7 Study Hacks
7 Awesome Study Hacks You Don’t Want To Miss!
Studying for anything is a major cause of stress for most people. Too many people stress, study all night and still perform poorly. But have you ever noticed that some people rarely study, yet still ace their tests? What study hacks do they know that you don’t?
As someone who rarely needs to study anything twice, I’m going to share with you just a few of my favorite study hacks. These are things I’ve been doing all my life that help memorize and remember things fast.
Here are my seven favorite study hacks!
1. Watch a YouTube video about it
This simple technique has helped me understand remember things much faster than cramming over a textbook. I used this technique especially when studying psychology. Whenever a new theory is covered, I would simply watch a short YouTube video about it. YouTube videos tend to be short, colorful, fun and memorable.
This helps you understand and remember a new concept much faster!
Commonly used for: Summary Of Theories, Practical Demonstrations, Book Recaps.
2. Make Your Notes Exciting
Notes don’t have to be boring. Find ways to spice them up. Use a variety of colors. Use mind-maps. Draw pictures and diagrams. Write in multiple languages. There are so many ways to make note taking more exciting. The more fun you have taking down notes, the easier it will be to remember and recall those notes when needed.
Next time you are taking down notes, get creative and spice them up!
Commonly used for: Terminology, Theories, History
3. Teach It To Someone
This is my personal favorite method to remember anything. As soon as I learn something new, I find someone to explain it to. This serves three purposes: If you can explain, it means you understand it. Explaining something out loud actually helps you understand it better. And once you teach it, it is difficult to forget it.
Having a tough time remembering a new concept, try teaching it to a friend or family member!
Commonly used for: just about anything!
4. Reward Yourself
Treat yourself! Tell yourself if I learn this, I will treat myself to ______ (insert your favorite thing here). This has a huge psychological impact and will motivate your brain to remember it faster!
Just be careful not to treat yourself too often to unhealthy snacks. You want a big brain, without a big belly to accompany it!
Commonly used for: subjects you hate studying!
5. Take A Nap
I love this tip because it is so completely opposite to what most of us expect!
I discovered this when studying psychology. Sleep helps solidify information in long term memory. So if you nap straight after an intensive study session, your brain will transfer the information from your short term memory to your long term memory where it could last a lifetime!
Finding it hard to remember something, literally sleep on it.
Commonly used for: any subject you have a hard time remembering
6. Study in 20 minute Sessions
One key reason you are not remembering your work is because you push your brain to study for too long. To remember things faster, simply break up your study sessions into 20 minute blocks. Each block followed by a short 5-10 minute break to do something fun (or nap!).
This applies to work as well, by the way. Work in 20-50 minute blocks to keep your brain functioning optimally throughout the day.
Commonly used for: intensive study sessions
7. Never cram or pull an all-nighter
We’ve all experienced it. We stayed up all night studying for an exam, only to go blank the minute the paper starts.
What happened?
Cramming stores information in our short term memory, so it may last until after the test or just before it. Either way, you are not going to remember it a week later, leave alone for life.
Cramming also affects our brain’s capacity by not giving us enough sleep. Without enough sleep, not only is information not transferred to long term memory, but your brain doesn’t get enough rest. Leaving you not functioning optimally exam time.
Avoid cramming. Studying for 20 minute sessions with naps and reward breaks over a one week period instead. This will help you remember things better, not just for the exam, but for life.
Great ideas….wow!!!
Like to read more ….
JazaakAllah Khair, very helpful tips – especially no.s 5&6. I used these when I was doing hifdh a few years ago; I would memorize my new lesson in short sessions throughout the afternoon, and then revise before going to bed at night, and when I would revise again after fajr the next morning more often than not the piece would stick. This way I was able to memorize an eigth of a juz’ every day while still keeping up with my back work alhamdulillah.
My favourite for non-memorization is no.3, explaining it to someone. Putting it in your own words is definitely the best judge of understanding and retention.
Excellent advice, Jazakallah Kahiran.
I would rather not recommend no. 1 in Islamic subjects. There is so much non-sense out there that you don’t want to watch that…
Also the 20 min. thing is something that varies from person to person. Studies have shown that some people can only focus for 15 minutes, others can focus for 3 hours. One can learn to focus for a long time. If I study only 20 minutes in a row and then I make a break, it will leave me really frustrated because I come out of the topic as soon as I am in. I think, it is important to know one’s capacity and to abide by it. No matter how many minutes that is.
I believe the readers of this blog are mature and intelligent enough to be able to take beneficial knowledge from YouTube, while avoiding the ‘nonsense’.
Yes, the time limit is a general guideline. Each person should find what suits them best.
No. 1 is the best! Helps understand the same concept from different viewpoint. And the more videos you watch, the more clearer it becomes.
Very helpful , thank you