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Boy, if I had a turkey for every
student that spends hours staring at a page instead of studying then
everyday would be another thanksgiving. (Yea. That one was pretty far
out there but I like it.)
Staring at a textbook page is not
studying. Sure, you might remember the occasional fact but you might
as well be digging a ditch by pacing back and forth a few million
times. You're not getting any efficiency in your studying when you're
just looking. You need to actively make yourself remember
information.
Studying is not supposed to be boring.
At the very least, it should be painful. (At the very best, it should
be entertaining.) Your brain is able to remember things easily but
you need to practice your ability to access that information while
you're studying. If you're not giving your study time the attention
it deserves then you're grades will suffer.
Here are 7 things that you need to
watch out for when you pick up your textbook to study. They can help
you verify you're not just practicing your mindless stare, you're
actually studying to get some results.
1. Test Your Recall
Testing your recall is the only way you
can know whether or not you're really studying effectively. Looking
at your textbook and trying to remember something is significantly
different from looking at a blank test trying to remember it. The
book can give you cues to the answer. A blank test, typically wont.
That means, you need to stop looking at
the textbook, close your eyes, and try to remember the information
that you learned. One of the easiest ways to test recall is through
flashcards. There is no “kinda' right answer” when you're using
flashcards. You either know the answer or you don't. That's how you
need to treat your recall training.
If you're not verifying that you can
remember the information you're learning then you could spend hours
staring at a page without even realizing it.
2. Stop Studying
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One of the quickest ways to notice
whether you were actively studying or not is to take a break from
studying. Give up the (potential) illusion that you were actually
studying, and let your mind wander to whatever it wants to think
about. Don't do anything though. Just settle down where you
were studying and let yourself dream about whatever you want.
Where does your mind go? If you have a
little trouble stopping your thoughts about the study material then
that's a good sign. Your brain is actually interested in the
material. So, you were probably, at least a little, engulfed in the
material. If, within seconds, you're thinking about biking or corn
mazes or some other random something or another then you might not
have been studying.
Quickly stopping your thoughts about
studying isn't necessarily saying that you weren't studying but being
able to hold onto them is a clear sign that you were.
3. Look Around You
Look up from your textbook while you're
studying every once in a while. You need to look at the things going
on around you. The number one problem that you need to look for is
controllable distractions. If you look up and see your phone that
you've been using to text people then you're not really studying.
Distractions kill good studying. The same goes for a television or
even music.
There are less obvious distractions
that come up too though. I remember trying to study in the library
one time when looking up, I realized I was sitting close to a girl I
had a thing for. Naturally, every time my head looked down at my
textbook, instead of thinking about interesting class stuff, I was
busy thinking, “What's something cool I could say....” Yea. I'm a
nerd. That being said, there are less obvious distractions that you
should look out for.
4. Give-A-Crap-O-Meter
Ask yourself if you actually care about
what you're studying. If you don't. Then I can virtually guarantee
you're not really studying. Sorry... as much as I wish people could
study things they aren't motivated to study, it's just not true to
any reasonable extent. The more you care, the better you'll study.
The less you care, the worse you're going to study.
What if you don't care? Find a reason
to care. Or accept that you don't care and don't do it. Either answer
could be appropriate for different situations.
5. Time Check
Look at the clock and estimate how long
you've been studying. If you've been studying for more than an hour
without a break then you're probably not studying anymore. The
average person learns a whole boatload of information during the
first 15 minutes of studying. Past that first 15 minutes, the amount
they learn decreases significantly and continuously. Within 2 hours
of studying, most people, won't be learning anything new.
The mind is not magic. You can only
shove so much information into it at a time. When you try and binge
on information, you force yourself into a study hangover. The next
time you have to pick up the textbook you think, “I hate this. I
don't want to do this anymore.” It's better to study in moderation.
The results are better and it keeps your brain in check.
6. Result Tracking
If you're not paying attention to the
changes in your test scores then you're not going to be able to know
for sure whether or not your studying is working. Pay attention to
how much you study and the grades you end up getting for that study
time.
When you start tracking your study
results, you learn which methods of studying are the most effective
for you personally. Keep the word personally in mind. No study
strategy is perfectly efficient for everyone. Everyone has their own
quirks. Without tracking, you'll never find your own.
7. Exhaustion
If you're exhausted within the first
two minutes of studying then you're probably just staring at the
page. That's a sure sign that there is some problem in your current
study routine. If you're exhausted after 15-20 minutes of studying
then you're probably studying right.
If you're testing your recall and
trying to load your brain with information efficiently then you will
tire yourself out over time. Many people do feel physically or
mentally exhausted after a good study session. That usually means
you're doing it right.
When that exhaustion does kick in, it's
probably time to put away the books and be happy.
Studying is not as simple as teachers
make it sound. It's an active process that requires a real focus to
matter. (If you're not focusing, you might as well not study at all.)
Using these 7 strategies you can help figure out when you're actually
doing the dirty deed and when you're kinda just sorta looking at a
book hoping that something sticks.
Do you want to learn how to study
faster and more efficiently than ever before? Be sure to check out
some of this blogs previous articles. Also, follow to make sure that
you keep up with all of the updates.
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