Studying smart involves the implementation of a whole lot of learning strategies and learning techniques. This does not come easily as one needs to have sufficient practice in order to be able incorporate this into a study routine.
Tuition teachers and school tutors who have had the experience of guiding thousands of students would have the knowledge and expertise of how smart studying can be done. The right answers can be gained from asking the right questions to the experts who know how it should be done!
So, here are some ways in which students can put a stop to the mindless and arduous long hours of study session and start their journey in effective smart studying which lasts for shorter and much more effective study sessions!
Plan It Out
Firstly, plan out your study sessions. Many have the habit of studying what they feel like whenever they want to, which is detrimental for those who do not enjoy studying or those who lack self-discipline. They also may think that planning study sessions is a waste of time.
However, a detailed study plan can greatly increase productivity and efficiency along with giving enough time to rest. The study plan must be as detailed as possible such as including timings, subjects and topics. This allows you to keep track of your progress for each subject and topic well and also makes sure you provide equal attention to all subjects regardless of whether you like them or not.
Even if you are unable to meet the timings and quantity stated in your study plan, you can edit it easily to make sure you still complete it on a different day. Spending an hour, a week planning your study sessions is time well invested.
Attention
Everyone has textbooks and worksheets that assist with learning and the internet has endless information you can search up. However, the content that your teacher teaches is the most relevant for your graded assessments.
Your teacher will know exactly which topics are of more importance and which topics are just for extra knowledge. However, many students spend their time in lessons using their phones or dozing off and even feel proud of that to brag to their friends. This will end up biting them in the back when they are overloaded with information while studying for their tests using their textbooks and online sources.
Additionally, simply staying awake and listening to lessons is not sufficient. It is also important to take notes during lessons as it is very easy to forget information even immediately after the lesson is over. Taking notes ensures that all important information covered during lessons will not be forgotten. Being focused is of utmost importance and every student has to make it a point to be attentive.
Revision
Notes taken during classes must be revised daily instead of being left in files to collect dust until a test is coming near. If you leave all your notes to be revised right before a test, it may become gibberish as you will not remember the context in which you took down your notes.
No one is fast enough to take such detailed notes during lessons and thus there is bound to be missing links between information. By revising your notes daily, you will be able to fill in those missing links in your notes and make them complete.
Daily revision also helps greatly with information retention as compared to procrastinating all revision to a few days before a test. Along with revising previous topics already taught, it is also important to pre read future topics. This provides you with an advantage when you go into a new lesson as you will be a lot less lost as you will already be familiar with the topics.
Test Yourself
Fourthly, test yourself frequently. When you study new topics or revise old topics, you will be able to identify concepts that you are not as good at grasping as compared to others. It is important to take note of these concepts as even after you think you understand, it may be the first you forget since you do not understand it as well as the other topics.
One way to test yourself is to make mini quizzes at the end of your notes to make sure that your future self understands the topics well. Whenever you revise your notes, you must be able to answer the questions easily. If not, it means that more time must be spent to revise and understand the concept more.
Another way to test yourself is to find a study group. When studying with others, everyone can help clear each other’s doubts, teach each other and test each other. Studying with others helps you look at topics from different perspectives which provides you with greater understanding as a whole.