Stand Up Studying

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What I’m going to be going over, on the surface, looks an awful lot like a minor point. It, alone, won’t dramatically improve your grades. Yes, it can have a positive impact on them but the real point of this article will come later on. I’m going to be telling this in a bit of a unique way in hopes that it helps the most important concepts sink in.

What if I told you that you could improve your grades by studying while you’re standing up?

It probably sounds a little ridiculous on the surface. It seems like one of those micromanagement things that I’ve discussed in the past. By that I mean, it’s a minor detail that you could waste hours experimenting with just to find a weak correlation with better memory. A weak correlation is hardly worth the extra effort involved.

It might seem that way but I’d make the argument that it’s not.

Study Experiments

I’ve done hundreds of memory and study experiments in my life. I’ve constantly tried to find the most efficient way to learn the things that I had to learn. One of those experiments I did was with standing while studying. Of course, one semi-controlled experiment on an individual doesn’t mean all that much. That being said, considering I wasn’t trying to solve the problem for the world, I was just trying to solve the problem for myself, it was all I really needed.

By standing up while studying I increased by average memory test scores (long term and short term) by 5-10%. That is a relatively dramatic result for my average testing. The vast majority of my testing methods resulted in virtually no discernable data. This was an experiment that I was actually pretty confident in before starting because I had a theory.

I’d done a number of experiments using physical activity while studying. I had the theory that muscle activation helps improve memory.

This wild theory was repeatedly proven in my own experimentation. I hopped on one leg while studying. I used sign language. I did all kinds of bodily triggers for memories. Each one of my experiments showed a small memory increase when muscles were activated. That got me thinking that my theory was right.

Muscle Activation And Memory

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My theory was originally based on wild and unscientific evolutionary theory. I thought, memory was required for hunting, gathering, and running from dinosaurs (okay… I know that last one’s not true,) so perhaps, memory is designed to work better in physical situations. Physical situations were more life and death than non-physical ones.

My experimentation was able to prove (well-enough for my own personal use. It wouldn’t be nearly enough proof for a serious theory,) that unscientific theory. To some extent, science has already proved this theory with it’s on experiments.

Have you ever heard of muscle memory? Muscle memory is “riding a bike.” It’s the idea that, even with decades in between the last time someone rode a bike, they can still remember exactly how they need to move their muscles in order to not fall over. That’s actually an unbelievably complicated muscular movement that takes virtually no time to stick in the permanent memory.

Many experiments have gone even deeper with that memory and muscle connection though. Experiments have been done with subvocalization, sign language, and many other physical activities that show similar results. By activating your muscles while you’re studying, you introduce something else into your memory. Your brain is treating the situation with a higher priority than sitting on the couch with some flash cards.

What I Want You To Take From This

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Studying is a full body experience.

Now, I can’t promise that statement is 100% true. Perhaps there is some part of your body that doesn’t participate in the acquisition of memory. That being said, I recommend you imagine my statement is completely true. Study as if, studying is a full body experience.

What do I mean by a full body experience?

I have a friend that’s an artist. If we were to watch a movie together, he’d always pull out his sketch pad and draw while the movie was playing. At first, I found this awfully irritating. I thought, there is absolutely no way this guy is enjoying this movie. That’s when I tested my theory by quizzing him.

I asked him questions about the movie we were watching. With my first 10 questions, I couldn’t even tell he wasn’t watching the movie with all his energy. He constantly answered my questions right. (That was until I got into downright stupid questions like “what color shirt was this character wearing last scene?” I couldn’t have answered that one despite watching it.)

I asked him about this after that movie. He told me something like, “it may look like I’m not paying attention but I draw with almost none of my attention. It’s just doodling to help me focus.” (Naturally, his doodling makes my 100% focused drawing look like crap but that’s beyond the point.)

Not all things require all your attention to do. You can probably chew gum and walk at the same time. Many students try to treat studying as if it’s chewing gum and walking. Instead of giving their studying all of their attention, they spread their attention between as many things as possible.

Distractions are deadly to focus while studying. This may seem wierd based on how I presented the information so far.

As much as you like to think texting your friend while studying won’t devastate your studyings effectiveness, you’re wrong. Unless you can objectively prove through your own personal experiments, that you’re the exception to the rule, you should not be letting yourself listen to music, talk to friends, or surfing the web while studying. Those offer physical and mental distractions that do miserable things for your studying.

Wouldn’t activating your muscles while studying be a distraction from actually studying? To some extent, I imagine it is. If you were, for example, trying to learn to ride a bike, I have a feeling you would suck at memorizing anything else. What if you’ve already mastered riding a bike? Then I’d think memory would be improved. Instead of being distracted it would be a rhythmic muscle activation that virtually doesn’t distract you at all. (Unless you were, perhaps, in traffic or something.)

 

Now, throughout this article I drove this train of concepts right off the tracks and brought it down a few different dirt roads. Here is where I’m going to be trying to bring it back onto the tracks I was hoping to introduce you to…

What if mental activity can work similarly to physical activity when it comes to studying? If you had a rhythmic study interruption that didn’t require any focus to deal with, could it offer similar improvements to your ability to study?

What’s the answer? I don’t know.

My point: Studying is an unbelievably complicated subject that no one has even scratched the surface on. Everything I write in this blog is my attempted interpretation of the things I’ve learned and experienced.

Science is a constant tunneling of vision. Newton’s theories allowed scientists to focus their vision better. Despite all the progress made, Newton was proven wrong (or at least not 100% right) by Einstein. Einstein allowed scientists to focus their vision better. Some theorists think they’ve proved Einstein wrong in certain ways. Whether that’s true or not is irrelevant but the idea that a scientific theory can’t be proven wrong is faith and completely unscientific.

Experiment to learn more. Sure, this blog can help you focus better based on what science has discovered but if you ever get the curiosity to test for yourself, that would give me more pleasure than any of the grades you could get from talking this blog as gospel.

Do you want to know how to study faster than ever? That’s what this blog and my books (in the sidebar) are all about. Be sure to follow this blog to keep up with all of the details.

How To Know When To Stop Studying

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I've given some pretty bold study advice but one piece of advice that confuses most people is this: You should not study when you're completely prepared for a test. Even if you have the time.

There is a time when every student should be absolutely done with studying before a test. In fact, there are plenty of times when stopping studying does way more good than continuing to study. While most study advice focuses on “STUDY MORE!” I tend to believe in an appropriate balance. The human brain is not naturally designed to memorize large sets of information without some survival necessity. The less necessary the studying is, the less effective your going to study it anyway.

When To Stop Studying Before A Test

If you have a good study habit then you probably don't need to study the night before you take a test, in fact, there are plenty of advantages to not actually studying before you take the test. If you've studied all the pieces of information that you planned on studying then studying for it one more night won't help too much.

The brain gets bored when it starts getting used to the same information. The first time you memorize something it's a novelty that your brain is more inclined to let stick. If you're going over it the sixth or seventh time then the brain is a whole lot less interested in making it stick. That leads most students to a nasty case of horrible distraction.

That distraction is terrible for the study habit but it can also lead to poor recall during every study session in the future. When you struggle through the final study session before a test (because you're not focused,) you're also setting yourself up to struggle through the test. In fact, you might even start to have to worry about the test. That can ruin your sleep that night. That can ruin your final score on the test.

I've found, one of the best ways to eliminate worry about a test is to not study the night before it. Instead, I accept that I'm as prepared as I ever will be. A bad study session before the test is a whole lot worse than no study session. Sleep is generally easy when you have the required confidence. When it comes to test time, your brain will have spent 24+ hours thinking about how confident you are. Stress won't be an issue.

One of the best things about cutting out studying the night before the test is the habits that it helps develop. When you avoid studying the night before a test you train yourself to never cram. Cramming absolutely kills most students ability to study. (See my other articles for a long explanation.)

If you haven't studied everything required then it may be better to study the night before a test but in the future, try to be at least one day ahead.

When To Give Up Studying For A Night

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There are times when you should stop studying during a regular study session. Many times people think it's important to study no matter what. While I recommend a habit of starting to study, I certainly don't think it's necessary to end studying at the same time habitually. Some days, it's better to stop studying early than to ruin your good study habits by studying longer.

The first and most important time to stop studying is when you've mastered the information you intended to master. Before any study session, you should have a goal to understand a certain set of information. When you have memorized that information, and have proven it a few times, you don't need to spend more time studying. It can be helpful to reward yourself and stop studying then. When you study faster than expected, you can make some really amazing things happen.

Another time to stop studying is when you can't study effectively mentally. If you've spent 10 minutes trying to stop thinking about something other than studying during your study time, you may be too distracted to effectively study. If you're usually really good about studying then don't feel bad to stop studying when you're that distracted. It shouldn't be a habit but there are times when there are more important things to think about.

The last time I recommend stopping your studying is when you're physically incapable. If, after ten minutes of studying, you're physically exhausted to the point that you can't focus on anything, you should stop studying. This is usually because of sleep deprivation. Learn your lesson and fix whatever happens to be causing your struggle. That being said, don't give up studying to do something fun. Spend the time you should be studying laying down or resting.

With all these opportunities to stop studying, you might consider not studying at all if you're expecting to hit one of these problems. I recommend never not starting. Be in the habit of starting to study whether you're capable of finishing or not. Many times, when you think you won't be able to study, you wind up having a great study session. It's worth starting the session to find out.

Summer Study Stop

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Students hate me for this but let me make my case.

Nearly 30% of the information you learn during the school year gets forgotten during the summer.

If you study through the whole summer, you can be 30% ahead of your peers when school time comes. That can make the following year easier than ever. You should be taking advantage of that. You should not stop studying at the end of the school year. You should continue your habit so you're still working at peak when the next school year starts.

That being said, you don't have to study a bunch of information you hate. While it's good to review some of the subjects for school, you can focus most of your studying on subjects that you enjoy. Think about the things that you want to do with your life and study those subjects. If you want to travel the world then study Mandarin or Spanish or another language. If you want to become an artist then study art. Just keep that habit going.

The habit is the most important part. Once you're good at studying at a certain time, you don't wont to risk losing it. It can take a very long time to get it back.

Use this article as a guide to know when it's time to stop studying and when you shouldn't stop studying. Studying more is not always the best solution. Your brain is not magic. It can suffer from fatigue that drowns your ability to learn. Unless you're using some nootropic drugs then you can't get away with the forced information shove. You need to learn the effective means to deliver the information naturally.

Do you want to know the secrets to mastering school without spending your whole life on it? Follow this blog and our Twitter to keep up. Also, be sure to check some of our older articles.