As someone terrible at studying, it’s hard to find outstanding study hacks that are fitting for everyone. These are 5 different study hacks that I have found from college students that can help for people who are taking advanced classes such as psychology, calculus, geography, history and more, along with simpler classes, too.
If you have taken a psychology class, you may already be familiar with the idea of chunking. The theory is that people tend to remember things better when they learn related ideas in small chunks rather than simply trying to cram all the details of a topic into their heads at once.
It is all based on the capacity of the working memory and how our brains turn short- term memories into long-term ones. Psychologists have consistently shown that people can readily recall a string of numbers or names that is 5 to 9 objects long. That means the average person can repeat about seven items back a few seconds after being given a list.
Students who cram may be taking in a lot of information at once, but since their working memories cannot hold all those facts, they tend to forget most of what they learn. One way to overcome knowledge loss by cramming is to chunk topics together. Research has demonstrated that subjects tend to remember more items on a list when they relate certain items on the list with others.
So, if you find yourself in the (non-ideal) situation where you need to remember a large amount of information in a small amount of time, try to group facts together based on their characteristics. Or find a pattern in the information that is meaningful to you to connect seemingly unrelated ideas.
You’ve heard of learning curves, but have you ever heard the Forgetting Curve? Research shows that people are much more likely able to recall information from a one-hour lecture when they review what they learned later. And, not surprisingly, the more times one turns the information over in their mind, the longer they’ll remember it.
Like chunking, this hack is based on the functioning of the working memory. People take in an astounding amount of sensory information each day. Since not all this information is important, the brain must decide what to hold on to and what to forget. One way the brain decides what takes priority is by paying more attention to information that it has processed multiple times.
You’re more likely to remember information from your lectures if you review what you’ve learned every day for a small amount of time everyday rather than cramming. If you don’t have time to review everything you’ve learned in a class every day, at least try to make sure you’ve looked at and actively processed a topic several times before a test.
One way to do this is to actively read the relevant material from your textbook before your lecture, take notes, and then review those notes that night before you sleep. Obviously, it’s helpful to look over your notes again before a test, and the more time you can find to review, the less you’ll be re-learning before your test. It can help save you time in the long run.
Exercise has both long and short-term effects on cognition. When you exercise, your body interprets the physical stress the same as fighting or fleeing an enemy, activating your sympathetic nervous system. In response, your brain is flooded with extra blood, rich in oxygen and nutrients, to make what it thinks could be life-saving decisions. It’s even been demonstrated that exercise can lead to neurogenesis, or the creation of new brain cells–a process previously thought impossible.
In addition, a brain structure called the hippocampus is stimulated during exercise. Research has shown that the hippocampus is important for reasoning and memory. Besides short-term boosts in cognition, regular exercise can slow down age-related shrinkage of the hippocampus.
Another benefit of exercise is its role as a stress-reducer. Stress can be a huge hindrance to focus and memory formation (thanks to the hormone cortisol), and unfortunately, college and university can be extremely stressful. Luckily, exercise is a cheap and easy way to curb some of the stress associated with day-to-day life, ensuring you can focus on learning what you need to for your classes.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week to maximize benefits. Small lifestyle changes, like walking or biking to class or work, are an easy way to get those minutes in. To get the immediate benefits of exercise before a study session, try doing 20 minutes of moderate cardio before hitting the books.
It has long been theorized that sleep helps to stabilize the memories we form throughout the day. Interestingly, it seems that being awake does the exact opposite–creating interference in our memories and causing us to forget some of what we’ve learned. This just serves as more evidence against pulling an all-nighters. Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep consistently, and possibly schedule a study session before bedtime.
You may be tempted to commit yourself to hours-long study sessions. There’s nothing wrong with having the occasional study-athon, just make sure that you give yourself shorts breaks while you work.
Research has shown that when people try to focus on a single task for a long period of time, their minds start to wander. It’s the same phenomenon you experience when you hear the same sound repeatedly–you become habituated to it, and it becomes background. The idea is the same for a task you’re trying to focus on. In essence, you start going through the motions without thinking about what you’re doing.
It turns out that taking short intermittent breaks can help you regain focus and study more effectively.
If you know you have problems focusing while studying or are simply interested in getting the most out of your study sessions as possible, try this: set a timer for the amount of time you think you can study without your mind wandering (you could even use the timer to measure the time between when you start studying until you notice yourself becoming distracted) then, once that time is up, take a short (around 5 minutes) break to engage your mind in some other task, such as grabbing a coffee or starting a load of laundry before sitting back down to study. This should allow you to reboot and refocus on studying.
Of course, not all these study hacks will work for everyone. But it’s worth trying these study hacks out to see if they can afford you even a small advantage. Time is precious – why study in a way that’s not helping you learn the best you possibly can?
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