STUDYING EFFECTIVELY

By: Syed Shameer

Being able to effectively manage your time when studying, or doing basically anything else, is an invaluable skill, and unfortunately, not one that all of us possess. But that doesn’t mean you can't learn how. I’m going to be talking about what I believe are very important things to know when it comes to managing your time.

Getting into a routine

Things are always easier to do if they’re familiar. Most people cling to a sense of familiarity in many matters. The same can be said for studying. It’s best to get into the habit of sitting down and studying earlier in life, as bad habits such as procrastinating are not easy to get out of. But once you have established a routine, it won’t feel so foreign, and as such will allow you to get into your zone much easier. You’d be hard pressed to find a single successful student that doesn’t at least have somewhat of a routine for how they deal with things. Pick a time and a place you’re comfortable and just sit down. It makes a noticeable difference.

Your hobbies aren't going anywhere

Procrastinating is something a vast majority of us are guilty of. Putting things off for later rather than getting them over with. But things start to pile up and before you know it you’ve got a few hours left until all of that is due and you scramble to get things done. This always ends up with you producing a piece of work that feels incomplete at best, when you know you could have done much better and you’re left beating yourself up over it if you can’t get it done in time. That’s why it’s important to understand that playing football or going on yet another 4-hour gaming session is something you can always do later. Resist the urge to be lazy and it pays off immensely. It also reduces the stress of deadlines looming over your head constantly.

Revision makes a difference

Ever noticed that you feel like you know a topic but then you just can't answer questions about it? Well let me help you out there, you don't actually know the topic. Not anymore. Your short-term memory will only store it for so long. You need to be revising your topics constantly so as to not forget them. It makes exam preparation much, much easier and allows for you to even get more free time when you don't have to spend hours slogging through material and relearning things you already knew. Make a habit of going through the topics you took at least once a week. Maybe on the weekend, as it's when you have the most time available. Start doing this and you'll find you have a less hectic time during exams.

We're not machines

Things feel more real when they have a date assigned to them. When there's a big scary due date or headline or exam week and you start cramming or rushing to get things done, it's easy to forget that we aren't meant to be able to go for absurdly long amounts of time just studying. You won't do anything but waste your time if you're not really processing any information. Just staring at books blankly for 6 hours isn't going to help you. You need to take a break when you realize information isn't getting through anymore. A 20-30 minute break every few hours will let you cool down and get you able to understand things again. It's not definitive and you need to figure out your own sweet spot for how long you can study before taking a break, but a break at regular intervals is a must.

Put your phone away

Saying that you use your phone less than 4 hours a day is a blatant lie for most people. And that's a lower boundary. Some might not admit it but most teenagers these days are addicted to their phones, whether it's for watching YouTube or messaging friends, we can't go a day without it. And most people are very attached to social media. So, when we hear a notification, we're almost compelled to check our phones and see what it's about. This almost always distracts you when studying, keeping you unfocused and your attention divided. You check the message you got but don't put it away and before you realize you've already spent fifteen minutes doing nothing at all. Therefore, putting your phone away for the duration that you're studying is a game changer.

These are just some tips I've gathered from my personal experience as well as friends’. They're small things that may not seem like much, but they go a long way.