7 Lies Your Teachers Tell You

Most good teachers absolutely despise the bull that's fed about teachers these days. Students are repeatedly told about how noble and special there teachers are for doing their job. This article is meant to help clarify that a bit. There are amazing teachers out there. That being said, there are some miserable ones too. Those miserable ones tend to tell the same lies to there students over and over again.

1. You're not trying hard enough.

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When teachers fail to do there job, they love to put the blame on their students. Teachers love to say that their students need to study or focus better. The truth is, students are only a part of the equation. Too many students spend hours and hours trying to figure out the material they need to learn only to get ridiculed for “not trying hard enough.”

You know if you're not putting in enough effort to succeed. It's a teachers job to inspire a student to want to learn the information. Naturally, that's not always possible but it doesn't excuse them for not trying. Teachers do not know how much effort you put it. There is no reason they can blame you other than to try to alleviate their own guilt.

The teachers job is to help you learn the material. If you're not learning the material, it could be you, or it could be the teacher. The difference is, the teacher is trained and paid to provide an education. You were never taught how to learn.

The teacher knows that motivation is the number of factor. If they fail to motivate you, they shouldn't be blaming you. Education requires both people participating. The teacher is only privileged to seeing their own side of the story. They don't know how much effort you put in.

2. These are the best years of your life.

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Many people that end up teaching enjoyed there time in school. While there are exceptions, most teachers look enviously back at their time in school. That's probably part of the reason they went into that profession in the first place.

For most people, school is not the best time of your life. You're herded into classrooms and forced to learn whatever it is the schools want you to learn. You might get to be with some friends but all your interactions are sterilized by the rules of the school.

Teachers will try to make it sound like you're privileged to be learning this information. To some extent you are privileged but you're not given a choice in the matter. High school is bad. College is a little better. Life is where you're given a choice...

Sure, you can give up and let school be the best years of your life, or, you can step up and make the rest of your life the best. That's all up to you.

3. I'm a martyr.

Teachers are some of the most vocal martyrs there are in this world and students are legally obligated to listen to their complaints all day long. A lot of teachers like to pretend they're suffering for your good. They'll talk about the long hours they work and the poor pay they get for it but they'll insist they're doing it for the good of their students.

If they're a boring lecturer then they'll insist that there students are poor listeners. If they don't prepare there students for standardized tests then they'll blame the tests. Teachers tend to be completely convinced that they know how to do there job right and everyone else in the world is wrong.

Teachers are not martyrs. They are not volunteers. They're getting paid to do a job that they chose to do. They make good money (accounting for the months off,) and they have great benefits and union protection.

You may be forced to listen to there complaining but you certainly don't have to believe it. A good teacher can have doubts but you certainly shouldn't have to listen to it. (A martyr complaining about being a martyr isn't a martyr.)

4. Being Right Is Fundamental

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Your tests are graded on being right and wrong. Life has very little to do with being right and wrong.

When you step out into the real world it's much more complicated than that. You can't just study a textbook and expect to succeed when you get started.

One of the most important skills that you can develop is a willingness to manage risks and be wrong regularly. Most questions don't have right or wrong answers. People that succeed aren't the ones that are right most. They're the ones that are willing to fail hundreds of times while consistently improving their own abilities.

The hardest part about this is that no one will give you red marks on your paper when your wrong in life. You can be wrong for decades and decades without anyone pointing it out. It's your responsibility to mark up your own life with a red pen.

Don't let teachers get you too hung up on perfection because school is the only place you'll end up using it.

5. College is your best option.

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This lie has been repeated way too many times. Most students that choose to go to college should not be going.

College is not the place to go if you're just trying to figure stuff out. In fact, it's one of the most costly possible options. Most students could travel the world for the same amount of money they pay for a semester in college. Even after that semester in college, most people have no idea what they want to do with there lives.

If you have a plan and know exactly what you want (and it requires a college education) then, by all means, go for it. If you have no idea what you want to do with your life then you should not be going to college. In fact, many students would actually have better terms for their education loans if they waited a few years before heading to college. (Parents go off the federal loans. That can end up saving tons of money.)

College can reduce the volatility of your life but the volatility is where you learn your most important lessons.

6. You're going to need to know this...

It doesn't matter what subject a teacher is trying to teach, they tell you it's going to be absolutely fundamental in your daily life. This is just the teacher projecting their own bias onto the students. Most teachers have not had careers outside of teaching. That means, any claim that the information that their class is relevant is baseless because their only experience is in teaching it. (Of course it's relevant to the teachers daily life. They teach it!)

The majority of the information your teachers are teaching you is not relevant to daily life. Have you ever heard of the show where adult professionals are pitted against the information in a fifth grade textbook? The adults are asked questions that fifth graders can answer but the adults always struggle to answer them. Why is that?

It's because for the past 20-30 years the adults haven't seen that information once. Most of the information you're being taught is going to end up like that. If you become a mathmatician then math will be the only information you remember. If you become a writer then you'll remember language stuff. If you become a barber then you might not remember any of it.

7. You're not important.

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Teachers don't directly tell there students this.

They just represent it in everything they project. The teacher stands in the front of the classroom and teaches the students. The students are required to raise there hands to ask questions. Anyone that talks when they're not supposed to is scolded by the teacher. This is not the way life works.

We are all the teachers and we are all the students. There is no authority figure. Even in an office, while there may be a boss, there is rarely a clear hierarchy. Bosses rely on the employees and employees rely on the bosses. Most teachers might as well be talking to a wall.

This has obvious advantages for the teacher but it also has advantages for the students too. Students don't need to stand up to there teacher. Students don't have to embarrass themselves by not being able to teach something. Students are allowed to sit silently and hide in the shadows.

Life is not so simple. You can only get away with not participating for so long in life. If you're not helping everyone else at the place you work then you'll get fired. If you don't speak to your friends then you'll lose them. In life, the most costly mistake you can make is doing nothing and not standing out. In class, that's what's expected of you.

Not all teachers distill these lies to there students. There are plenty of good teachers out there and that's what this article is all about. You don't have to look at your bad teachers as noble creatures because that's just an insult to the amazing teachers that you have in your life. Bear in mind, not all your best teachers will be in a classroom. 

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Why You Suck At Studying

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I'm sorry but if you're like the vast majority of students, you're just plain bad at studying. The average student is taught hundreds of pointless facts throughout their education but it seems like none of the students are taught how to actually study effectively. Effective studying is not reading the textbook or trying to remember all the facts. Effective studying is about doing everything in the most efficient way possible.

When it comes to studying, most students are taught to stay back in the dark ages. Really, most teachers recommend the same awful study advice that was being used hundreds of years ago. Times have changed and our understanding of the brain has increased dramatically. There is no reason to be using the same antiquated advice to learn your material for class. It's time to upgrade to the next level in studying.

Why are you so bad at studying?

You Don't Link The Information

The human brain is not designed to memorize material out of a textbook. I'm sure you know how that goes. One second you're diligently thinking about the material in the textbook, the next second you're imagining how Benjamin Franklin would look at a smart phone. The brain doesn't work through the traditional lens of focusing on a single subject. The brain is more like the internet.

Whenever your brain is thinking about a subject, it's like looking at a page with hundreds of links on it. If you think about Benjamin Franklin, you might see, American history, electricity, printing press, and other links related to him. Every subject that you connect to Benjamin Franklin has a link straight back to him. This might seem a little out there but it helps illustrate the most powerful means of remembering information.

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Instead of focusing on remembering random facts, you need to remember the connections between different areas of information. This is actually what your brain does naturally. Where it gets difficult is in controlling the links tightly focused around your study material. You need to do everything you can to not let any of the information you're studying be random. Find the connections and focus on remembering them.

That being said, one of the best ways to hold onto these connections is to change the way you look at studying.

You Study What You Can Do

To Study effectively in the traditional sense, you need to do a bit of “brain gymnastics.” While that's reasonably effective, there is always a significantly better way to learn. While I was comparing your brain to the internet earlier, don't let that thought sink in too deep because it doesn't go farther than the linking. People are powered by emotions and chemical reactions.

Just think about how pointless remembering random facts would be to a prehistoric man. People are designed for survival. Survival doesn't involve remembering when World War 1 started (unless, of course, you're doing some awesome time travel experiments. Note: Please invite me!) Survival involves physical activity like walking, running, and fighting off bears.

Your memory is most effective when you're able to use your body. Everything is like riding a bicycle. You cannot learn to ride a bike effectively without actually climbing on the bike to ride. Sure, you might be able to learn to spin the pedals, turn the handlebars, and understand the physics of staying upright, but you'll always be a little away from being able to do it. That is no different than learning anything else.

If you're studying math then don't study the equations, just use the equations. If you're studying science then do some experiments. If you're studying human anatomy, don't study the textbook, grab a sharpie and draw the muscles and names on someone sleeping. The more you're able to use the information you're learning, the better off you'll be.

This is why many people use the loci method for studying. The loci method is just imagining the information you're studying in a location you recognize. As you walk through that location, you connect more and more information to different landmarks. This works well because you're turning facts into relevant landmarks and imagining physical activity. While the loci method is often significantly overrated, it has some major things working for it. It at least pretends to have value to the brain. It's still better to do.

You Hate Studying

I can't blame you for this one. If you hate studying then you're going to always suck at it. I used to be one of the most guilty people of all when it came to this. I absolutely hated studying. For years of my life I preferred scraping easy c's and d's so I could avoid studying completely. I hated studying. My grades didn't change until I chose to change my perspective on things.

Studying for school is often a pointless task. Really, you're not going to need most of the information your teachers like to shove down your throat. While some of it's absolutely essential, most of it's a complete waste of brain space. Once I was able to accept that I came to realize something. Most of the information in the world is information we don't need to have.

I never need to worry about not knowing anything. The internet has changed the way most information works. Whenever I have a question, all I have to do is search the internet for an answer. Sure, it can't answer everything but it teaches more than I could learn in a lifetime of schooling. What the internet cannot do is put together the knowledge you're learning. That's a skill that needs to be learned and practiced.

Improving your ability to study and learn information will help you for your whole life, even if the actual information they teach you doesn't. Maybe that doesn't work for you..

If you hate studying then you need to find a way to change your perspective. It can be any of a million different things. Maybe you want to make a good living as a doctor or impress your parents. You need to find some reason to want to study. Once you do that, you're going to be able to study faster and more effectively than ever before.

You're Reading And Not Recalling

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Reading your textbook is not the same thing as studying. In fact, it's usually one of the least effective ways to remember information. Reading is a method of gathering information but most people have trained their brains to just pull the information and throw it out for good. Are you really remembering all the information that you're reading? There is no way to really know.

Recalling information is the secret to knowing whether or not your remember something. On a test, when you are asked a question, you can't reread a paragraph to find the answer. You need to dig below the sports scores and fashion advice through the depths of your brain to find the answer. That is recall. You need to actively use recall during your study sessions to know that you're actually studying effectively.

Most people avoid using recall because of how stressful it can be. It's painful to try to remember information. It's so stressful that most people just give up and go back to reading. If you want to continue to suck at studying then continue to avoid recall but if you want to study like a pro, you need to push through the pain.

Flashcards are the classic means of using recall during studying. You either know the information on the other side of the flashcard or you don't. Use whatever means of recall that you can train yourself to use effectively but make sure to use it.

Studying with recall can make this last mistake a whole lot easier to solve...

You Study Too Much

What?!? Your teachers will probably hate me for this but it's true. Most students that struggle to learn are spending too much time trying to study. If you're studying effectively, you should not be able to study for hours straight. If you're using recall then you'll start to wear yourself out after 15 minutes.

When you study for too long a period of time, you get in the habit of “half-studying.” You probably have seen “half-studying” at least once in your life. Maybe you've seen someone studying while talking to friends, or searching the internet, or listening to music. If you're using recall then it's going to make “half-studying” absolutely miserable. You want to focus on studying when you study. By reducing your study time, this can become a whole lot easier.

Your brain has serious limitations in its short term capacity. If you're actually using your memory then you're not going to be able to effectively study long without significant rest periods in between. While this might sound like completely good news (less studying! YAY!) it's actually a little troublesome if you don't have the discipline.

Studying needs to become a habit. You can't expect to prepare for major tests by cramming the night before. You need to plan in advance and study a little bit on a regular basis.

Fear your sucking at studying no more. You now know enough about studying to change everything. Link the information that you study to get it to stick better. Don't study stuff that you can do. Find some reasons you'll enjoy studying. Recall the information instead of reading it. And kick back and relax a little bit. Using these simple strategies you'll be out of the dark ages of studying and into the modern world.

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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.

How To Remember What You Read Better

Too many people struggle to remember what they read. It's a problem that a lot of people struggle with. It doesn't matter how interested you are in the material. It doesn't matter how well you think you're focusing on it. Some people always seem to suffer from can't-remember-what-you-read-itis. It's a creeping condition that seems to be showing up more and more these days. What makes it worse is that it seems like the people who suffer from this condition once are more likely to suffer from it again in the future. If you're looking to start remembering what you read then there are things you can do to change.

This is what you need to know to remember what you read better.

Speed Up

What?!? You're probably wondering how speeding up could possibly help your ability to remember what you read but it's actually one of the most important factors that people struggle with while reading. The number one reason that people don't remember information that they read is that they get distracted.

Getting distracted is easy. Reading a certain sentence just sparks a thought, that thought sparks another thought, then another, and it goes on until you're reading the next paragraph thinking about why pirates name their parrots “Polly.” At the very least, you're not thinking about the words on the page. This absolutely devastates any hope of remembering the information you're reading.

By speeding up, you force yourself to focus more on the information on the page and less on everything else. When you don't have enough time to think too deeply around what you read, you get to go deeper into the information as the author intended.

Make Reading Serious Business

Most people treat reading like it can be a passive activity like listening to music. People think that they can read and do other things at the same time. This falls down the same path of distraction as before but it gets even worse. If you choose to listen to music while reading, your brain is consistently having to choose between listening or reading. The mind is physically incapable of doing to things at once. The closest it can do is switch between tasks really fast. Having that choice, even if you think your completely into the material, will distract you.

If you want to remember what you read better, you need to treat reading as an intense activity. You should not let yourself get distracted by anything. That means you should shut the music off. Yes, even the classical stuff. It can distract you too. Turn your phone off if you have to. No, the TV isn't going to help you think either.

Remembering what you read requires focused reading.

Think About It Afterwards

Many people pick up their textbook for studying and read through hoping the information sticks. When they're done reading, they just put away the books and move on. Do not do that. Anyone that's ever gotten deep into a mystery novel knows this secret to remembering the story. When you put the book down, your job isn't done. That is the time that you need to think about what you read.

The more time you give yourself to think about the book after reading it, the better you're going to be able to remember it.

Sure, it requires more time but if you're speeding up your reading speed then you'll make up for it. Take the time to think about the material and you'll be

amazed how fast you can remember something weeks later.

Learning how to remember what you read is a skill that needs practice. There is no magic formula but using these three factors you'll be able to start seeing massive improvements in no time at all.

The Best Way To Memorize Lines

Getting your brain into tip-top shape is essential for remembering lines. Not everyone can remember everything that they need to right when they need to but anyone is capable of learning them. Whether you're looking to learn a song or a script, there are plenty of ways that you can make it stick. While some people think it takes days and days to get a script down, for most people, it can be done in just a few dedicated hours. That is, if it's done right. This is the best way to memorize your lines and it takes significantly less time than you might think. Some of the key points that you need to keep in mind include:

Get The Point

Before you start trying to remember anything, do what you can to understand the song or script. If you don't understand a word then look it up. If you understand all the words but don't quite understand why they're being used, try and find someone that can help you. Understanding the point can help the memorization process immensely. While the words are useful, knowing the point can make sure you don't get lost in a pile of random words. Once you get the point of the play you can try to start remembering them.

Practice The Same Way You Do (or just do)

Many people set out to practice their lines. That's one of the least effective ways to remember your lines. Instead of practicing your lines, just perform them. That might sound a little crazy if you don't get the difference but it's important. When a person practices, they're usually not too worried about looking down at the lines or falling out of character. When a person is actually performing the song or script, they would be embarrassed to suddenly speak quietly and mumble. Treat your practice time just like you treat your performance.

Use Multiple Senses

Try and use every sense that you can while learning your lines. Instead of just reciting the lines, try and move your arms as if you were actually performing. If you get the chance then listen to someone else perform the lines. The best way to memorize lines for many people is to watch others performing them. Some people can remember much better if they write down the lines too. Anything you can do to include another sense will help your brain manage the memories you develop.

Understand The Authors Flow

Authors write things that flow in a certain way. Some writers write lines that are meant to be read quickly. Others write to be read slowly. Many authors like Shakespeare write in a particular meter. Songs are almost always written with a very obvious flow. Once you understand how the lines you're trying to remember flow, you will be much more capable of remembering them in the moment you need them.

You might even recognize this from a song you love. You might be able to sing along with it perfectly but if I asked you the third line of the 2 verse, you might need to sing the first line, then the second, and on and on to get it. Flow makes remembering things easier. The better you find a flow, the better off you're going to be.

How do you eat an elephant? With gravy... no... wait... thats not how it goes... Oh yea... One bite at a time!

 

 

Work In Chunks

Don't expect to memorize everything you need in one sitting. It's best to split up the lines you need to remember into small sections. You can memorize each small section separately. Use as little, or as much time as you have between each section. That will make sure you're as confident as possible stepping into every line memorization session.

Not everyone benefits the same from any particular way to remember lines but using these methods you'll be able to make the most of the memory you have in the least amount of time. The best way to memorize lines is different for everyone but using these simple factors you'll be able to design the best method for yourself.

Be sure to follow this blog to make the most out of your memory!

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