Some students find it harder to learn something if they are simply reading static words. A good way to work around this is to record themselves. Come up with some questions about the lesson, or use your textbook for reference, and record yourself asking the questions. After each question, leave a 5-10 second pause for when you listen to it later. When you finish, you can listen to the recording while you go for a walk or go jogging and allow yourself to answer the questions.
Exposing yourself to audio-vision media can help you become better at studying. If you find a math lesson hard and don’t understand how the formula works just by looking at the examples in your textbook, you can look up videos online that can show you exactly how they are used. This is also applicable for other lessons. All you have to do is look it up. Luckily, a lot of professors and students create videos like this to help people learn.
Take breaks
Burnout is real and can make you less motivated. That is why students are encouraged to take a break after 30-45 minutes of studying. You can use this time to grab a snack, take a walk, or take care of other chores. It gives your mind enough time to process all the information you took in, and allows your body to move around.
Turn it into a game
A common technique students use to help themselves study is by doing it in groups. But sometimes, group study sessions can end with everyone not taking in any of the information they have read. If you decide to get together with your pals for a group study session, make it more fun by turning it into a game. You can split into two groups and compete in answering questions, game show style. The winners can get free coffee or something similar sponsored by the losing team.
These are just a few ways you can improve your studying techniques. What’s more, you can use educational courses online to help you get better.