So, you’ve covered your walls with post it notes crammed as much reading as you can possibly get into your head, but like the post it notes falling to the ground, nothings sticking! Let’s flip things on their head and try some different studying techniques.
Read yourself a bedtime story
Just like having a fairy tale read to you to as a child, reading at bedtime will fill your head with last minute thoughts and ideas. So, use that to your advantage, take in the information before bed and it will store inside your memory.
Change location
You may have set up your place as a study paradise, but sometimes it’s best to change it up! Studying in the same location can lead to being too comfortable! You don’t want to be nodding off, knowing that your bed is inches away from your desk. Take your books to the library or even perch up in a café, get some caffeine stimulate and away you go!
Treat yourself
Forget brain food! Sometimes you need junk food to look forward to. Having a tasty, usually unhealthy meal to look forward to, after completing your study tasks, will be way more rewarding than having some broccoli or fatty fish to force down you.
Can’t study, teach!
Read through your notes then recite it back as a teacher would, grab a lucky housemate and create your own class. It’s a valuable way of learning the topics you need to know. Also, it’s a nice bonus to be comfortable when presenting to people, a skill which is important at Uni and for work life, believe us.
Scroll time
We know it’s hard not to see what’s going down on insta every 5 mins, instead of constantly thinking about it and torturing yourself with FOMO, give yourself designated phone breaks. You can plan in some time to check your phone, (you’re only human after all), but be sure to put it well away when it’s time to get back to the books.
Don’t listen to music
Of course, there’s proven effects of listening to music while studying, it gets rid of background noise so you can easily get in the zone. Especially classical music, which has been known to help you focus, see the Mozart effect. Although, if you are easily distracted you will lose focus. It’s best pointing out that blaring Beyoncé may not be the best option.
Make it catchy!
Create an acronym of words to help you remember what you’re studying, it makes revision more fun and helps you store the information. , . Another way is creating a mnemonic, think back to school and ‘My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas’, or whichever version you learnt the planets.
If your usual methods are failing, you then try anything that will help you, you’re the only person who knows how your brain takes in information. So, mix it up and good luck!