7 Teachers You Don’t Want To Have

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All the studying in the world doesn’t help if you have the wrong set of teachers. Actually… that’s not true. All the studying in the world is what you need if you’re stuck with a miserable teacher teaching the subject. A good teacher makes a huge difference on your final grade for a few different reasons.

The first reason is a reason I’ve mentioned a number of times on this blog. Some teachers give easy A’s and some teachers rarely ever give them. Every teachers makes their class a little bit different in difficulty. Sometimes, you can just switch teachers and see a dramatic improvement in your grades.

The second reason is a bad teacher can kill motivation. It’s tough enough to study most subjects. If you have a teacher that drives you nuts then you’re never going to be able to focus and learn as much during class. That means you’ll need to spend more time outside of class catching up.

The third reason is one that I rarely mention because it’s kind of a given. Some teachers are good at teaching. Others are bad. Some teachers are good at teaching people like you. Others are not. These differences completely change the dynamics of a classroom situation.

Here are 7 teachers you don’t want to have teacher your class:

The Complainer

I can remember a slew of these teachers during high school. There I was getting dragged into a class I didn’t want to have to go to (I hated high school) and some teachers still insisted on sharing how depressing their own life was.

If the class was a little noisy the teacher would go on a massive aggressive or passive aggressive rant about why the students should listen. Sure, the students should listen but when with 9 out of 10 teachers the students do listen, the teacher never considers they might be the one with the problem.

It’s a teachers job to get the student to care about the material. If the students don’t care about the material, of course, they’re not going to listen. This is common sense. Perhaps instead of complaining about how tough your life is, you should learn from the evidence the students are presenting.

Of course, that’s not nearly as bad as the teachers that come into school complaining about their personal lives. “Oh! I don’t get paid enough!’ Then shut up and get a new job. Students don’t control your paycheck. In fact, it’s none of their damn business. “Oh… my wife and I were arguing,” You are paid to educate people; not talk about yourself.

Monotone Lecturer

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It’s like some teachers actively try to be as boring as possible. Really… I can’t talk as boring as a monotone lecturer even when I’m trying really hard. The natural intonations of my voice  end up slipping through as I’m trying to sound as boring as these teachers.

When a teacher goes through his or her lesson with a monotone voice, you can make a few assumptions with a high degree of accuracy. First, they don’t care about the students. Everyone knows that monotone lecturing sucks. Second, they don’t care about the subject. Passion leaks through when you care about something. Third, they are likely bored to death with their own life. I imagine they must go full breaking bad during their free time just to stay sane. Fourth, they don’t update their lessons often. So much for improving the lesson plan every year, these folks tend to teach the same crap, year in and year out, whether it works well or not.

Avoid monotone lecturers.

PowerPoint Pros

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No… Put away that powerpoint. I know how attractive it looks but don’t do it.

The sad truth is that 99% of people blow at powerpoint presentations. Sure, I’ve seen a couple good ones in my life but it’s such a subtle balance that most people would be miles better off by just lecturing the subject.

There are a ton of mistakes that can be made on powerpoints. One of the most common is the walls of text. Really… what is the point of putting a wall of text on a powerpoint and reading it? Most people that read the text off the powerpoint would rather you shut up. Most people don’t actually read the text and just wait for you to finish reading it. So, what is the point of it?

You have one of the most advanced technologies in history. You could build animations, show pictures, show graphs, and all kinds of other things but there you are building a book projected on a screen that’s so brightly lit that it’s a little painful to even read off of.

Sure, pointless animations are another common problem. If it’s not actually related to the subject then you’re just being weird.

Politicizer

Man… teachers should not bring politics into the classroom. People like to pretend classrooms are a place for free and open discussion of the topics but that’s a couple lie in 99% of the cases. For that reason, most teachers shouldn’t even pretend it’s a free open discussion. It’s better if they just stick tightly to the educational information.

If you end up learning the political leanings of a teacher in a classroom during a class that isn’t related to politics heavily (history, political sciences, etc.) then you can almost instantly assume that teacher is an idiot. It doesn’t even matter if they agree or disagree with you. They’re stupid just to bring the subject up.

When a teacher shares certain beliefs with you, it can affect the education in two ways. It can affect their treatment of you and it can affect your treatment of them. Either way, unless both parties are mature (No… they’re not) then this will lead to problems or perceived problems in the classroom.

Center Of Your Universe

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Some teachers seem to think that their class happens to be what you dream about at night. They think that you go home and study the subject for three hours with a huge smile on your face. They think all their student’s lives are going to revolve around their subject in the future. That’s why they insist on giving you so much work on their subject so you have no time to spend on any other subject.

These teachers are absolutely insane. Don’t take classes from them. They will make you waste hundreds of hours on pointless activities on the subject. Sure, you may learn a ton about that subject but you’ll be sacrificing sanity, other grades, and things that are actually important to your life for what will most likely be a relatively pointless grade.

Conform Or D(ie)

Sometimes getting the right answer isn’t enough for a teacher. You have to use their specific methodology to get that answer. Sure, in some subjects like math, that’s actually kind of important. But even in subjects like that teachers can get insane.

I remember having a math teacher deduct points for me not writing down a super easy addition problem that came right after a super tough algebra problem while following her specifications perfectly up to that point. “Oh… well… if you don’t write down the no-brainers then your not showing ALL your work.” Oh please… there is no productive value to excessive writing stuff down when it’s been locked in your brain for 10 years. Sure, it’s a little stupid but at least there is a little sanity to this.

Some teachers go as far as forcing subjective strategies on all of their students work. Despite it being their personal preference they’re willing to knock off points just for doing it the slightest bit differently.

Let’s face it. People don’t think the same way. People aren’t all the exact same. Some people require different strategies than others. A teacher forcing a strategy on you is also forcing you not to use a strategy that works well for you.

Grade Curvers

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I know… I know.... Some students love grading on a curve. Some students hate it. It usually comes down to how much it has helped or hurt them in the past.

If a teacher is insanely difficult then a grade curve can seriously improve the average students grade. If a teacher is easy then it can seriously hurt the average students grade. Of course, it gets more complex than that though.

What about the students? If you have a classroom full of smarter students, you’re going to be in a bad position. You’d suddenly have to compete to get higher grades. If you have a classroom full of lazy students then you don’t have to compete as much.

From most of what I suggested from my piles of articles on this blog, you might be thinking, “this sounds like an exploitable situation.” By getting in classes with grade curving  teachers and a bunch of idiots, you could end up getting straight A’s without much work. In theory that’s wonderful but in practice, that’s impossible (at least as far as I’ve tried. I also caused the school to fix an exploit in their website allowing. Oops…)

Ultimately grading curves just introduce a ton of really hard to control variables into the equation. Avoid them as much as possible.  You can’t control who you’re in a class with. You can only control your own success or failure and which situations you put yourself in.

Sure, some of these teachers may not be your pet peeves but this is a pretty good list of my major ones. It’s mostly to remind you: Don’t take classes without teachers you like. Honestly… it’s a huge factor. In fact, I would pick the hardest teacher of a subject if I truly liked the teacher. It helps during every second of the learning process. In the same respect, I would avoid a teacher I didn’t like even if they were an easy A. Is that productive for my grades? I don’t know but I just think life is too short to waste with people I don’t enjoy being around.

Do you want to know the secrets to studying in less than 15 minutes a night? That’s what this blog teaches. Check out the archives and follow along for all the updates. Also, if ebooks shake your maracas then be sure to check out the three listed in the sidebar on the right.

How To Stop Study Procrastination (And Cause House Fires)

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Any good student has been there at least one time in their life. At first they're thinking, “I have to start studying,” until their stubborn brain kicks in and gives them a list of potential excuses to pick from.

Some people procrastinate by thinking they have something significantly more important to do. While they should be studying, they realize there is a show they want to watch on television or a party that they can't afford to miss. Don't have this excuse? Don't worry there is a whole list of others you can pick from.

If you don't have anything better to do then one of your best options for procrastinating is pretending that you're trying to study better by procrastinating. Instead of saying there is something more important to do, say that studying is too important to try to do in the moment. Maybe you're not in the mindset for studying. Maybe your roommates are making noise. Anything works. Now you can't study as good as you could later. Congratulations, you have your excuse.

Bare in mind, these are just wild excuses your brain uses to try and convince you to avoid the pain of studying. Studying can be difficult. If you're studying right then there is a very good chance your brain wont want to do it (unless you happen to be curious.) There are a few simple things you can do to stop study procrastination. That being said, if you're getting to the point that you have these thoughts, you've probably already lost the battle...

There are ways that you can stop study procrastination from ever rearing its ugly head.

Habitual Study

Getting yourself to study is tough. It requires a ton of discipline if you're not already in the habit. Every time you try and force yourself to study you're going to need to muscle down all those excuses that will be popping up. The best way to ease the pain of getting into studying is to make it a habit.

When you're in the habit of studying, your brain doesn't have time to make up excuses for not studying. If, after class, everyday, the first thing you do is pick up your textbook to study, within a few weeks, you're going to be buried in study material by the time you come up with excuses. When you're already studying, you're bound to knock back those excuses like they're nothing.

Sure, habitual study has its challenges. You're going to need to maintain that habit through the busy times and the slow times but it's advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. In fact, after learning habitual studying, most student get to cut their study time in half.

Habitual studying means less cramming is required. Using smaller lengths of time for studying, you're able to remember more of the information faster. Now, you won't always have the luxury of a habit to pull yourself out of procrastination. When you don't have the habit, there are a few things you can do to make your life easier.

No Think Start Up

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This is a study strategy that's based on the advantages of habits. It can work like a charm for some people but it tends to be a bit of a hit and a miss for others. Instead of the regular back and forth your brain has between studying and excuses, with the no think start up, you're going to want to stop the back and forth completely.

When you first realize that it's a time you planned on studying, focus on not thinking until you're into the study material. At that point, ignore everything else in the world and pick up a textbook. (The house fire can wait till later to be put out... For legal purposes: That is a joke.) The point is not to perfectly blank your mind. The point is to not give any credence to doubts you have.

You don't just realize there is something more important to do when you procrastinate. When you come up with some excuse, you need to back it up with a list of good reasons in your brain. The goal of the no think start up is to prevent that list from building. Your brain will be fighting for excuses, give those excuses no chance to become real in your mind.

Your studying has been set and treat it like stone. You can't change it. Anything important that comes up must wait. The faster you're able to get into studying, the better off you'll be.

This can be one of the most effective ways to build a habit. That's mostly what this should be used for. There is another trick that works better for those that can't quite clear their head.

The Honest Approach

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This approach to studying isn't as effective for developing strong habits but it can get you to study when you need it most. Whenever you start to hear your excuses to procrastinate studying, you need to stop yourself and ask a simple question. Do I want to study?

Forget about all the excuses you have. You don't need them. You don't have to study if you don't want to study. Tell yourself that and follow through with it. Just force yourself not to lie with pointless procrastination.

What happens then?

Most people lie at first. I know... You probably don't... but most people do.

Most people say, “I want to study... but...”

That's probably a lie. Look at whatever excuse you're making carefully and either prove it to be a lie or accept that you shouldn't be studying. You might think, “I could study better if I did it later.” That's probably a lie. You might also think, “I left the stove on...” that might be a legitimate excuse. (That explains the house fire I mentioned earlier.)

If you admit that you don't want to study then you're probably being honest. At that point, don't study until you want to study. The funny thing about this is, most students end up studying 5 minutes after they decide not to study. You don't have to do anything you don't want to but most students quickly realize they want to pass the test, they want to learn some of it, and they want to have the habits of studying.

If you want to study and don't have any excuses then doing it just comes naturally.

There is an old joke about procrastination that tend to ring true for the way many people deal with procrastinating. It's the last piece of advice I'll provide because in most cases, this can end up being all that you need to break the pattern of procrastination.

Every time you're thinking of procrastinating, just put it off. Procrastinate your procrastination. You'll have plenty of time to slack off tomorrow but today you're going to study.

While this holds very little weight, thinking it can help your brain get back into a positive pattern of thinking. Try it out sometime.

To get the grades you're looking for, you can't afford to have procrastination getting in your way. Until you're able to stop study procrastination and keep it out of your mind, you're not going to be doing as well as you could be. While you can probably get by, if you're the type student that reads this, that's definitely not enough.

Do you want to learn more ways to study faster and more effectively? Be sure to follow this blog.

Why You're Too Lazy To Study (And What To Do About It)

When a person calls another person lazy, it's usually intended as an insult. Despite the use of laziness as an insult, it's actually not a completely negative action. Being lazy is not being incapable of doing something. Being lazy is being unwilling to do something. This might seem like a minor change in wording but it's absolutely essential to understanding what's behind any bouts of laziness you're suffering through.

If you're too lazy to study then you're not incapable of studying. You're just unwilling to.

But how much do you really want to study? Logically, you may know that the education would be good for you but you most people still struggle with it. Where is this unwillingness coming from?

A History Of Lazy

Not doing stuff may seem unattractive to people today but think about this from an evolutionary perspective. Getting enough calories to survive today might be easy but throughout most of human evolution it was a major challenge. People would have to hunt for hours and hours a day to bring home enough food for survival. Doing anything other than something required for survival is a waste of energy in those situations.

(They didn't run marathons for fun because it would be a dangerous risk of resources. They didn't seek to become bodybuilders either. That may have helped them survive better but survival is the goal not “better” survival. Your education isn't survival. It's “better” survival.)

In fact, if you look at the leaders in many different species, laziness is a rather common trait. Alpha male lions would hunt for only a few hours a day. The rest of the day was used for resting. Any more hunting is excessive and unnecessarily dangerous.

I say this to remind you that your laziness comes from a long genetic line of laziness in the past. Laziness is a sign that you're surviving successfully. The world owes you a big congratulations in successfully setting your life up in a way that allows you to use less energy than you may have had to use.

That's not the whole story though...

You Have To Do It

The alpha's of a species can get away with laziness the most. That being said, you don't have to be an alpha to feel the same desire for the position. What are the real reasons that you want to study?

What are you really studying for? It's it for yourself? If you're mister or misses noble you might say, “I care about furthering my education,” but is that really it? Most people have much different true motivations.

Do you really just want to make your parents happy?

Do you really just want to make your teachers happy?

Do you really just want to make the colleges you apply for happy?

Do you feel like you have to study?

The vast majority of people that struggle with studying do not want to study for their own improvement. If you need to study because of some external motivation then you're always going to have to watch of for procrastination because you're subtly admitting that you're not in control of your own life.

You're not an alpha if you have to do something for someone else. The need to procrastinate is the urge to take back control of your own life. You may know it's temporary but it's your body's way of saying you're still in control.

That brings us to one of the best ways to end procrastination.

You Don't Have To Do It

As long as you think about studying as something that you “have to do.” You're going to struggle getting yourself to do it.

Studying is not something you have to do. You can get subpar grades, heck, most students could still pass all their courses. If you wanted to you could continue to not start studying. Every time you realize that you're putting off studying you should reassure yourself that you can not study anytime you want to not study (and mean it.) Studying is a choice.

We live in the most advanced time in history. If there was ever a time that a person could survive without doing anything that they didn't want to do, it's now. You never need to develop the discipline to farm a field. If you've read this far then you're probably smart enough to do alright in life putting in hardly any effort at all.

That being said, do you really only want part of what you're capable of? (It's okay if you do.)

There has never been more opportunities for you to focus your life on the things you love and do absolutely amazing things with them. Everyone has something that motivates them without even trying (even if it's something seemingly stupid like wandering the web.) You can do virtually anything you want compared to every other time in history.

Knowing that you can do or not do anything you want...

Why Do You Want To Study

In the dream world, everyone would study everything because they absolutely adore the subject. Math fans would spend their time studying math. History buffs would be studying history. Everyone would have their own little joys of learning. The world doesn't work quite so magically but everyone seems to want you to think it does.

You may have a favorite subject. If you do then you probably don't need too much help preparing for it. It just comes natural to you. Teachers tend to want you to feel that way about every subject. Just think about it. Why do math teachers teach math instead of English? It's usually because math is the subject they love. Teachers tend to love their subjects. That makes it difficult for them to understand how it feels to not love them. This leads them to struggling to provide advice when you're not as interested as they are.

You don't have to fall in love with a subject to study it. All you need is a few good reasons. If you're just looking to “pass the course” then, of course, you're going to struggle to get the motivation to study. You're never too lazy to study something you really love though. If, on the other hand, you want to make a career out of the information you're learning, studying will become easier. There are plenty of other reasons to learn subjects.

Every class could have a whole list of reasons. With English courses you could try to learn to communicate with other people more effectively. With Math courses, you could look at the problems like puzzles to solve. At the very least, in any course, you can admit that you're just trying to score a good grade for some external reason like parents or college. While it's not the most powerful motivation, admitting it in advance can help you beat procrastination.

You need to find a real reason that you want to study. It doesn't have to be noble. It doesn't have to be the reason your teachers would give it. It only has to be something that you can relate to.

So, the next time you find yourself struggling with procrastination, don't beat yourself up about it. You're just doing what your body was meant to do. You don't have study if you're too lazy to study. It's always your choice. When you know it's your choice you can find the reasons to study that are right for you.

7 Best Study Strategies For Dominating That Test

Studying is a skill that most students really suck at. Even the most successful students usually miss the most important factors in learning everything you need to learn for that test. Most students end up just throwing more time into studying while hoping it improves their grades somehow. The truth is, that's one of the least effective ways to improve your test scores.

The best study strategies involve managing the individual tests and your own psychology. Professors don't like presenting the strategies taught in this article because these strategies don't fit with the classic, “work hard to succeed” narrative that school try and fail to shove down student's throats. These strategies can make taking tests one of the easiest parts of your day without requiring any massive investment of time.

1. Limit Your Study Time

The number one problem students have in studying is spending too much time doing it. I know that sounds insane but it's completely true. Virtually every student that studies at all, studies too much. If you're studying right, 20 minutes of studying should wear you out in a good way. If you invest any more than 20 minutes in studying per sitting then you're probably doing something wrong.

Studying too long usually means that your brain isn't actually memorizing much. Most people let their brains phase in and out of study mode while they're supposed to be studying. One second they're thinking about Lincolns assassination and then they're wondering why they love guacamole but hate avocados. That is not productive studying. Other people lose their productivity by throwing on music or talking to friends while studying.

All those activities are doing is increasing the time it takes for you to study. It's better to study focused for less time than unfocused for more time. While it may sound a little bit counter intuitive, one of the best study strategies is to just reduce the amount of time you study.

2. Don't Study If You Don't Have To

Some tests don't require studying. Unless you're fighting for that scholarship and need to ace every test, do not study for easy tests. Whenever you study when it's not required, you train yourself to relax during studying. If you know you'll do great but sit down anyway, it will take significantly more discipline to focus hard on studying. If you get out of your good study habits then it ends up hurting every single test you take in the future. It's not worth it. Study when you need it and no more.

There are some tests that you might choose to study for in the last minute. I don't recommend last night all-nighters but I am a big advocate for last ten minute cram sessions. Right before class begins you can tear through study sessions more effectively than ever. While you may not be able to get away with it for most large tests, many small tests can become no brainers if you wait until the last minute. The best part of this study strategy is it encourages effective studying. Always study like you have only minutes left to study.

Take note that the first two top study strategies focus on working smarter instead of harder. 

How do you know when studying is required and when it isn't? Number 3 addresses that problem.

3. Know Your Tests

Most students can radically improve their grades by thinking about their general test strategies. Every test is different. There is no magical piece of advice that can apply to every professor and every test but no matter what a professor does, there is always a way to benefit from it. No one knows the tests your teachers give better than you. Use that information to pick and choose the right study methods for that class. This probably sounds pretty boring but imagine this:

Compare your teachers old study guides to their old tests. How closely does the teachers test match their study guide? I've seen teachers match study guides they provide question for question. I've also seen the opposite where using the study guide to study would have been a complete waste of time. It usually comes down to the teachers preference. Once you know the teachers adherence to the study guide, you may be able to eliminate 90% of the material you would have had to study.

Using the resources you're provided, there are always a few tricks of the trade that will bump your grade 5 or 10 points without a second more of studying. That makes it one of the best study strategies while being regularly overlooked.

4. Don't Memorize Much

Straight up memorization is difficult. While a few people are great at it, most will always end up struggling. That's why I always recommend eliminating information that you need to study before studying. Most students spend most of their study time studying information that they don't need to know for the test. Not only is that a waste of time but it's completely discouraging when test time comes.

Before you try and memorize anything, try to find specific reasons why you'd need the information. Is the information listed on the study guide? If not, don't waste 20 minutes trying to lock it in your brain. It's probably not on the test. If it is on the test, it's probably not worth all that much if you haven't heard you needed it.

Many students look to gain every single point they can possibly get. That strategy encourages you to focus on millions of tiny details that no one could ever predict. Forget about that. Focus on the obvious points to study for. Accept that you'll lose a few points here and there for the details. Overall, your score will end up higher for it. 

Really... One of the best study strategies is to not need to study it in the first place.

5. Don't Study. Recall.

This point is mostly a play on words but it's absolutely essential you get the point. Most students sit down with their textbook to read and assume they're studying. I've never considered that studying because it's usually very inconsequential in the final test score. When you really want to have an impact on your score you should spend less time with that kind of studying and more time with recall.

Recall is actually remembering the information you studied. Spend at least as much time recalling as reading. Flash cards are the classic example of recalling. When you have flash cards, you either know the information or you don't. It makes you dig in the same part of your brain as you'll be digging from during the test. When you're reading, you may be memorizing some of it but it's impossible to know what stuck and what didn't.

The best study methods require this become a natural habit.

6. No-Stress

I don't care what you have to do to make it work but this is one of the most powerful skills you can learn. Listen to some mellow music. Try meditation. Distract yourself. Do whatever you have to do to not worry about the test.

Worrying about the test is horrible for many different reasons. To list a few:

First of all, when you worry about the test you can't memorize as well. Worry was designed for running away from tigers, not remembering random facts.

Second, worrying encourages procrastination. No one wants to do something that they have to worry about.

Third, when you finally get the test, you won't be able to take it effectively. You'll be stuck in the same habit of thinking about the test and worrying. You'll be too worried to remember anything important.

Virtually every student can increase their scores by 5-10% by just becoming more laid back about the test. This comes down to using the best study skills you've got as effectively as you can.

7. Make The Choice

Laid back is good about the specific tests but never become complacent with your test taking strategies. While you may be able to pass your tests easily now, there will always be harder tests in the future. When you become complacent you will start to make mistakes. You may end up focusing a little less during your study times or you might stop looking out for opportunities to improve.

You'll recognize when this happens.

When it does happen, you have to make a choice. Do you want to get even better or do you just want to survive the rest of your schooling? I can understand why you'd choose either.

Why do I consider this one of the best study strategies?

Many students never take the chance to ask these questions and they end up making mistakes. When tests become easy, the excess time and score can get you distracted from your goals. You need to know what you're looking for when the time comes. Why are you studying for these tests at all? Are you looking to pass the course or make a career out of the information you learn?

Once you start to answer these questions you're able to focus your energy into the most important directions for your life.

These are the 7 best study strategies ranked in no particular order. Some of them are more important for some people than others. Look at your personal test taking problem areas and act accordingly. If you're the kind of student that sweats through their shirt on test day then you will see the most results from number 6. If you're the kind of student that studies for hours on end then try number one out and everything else tends to falls into place. The best study strategy for you is the one that you need most.

How To Pass Any Test (Easily)

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Taking tests can be terrifying. You never know exactly what's going to be on any particular test and most of the study habits people are taught as children are downright wrong. 

Teachers have been telling struggling students to study more, try harder, and pay more attention for years but that advice is bull. Really... This is a teacher's way of saying they don't care enough to find the real problem. 

Studying more doesn't always improve grades. Trying harder, when you're already making an effort, can often lead to excess stress which just kills the grade more. A teacher telling a student to pay more attention is just an admission that they don't know how to stay interesting in class.

Learning how to pass any test is not a difficult thing to do. It's not taught in school because it doesn't fit the traditional education narrative. You might even get the impression that these are a set of secret strategies employed by all the highly successful slackers out there.

Too many students are getting suckered into a culture that encourages work without considering results. When you learn to get more done in less time, you get to do more. You can tutor yourself into making test taking time easy. Many times, you don't even have to study for exams. All you have to do is keep a close eye on the test requirements and know your own limitations.

Scouting A Test

At least a week before any test, you need to be looking at all the information you can find on the test. If it's a standardized test then look it up online. If you have study guides then look them over. If the teacher ever starts to talk about the test, you clean your ears and listen close.

Teachers have a bias in this situation. Teachers look bad when students fail their tests. That means that teachers regularly give away all the information required to pass the test. They may give you multiple chapters worth of dense textbook to read but after you scout the specific information you can narrow it down to pages.

Your first goal in preparing for any test should be elimination. Studying can be stressful. The more information you're able to eliminate from your study session, the better you're going to perform on the test. Students that just sit down with their textbooks to study everything usually struggle the most with the test. It's better to figure out what you know you need to know and focus on that.

Sometimes, this will lead you to missing one test answer that comes out of the blue. That's okay. You're sacrificing one hard point for tons and tons of easy ones. Unless you're looking for a perfect score, you don't need to worry about the information that you couldn't have predicted in advance.

Study Sessions

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I absolutely hate when people say to study more.

That is the absolute worst possible advice in 9 out of 10 cases. Do you study? If you study then you're not studying too little. You're probably just studying with bad habits. First of all, you should not be studying more than an hour a day. NEVER. Don't even do it before a big test.

If you're studying right then after 20 minutes of studying you'll be worn out. Any more studying after that produces diminishing results while encouraging you to develop poor study habits. Worn out studying is a mistake. It's better to study with better habits for less time than with worse habits for longer.

One of the most effective ways of studying is creating multiple short sessions for studying instead of one long one. Your mind needs time to process the information you're trying to remember. Give it that time before loading more information in there.

During those study sessions, remember that reading is not studying. Studying requires recall of the information. Flash cards are a great example of this. Just reading information can help information stick but if you're not 100% engaged in the moment then it's wasted. You can't get away without recall on flash cards. You either remember it or you don't. The recall is the important and stressful part of studying.

Also, never study distracted. When you're studying, do not IM friends. Do not listen to music. Do not daydream. Make sure you have plenty of privacy and quiet. You need to only study. I understand that can be difficult. If you have to then cut your study times down dramatically. Focused study for less time is better than unfocused study for longer. Make it 5 minutes if you have to.

One of the most important reasons to study this way is habit. At first you might not get much out of it but over time you're going to train your brain to study faster. When you concentrate 100% on studying, your brain gets better at it with new habits. Whenever you let yourself get distracted you get out of the habits that let you study fast. Study or don't study. Don't just pretend to study.

What about that test you didn't prepare for tomorrow?

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Do not break the study habit by trying to cram. It's a waste of your time. You

may gain a few points but it's just going to encourage you to make the same mistake in the future.
Study less than an hour in multiple sessions during that period of time. Take enough breaks to know you're not stressing. After that accept that is all you can do. 
The real problem isn't the few points you lose by not studying enough tonight. The real problem is that boatload of points you already lost by not starting your studying a week ago.

What if you don't think you need to study for a test?

Well, if you scouted the test properly then you know better than I do. If you're wrong, it's going to end up biting you but that's a risk that you need to decide you take yourself. There are many of tests that you don't ever need to study for. You probably will end up with a slightly lower grade but it can be very motivating to pass without ever picking up a textbook.

Test Taking Time

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When you're thinking about how to pass any test, the most important factor is not study habits. Yes, study habits are a massive portion of the final grade but most people don't even need to study to pass any test. The vast majority of testing points comes down to a persons ability to manage the test in their own heads.

Stress will completely destroy your final score. You can have all the answers locked up somewhere in your brain but they do absolutely no good without your brain being in shape to find them. Getting worried was intended to let you run from tigers, not to help you find answers tucked away in the nooks and crannies of your brain.

Keeping the stress down usually just requires you keep a clear perspective on every test you take. There is nothing life threatening about failing a test. If you studied enough, there is nothing else you can do anyway. If you studied too little then you're just going to stress out worse if you worry about it. When test time comes, your score has been decided before you even answer the first question.

During the test, if you don't know an answer, skip it until the end. Fighting over a difficult problem can ruin stress levels for the rest of the test.

Don't feel the need to keep stressing about a problem you don't know the answer to for the whole duration of the test. I test take by this philosophy: I either know it or I don't. Almost knowing an answer doesn't count. Every second you stress out trying to find an answer is a second you're learning to stress out during tests. You won't remember the 25 minutes of breezing through the easy answers. All you'll remember is the one answer you spent 10 minutes on to still not get right.

If you use the strategies taught in this article, your grade will surprise you. You can often get away with studying significantly less while improving your grades. You don't need a tutor. You don't need a drug. You don't even have to spend all that much time really trying. You just need to figure out the test or exam, study with the right habits for not too long, and then let yourself pass the test without pulling your hair out.