By Claire Webber

Let’s face it:  sometimes studying isn’t what we look forward to at the end of a long day.  But this necessary evil can be made a little easier if you stick to the following few little tips.  Interestingly enough you may find that you already knew some of these. In that case this may be the opportunity to let them sink in and take them to heart.  Please get out your number 2 pencils.

Eliminate distractions.  Absolutely feel like you need a glass of milk and some chocolate chip cookies right now?  Well then what may surprise you is that you should get it!  Unless you plan to reward yourself with a tempting treat after you finish all your hard work, you should fulfill all your immediate desires as soon as possible. 

Eliminating distractions can also mean getting all the stuff done that could possibly cloud up your mind when you’re trying to get down to work.  Hungry?  Eat.  Sleepy? Sleep.  Do all the things that need to get done and then study.  Just remember to give yourself enough time to really learn what you need to learn.

Chunking.  I know mom always said that you shouldn’t wait to the last minute to study.  Well, mom was right!  Committing random facts to short term memory may be possible if you wait till the day before the test, but in order to learn information and store it permanently in your memory you need more time. 

Chunking means breaking down whatever you have to learn into bite size tidbits that your brain can digest easily.  Do a little each time you sit down and start well in advance of that test.  By the time the dreaded ‘night before’ rolls around you’ll find that you’ve really done all the hard work already.

Find your happy place.  Where you choose to study can be just as important as how.  If your roommate is blasting away at little green men on the television in the same room, you may not be able to concentrate on that 15th century French literature.  On the flip side, a library can sometimes be just as distracting to the next guy.  It doesn’t matter where you choose to make your sacred studying dojo, what matters is that you’re being honest with yourself.  Sneak off to a closet down the hall or climb on to the roof, just make sure it is a productive environment for you.

Know what you need to study.  Another no-brainer here, but spending useless time cramming down information that you don’t need can kill your brain and wear you out fast.  Make sure you ask your professors specifically what will be on the test and then take the time to separate what you do know from what you don’t.  There’s no sense in going over and over information that you already have committed to permanent memory.

Think out of the box.  Finally, do whatever you have to do to keep yourself engaged.  If you divide your information into flash cards and talk that cute little co-ed next door into playing strip-for-knowledge then I guarantee you will learn faster than you ever thought possible.  Think out of the box and keep yourself motivated – remember it’s your education and it is important.

 

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