Organize Your Study Time
Studying all day and night and doing little else does not guarantee great grades. Keep the
following tips in mind as you organize your study time:
Set realistic goals for your study time
o
Determine how long it takes to read material (textbooks, power points, class notes,
etc.) for different courses and schedule your time accordingly.
o
Allocate adequate time to review and test your knowledge as you prepare for exams
Use waiting time to review
o
Time between classes, appointments, waiting for friends, etc. is
a great time to review
lecture notes, a chapter of a textbook, or flashcards.
o
Reviewing as close to class time as possible helps prevent forgetting what you
learned.
Know your best times of day to study
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Schedule other activities,
such as laundry, social media breaks, and spending time with
friends, for times when it will be difficult to concentrate.
Restrict repetitive, distracting, and time-consuming tasks
o
Schedule study breaks
to check your email, Facebook, cell phone messages instead of
whenever possible
Avoid multitasking
o
While we all think we are great at
multitasking, research shows that the most effective
way to retain information involves concentrating on one task at a time.
o
Instead of jumping between tasks focusing on one at
a time will help with focus,
concentration, and productivity.
Be Flexible
o
The best laid plans may still not work out as hoped.
o
Build a little extra time into your schedule for the unexpected interruptions that may
arise.
o
Being flexible will help ensure that while your study plans may change, you are still
finding time to study.
