🌼🌻study smarter🌻🌼

softpplant:

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

• find a study partner
• do extra practice or research
• teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

• use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)
• while u read, talk back to the author
• ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

• preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!
• write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture
• read ahead of lectures
• watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

• look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings
• listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures
• make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

• apply vocab words to ur life
• make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)
• use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

• after u read, ask urself questions
• talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class
• again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

• convert info into a chart or graph
• draw it out
• make a mental video of a process
• look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

• ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

• make a list of what u remember from class
• review notes at the end of the day, every day
• stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes
• make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

• make a daily/weekly study schedule
• create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)
• divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

• stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe
• when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)
• find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 
• walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain
• eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)
• obstacles force ur brain to try harder, so space learning lessons apart or create a puzzle to solve or change ur physical setting