Come up with a specific plan for where and what you'll study during any gaps in your schedule. In addition to making use of transitional times during the day, it's generally a good idea to avoid studying too late at night, when you tend to be tired, work inefficiently, and forget much of the material you cover. The best places to study have the following qualities:
Beyond that, different environments have their own pros and cons. Ultimately, the decision of where to study depends on two factors: the environment in which you are best able to concentrate and the type of work you are planning to do. For completing problem sets or brainstorming possible test questions, you may want to study with a group or at least in a setting where others in the class are available for discussion. When you are reading Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil or working on a research paper, by contrast, you are probably better off in a less social environment.
Here are some simple tips to help you improve your study habits:
There's a big difference between reading effectively and merely skimming the text without thinking about your relationship to the material. To read more effectively:
You do it all. You play three sports; you belong to four clubs and hold officer positions in all of them; you volunteer at the local animal shelter, nursing home, and hospital; and you maintain straight A's. Perhaps this scenario is somewhat exaggerated, but the truth is that more and more students today are becoming caught up in the trap of overachieving. Overachievers have plenty to put on a resume when it's time to apply to colleges, but they pay a price. They lose a sense of balance, and the consequences can be severe.
1. Loss of focus or passion
Overachievers are often spread quite thin. With only so many hours in the day and so much energy and effort to give, you have to divide your attention among a number of endeavors if you overschedule your time. When you feel pressure to excel in every area, you may lose the chance to discover a genuine personal interest or talent as you attempt to master all your activities. Consequently, you are likely to lose sight of what you truly like and to get less enjoyment from the things you do.
2. Poor physical health
The workload and time constraints of the typical overachiever leave relatively little time for sleep. In fact, sleep deprivation is common among overscheduled students, with many of them sleeping less than six hours per night. Excessively busy kids tend to suffer from poor eating habits, as well. If you don't have the time to sit down to three solid meals per day, you may have to grab food on the go, and such diets are often full of fats and sugar. Teens need sufficient sleep and nourishment to stay physically and mentally strong, so if you have too much to do, you may end up sacrificing your health.
3. Poor mental health
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that “school demands and frustrations” and “taking on too many activities or having too high expectations” are the leading causes of teenage stress. The desire to please others, as well as our culture’s clear emphasis on success, is creating a generation of workaholics who are draining themselves mentally and emotionally.
4. Unhealthy self-image
Overachievers often base their feelings of self-worth on their accomplishments. The more they do, and the more they do well, the better they feel about themselves. Reliance on external validation, though, can be extremely harmful. If you focus on grades, test scores, awards, and other external markers of success, you can lose sight of your inner identity. Overachieving frequently causes students to forget that self-worth is measured from within rather than by what others think or say.
5. Problems getting into college
The majority of colleges indicate that they are looking for well-rounded students. Essentially, they prefer applicants who achieve balance among their academic pursuits, their extracurricular activities, and their personal lives. When admissions officers look at resumes, they are attempting to assess leadership, commitment, and integrity. If you're an overachiever, beware. More is not necessarily better.
1. Do what you like
Sit down and make a list of your commitments. Then, rank them according to how much you enjoy each one. Weed out the activities from which you gain little or no pleasure. Instead, create a schedule of activities that reflects your true interests and passions, and don’t be afraid to cut something out or to say no if you’re being pressured to stay involved. In the end, you’ll be a happier person.
2. Schedule time to relax
If you never have a minute to rest or have fun, you are doing too much. Take a look at your calendar and carve out specific times to ease off your usually hectic pace. All work and no play will end up stressing you out.
3. Take care of yourself, inside and out
Make sure that you eat healthy foods and that you get a sufficient amount of sleep each night. Also, remember that exercise is a necessary ingredient for both a strong body and a strong mind. And when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed, take a break. Most importantly, ask for help when you need it. Parents, friends, teachers, and counselors are all people to turn to if you start to experience burnout.
Does it seem like there's never enough time in the day to get everything done? Feel like you're always running late? Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.
Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. If it's easier, use a planner to track all of your tasks. And don't forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.
Get some reading done on the bus ride home from school, for example, and you'll kill two birds with one stone.
If your boss asks you to work on a Thursday night and you have a final exam the next morning, realize that it's okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.
You'll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don't wait to do it until late at night.
You'll reinforce what you've learned, so you need less time to study. You'll also be ready if your teacher calls on you or gives a pop quiz.
Running on empty makes the day seem longer and your tasks seem more difficult.
If phone calls are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you take social calls from 7-8 p.m. It may sound silly, but it helps.
Figure out how much free time you have each week. Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly.
Have you ever wasted an entire evening by worrying about something that you're supposed to be doing? Was it worth it? Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it.
Setting goals that are unrealistic sets you up for failure. While it's good to set high goals for yourself, be sure not to overdo it. Set goals that are difficult yet reachable.
Consider these tips, but personalize your habits so that they suit you. If you set priorities that fit your lifestyle, you'll have a better chance of achieving your goals.
Have you ever noticed that when you explain something you've learned in class to a friend, you begin to understand it better yourself? This happens because when you explain, or teach, an idea, you need to actively think it through. And by thinking more deeply about what you've learned and then explaining it to someone else, you begin to understand it better.
Studying with others in a small group is helpful to everyone because, as in the example above, you
As the old saying goes, "Two heads are better than one." While studying alone may work well for things such as memorizing facts, sometimes you'll need to understand complicated ideas. And rather than memorize facts, you'll be required to apply facts to solving problems. Effective study groups involve hashing out lesson materials together—explaining concepts, arguing about them, figuring out why one person's answer differs from another's—and in the process, you learn more than you ever would have studying by yourself.
Group study offers other advantages, in addition to gaining a deeper understanding of class material. These include the following:
How do you put a study group together? How many members should the group have? For how long should you meet? For answers to these questions and more, check out the following study group guidelines:
The greatest benefit of studying with a group of classmates is the support you receive from one another. Here are some tips to help your group get the most out of each study session:
By supplementing your individual study with a study group, you can reinforce what you've learned, deepen your understanding of complex concepts, and maybe even make a few new friends. Whoever said learning can't be fun?
SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. It is a proven technique to sharpen textbook reading skills. SQ3R helps make reading purposeful and meaningful, so that you use your time most effectively. Here's how this strategy works.
Get an idea of what the chapter is about by reviewing the highlights:
As you survey the text, ask a question for each section. Ask what, why, how, when, who and where questions as they relate to the content. Here's how you can create questions:
Write down your questions. Questions help you pay attention, understand the text better, and recall the information more easily later on.
Read one section of a chapter at a time, actively looking for an answer to your question for that section. Pay attention to bold and italicized text that authors use to make important points. Be sure to review everything in the section, including tables, graphs, and illustrations, as these features can communicate an idea more powerfully than written text.
At the end of each section, look up from the text and in your own words recite an answer to your question for that section. Then write down your answer. Be sure to provide examples that support it.
Now repeat the Question, Read, and Recite steps for each section of the chapter or assigned reading. First ask a question for the next section. Then read to find the answer. Finally, recite the answer in your own words and jot it down. The written questions and answers will help you study in the future.
After completing each chapter or reading assignment, review your notes. Identify the main points of the reading by looking for the most important idea in each section. Recite, or write, a brief summary of the chapter or assignment.
Review your study notes every week to help you remember the information. When it's time to study for your tests, you'll find you've created an invaluable guide.
Hope that helped (: have fun during the holidays and mug hard when school reopens! and we should plan somemore study groups during the hols! *nudges sorn, peiting, slum, arathi* (AT LIDO! HAHA xD)
__________
