Regardless of the environment you find yourself in and your level of education, we have compiled how to study smart tips that are essential for all-round jaw-dropping results and to exceptionally boost your grades.
Research shows that studying goes way beyond reading a particular sentence or revising pages over and over. Sometimes, it’s not about the long hours of hard rigorous reading, more effort needs to be invested for greater results and a smooth learning process. A simple 3-hour flexible and accurate assimilation could do the magic.
As time goes on, lecturers and tutors keep devising means to make questions tough and complex for the average student, which is why the need to adapt new study strategies is on the rise.
This chapter carefully reveals some smart study tips necessary for academic excellence irrespective of your discipline. Read on to find out how to study smart.
What is Smart Studying?
The concise method of adequately assimilating lengthy content while maintaining balance is called smart studying. It’s the ability to conceive great learning strategies to achieve set academic goals promptly and effortlessly.
Smart studying can also be referred to as the technical know-how of arranging retainable knowledge in a completely balanced order which could be recovered and presented when needed.
In a simple sense, it’s the ability to navigate certain punchlines and provide defense at any given time.
A little reflection on your environment, mental health and diet could help boost your assimilation and in turn produce better results.
What are the Conditions to Study Smart?
Some conditions are meant to be in place for smart and effective study. A list of which are:
Deep Concentration and Attentiveness:
This has everything to do with your environment. The environment plays a big role in helping students get the best out of the learning process.
For a successful meditation according to your preference, some quietness or movement needs to come to play.
Research has proven that only less than 40% of students are able to assimilate properly in rowdy environments and therefore, it’s necessary to find a serene location where you can connect with your brain for smooth reasoning. Make that location your go-to area for study.
Avoid social media and put away any device which doesn’t contribute to your learning process at that moment. Adequate concentration equals 60% success.
Great Study Plan:
Another point on how to study smart is having a great study plan. Draw out a simple schedule of your day-to-day activities, set time for study, work, pleasure, and leisure.
Also, set reminders that will keep you informed regardless of where you are at that particular moment.
This helps you gain a flexible routine to navigate through.
Setting up a schedule is difficult as most people do not have control of their day, especially if you’re a student. However, sticking to that schedule is even more cumbersome.
It’s advisable to train yourself with your workout plan for a minimum of 14 days, once you’re able to scale through, it becomes a habit that will definitely yield great results.
In simple terms, organize your daily routine and live by them. There might be shifts from time to time but your schedule can help a great deal to curb stress during such periods.
A Good Dietary Routine:
Unknown to lots of people, the foods you consume as well as the nutrients contained in them contribute tremendously to brain function, retention and general development.
A little effort to improve your dietary supplements and consumption, can boost productivity and also help to achieve complete confidence in your reading process.
Certain foods rich in proteins, iron, zinc, fats and a host of others provide energy enough to circulate to the brain and other parts of the body. Be sure to include a snack alongside your reading materials.
A malnourished individual is incapable of making a difference in curricular activities.
Be healthy:
There is available proof that students who are healthy have higher chances of recording academic success than students who are unhealthy.
Certain challenges that often stem from poor health include loss of concentration, improper brain retention and a much greater probability of carry-overs.
It is therefore necessary not to abandon your health in the struggle for excellence.
Try to get adequate sleep, eat properly and participate in exercises at least 3times a week.
This would prepare your muscles, reduce the risk of diseases and boost your momentum.
What is the Appropriate Time to Study:
Although several researchers have proven that the most beneficial time to study is between 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm, as the brain experiences utmost activeness at those times.
Something referred to as the brain collecting mode. It’s also an arguable stance that study periods vary amongst individuals as well as brain function time according to productivity.
Students are allowed to choose periods favorable to them, for indecisive people or someone who finds it difficult to discover and understand when their brains are the most active to collect information should simply stick to one of the research periods given for higher chances of retention.
This doesn’t mean the early hours of the morning are a bad time to study, in fact, studying between 4 am to 9 am is quite popular among students because it’s a time when the brain is alert, especially after a good night’s sleep and a warm breakfast. It’s often the best time to learn new concepts and understand theories.
Afternoon and night studying can also suit you if you often experience a boost in energy levels at such periods.
It gives you a well-arranged view of your study work and allows you to picture a scenario of your study topic as well as time to reflect on it.
Night studies are highly recommended for students who handle jobs in the daytime leaving them with less time for their academics as it gives you a serene environment to patch things up.
Why You Should Study Smart.
Smart study skills not only improve academic performance, but it also strengthens your communication skills, boost confidence and reduce anxiety.
Most students weigh good performance by the number of hours spent reading which makes them revise a material countless times in an effort to prolong the time range.
In an actual sense, the reverse is the case. The time frame doesn’t really matter, it’s possible to spend 10 hours reading in the wrong direction.
A great study is the amount of knowledge you can get regardless of the time frame.
So long as you can retain information and explain contexts in your own way, you’re good to go and this is what a smart study plan does for you.
In Summary, by developing good study habits students are likely to;
- Worry less about tests and examinations.
- Experience reduced pressure to meet deadlines.
- Gain a higher confidence level and self-esteem.
- Record a drastic shoot-up in academic performance.
How to Study Smart: The 10 Outstanding Steps.
Here’s how to study smart:
- Set up Your Study Space
- Maintain a Healthy Life
- Give Yourself Space
- Disassemble and Rearrange
- Pay Attention to Images
- Look out for Illustrations and Study in Groups
- Be Flexible in Your Reading
- Make Substantial Use of Mnemonics
- Examine Yourself from Time to Time
- Locate Front Seats and Cultivate a Jotting Habit
Set up Your Study Space:
Find a suitable space in your residence, set up the furniture part, books, and all the materials needed for effective learning.
This is a random and significant step most people do not really attach so much importance to, but still practice as it is essential for comfort and helps prepare the mind for study.
Maintain a Healthy Life:
The brain digests information faster when it’s relaxed and in good condition. As earlier revealed, it’s very essential to consume highly nutritious foods to kick-start your reasoning engine.
For example, foods rich in proteins, iron, zinc, calcium etc such as poultry and sea foods, yogurts, legumes and vegetables– are good sources of nutrients for good brain development.
Go for timely checkups to ensure your organs are in good shape and free of diseases.
Participate in daily exercise for at least 75minutes per week. This would help keep your nerves in check and give your brain a sense of relaxation.
There’s a tendency to get weak and dehydrated in a bid to stay fit, simply get a portable water container and it’s settled. This enhances sleep quality, reduces stress and guarantees a smooth study section without brain damage or breakdown.
Give Yourself Space:
Many students have a poor habit of leaving their materials unopened and piling up work until it’s time for presentation or evaluation. This makes the workload much greater and less interesting. Exhausting too.
By spacing out the reading timetable, you become much more prepared as this gives your brain the time it needs to digest certain formats and information instead of cramming so much a day before exams.
In order to avoid this, create a study schedule, study at least 3 hours a day and touch more than one subject.
As an undergraduate, do well to revise your materials after lectures, evaluate yourself with questionnaires and watch how your grades begin to excite you.
Disassemble and Rearrange:
Sometimes, following a pattern constantly could be dangerous to your learning process as examiners like to disorganize questions to test your understanding.
While studying, endeavor to practice a particular question in different ways, and learn about theories from different angles. Scatter the lines and try to rearrange them using your own comprehension.
For clearance purposes, engage yourself in active and passive questions. Mix up the points and space the concepts apart.
For example, your materials could read “The history of evolution” and then go on to talk about evolution on the surface. It’s your duty to learn more about evolution, coin possible brain-twisting questions, and answer them on your own.
Pay Attention to Images:
Diagrams are great illustrations that give you a pictorial view of what the entire book says. It helps you compare your thoughts with actual sense.
They possess incisive information which is self-explanatory compared to notes.
It promotes retention and active memory exercise. Infact, anything visual related to the said study topic should be taken seriously and given maximum attention as they are a great avenue to learn fast and effectively.
Look out for Illustrations and Study in Groups:
Some study concepts are usually hard to grasp by just merely reading and staring at the words. Illustrations could go a long way to break those heavy notes into simpler fragments of understanding.
For example, you’re reading a material on ‘Carbonated Drinks’ and you come across a line that says “Soda is injurious to one’s health.”
If you have no prior knowledge of what soda is, you may be lost on what drinks the note may be referring to and you may therefore need to find examples of soda for better understanding.
It’s also advisable to read with a couple of friends who are as enthusiastic about studying as you are. Using illustrations like diagrams and creating examples together, produces more answers and boosts understanding as well as your communication skills.
Illustrations are therefore simpler ways to help your brain grasp a concept.
Be Flexible in Your Reading:
Every student takes at least six courses per semester/term and each of those courses needs the same amount of time and effort.
It will be a dangerous act to love one course and give it all the attention while abandoning the rest as it doesn’t encourage balance.
Reading flexibility is established when you’re able to touch a little of everything. This particular study tip is very important to secure every part of your academics. No one should suffer.
If you feel exhausted in the process, take a little break to help stretch out your muscles and regain strength.
Make Substantial Use of Mnemonics:
This is a study hack not all students are aware of. Mnemonics are simple methods to remember definitions, listings or history through the use of acronyms.
So many students have witnessed a drastic upturn in their grades since they started making efficient use of easy-to-remember acronyms.
For instance, The popular “MR NIGER D” acronym is a mnemonic that has been in existence for so many years and has helped lots of students remember the characteristics of living things.
Research also proves that Mnemonics have higher chances to last longer in the brain than ordinary definitions and long sentences.
Mnemonics are a great way to label information, retain it and produce it when needed. In turn, it boosts academic performance and competence.
Examine Yourself from Time to Time:
After a day or two of quality study, get on your reading table and evaluate yourself on such subjects.
Do not flip the pages of your materials until you’re done penning down everything your brain could recover from the previous study.
This exercise will help gauge your memory, bridging the gap between what you already know and what is left, thereby revealing your performance which will determine the need for improvement or revision.
This smart study tip is a very helpful and essential one for every student who’s keen on getting good grades.
As a matter of concern, you can decide to make it a habit to always test yourself before sitting for any examination.
Locate Front Seats and Cultivate a Jotting Habit:
This may be a weird one but it’s an active tip which is common amongst students with good grades. Arrive early to classes, sit between the first to third rows of students and make sure to not key points.
Most times, the materials given may be bulky and too lengthy to read but with the help of points already listed and jotted in class and because you were close enough to the tutor, your study practice will be less stressful.
It makes the work easier, helps you spend less time reading and also be equipped with the right points.
Lastly, Practice makes perfect but more practice makes professionals. It’s easy to get everything right the first time and fall out on the second.
Practice your tests and do not restrict your learning to one part.
Once you’ve been able to find a suitable study plan like the ones listed in this chapter, try them out, if it works for you–which definitely will.
Stick to it.
You don’t only need study tips in school, in whatever discipline you belong to, smart study skills will always help to lessen your work burden and provide you more time for other important activities.
You don’t have to train yourself to achieve success, apply smart study skills in your work today!