5 Tips for Studying Effectively

When you’re stuck studying for a long period of time, it can take its toll on your productivity and work against you. Don’t forget to take breaks (but not too many!) and there is the recommended Pomodoro Technique to help organize when to take breaks. This helps break down your workload into manageable portions of time!

If you don’t understand some of the materials that may be on the exam, reach out to your instructor to schedule additional tutorials or see if they are offering additional office hours. You can also schedule times with friends and tutors who do understand the material to help you.

We’re in that golden age where technology can be used to optimize how we learn and study. Google Docs is a great resource to not only make your own notes, but share them with your study group as well. You can also make and use online flashcards for studying and save on paper. Bonus: Have a shared document that you and your friends can fill in throughout the school year for different subjects. This will save time when you’re gathering notes, and your peers may fill in details that you missed!

Find or make-up practice questions that you think will be on the exam (often teachers have hinted at these during lessons, or they have topics they spent a lot of time on). You can also sometimes find review questions in your textbook, or use headings in readings or notes and make them into questions. Sometimes, teachers are able to provide past exams to assist with practice.

Through it all, the most important thing during this stressful time is to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally! Take some time in between study sessions for some nutritious snacks and physical activity, or to take a moment to relax and breathe. The night before your exam, sleep and get some rest. Otherwise, you might have trouble concentrating and find it harder to remember things.