Take breaks. If you work for several hours, take a five-minute break every half hour. Stretch out your joints and get distracted, so you can rest a little and learn the material better. This also helps you to concentrate.
Exercise and recharge. Jump and run around the house, play with your dog and do squats. You need to stretch out a bit, but don’t get tired.
Try walking around the table or standing against a wall while you’re studying.
Use a keyword associated with the topic you are studying to memorize it. Whenever you feel that you can no longer focus, remember the word and return to the topic. This word may vary depending on the subject you are studying. You can choose any word that is appropriate for the subject.
For example, if you are reading a guitar article, use the key word “guitar”. As soon as you feel that you are no longer concentrating, repeat to yourself immediately: “guitar, guitar, guitar” until you can concentrate on the material again.
Learn to take notes. When you listen or read the material, outline everything in complete sentences, clean and tidy. You need to write down all the most important information. You can write down the terms and concepts the teacher talks about, then go home and supplement the outline with sentences from the textbook. Write down as much as you can.
Being able to write good notes will help you focus on the learning process and listen to what is being said. Plus, it’s sure to keep you awake!
Use acronyms. This way you write faster and don’t have to worry about spelling mistakes. Use the well-known abbreviations: “because”, “etc.”
If you have any questions, feel free to ask your teacher. Take notes in the margins. You can learn more about this issue when you come home.
At home, rewrite all the notes in a single note. When you take notes, be careful. Rewrite the notes right after class and refresh the material you’ve learned. Rewriting notes into a single note is an active way to memorize information. If you’re reading, it’s easy to get distracted. But when you write, you keep thinking about what you’re writing.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have to take notes or write a synopsis in class. It’s just that you probably won’t have much time to fully answer. Therefore, a summary written in class can be considered as a draft.
You can have two notebooks. One will be a draft, and the other you will write full notes.
Some take notes on electronic devices, but most people think that the information written by hand stays in memory longer.
Paraphrase the information in your own words. The same goes for drawings. For example, if you study anatomy, rephrase the drawings from your textbook into your notebook.
More optimism! You need a good motivation. Motivation in the style of “if I study, I get a good job” is not good. Find something interesting about what you’re studying. Try to penetrate the subject and think about the situations in which you may need to know this subject.
Tie it to what you like. For example, you may be interested in doing chemical or physical experiments, or you may want to use mathematics to prove something. You might go to the park and think, “Hmm, isn’t that the plant we did biology last week?”
Use your creativity. Try to come up with a story based on what you’ve learned. For example, write a story with heroes starting with certain letters. Your story may mention different historical figures and some key words.
Start by studying more complex subjects first. Start with the most difficult subjects, because you still have enough energy and attention, then move on to the lighter ones.
First of all, learn the most important points. Do not just read the material from beginning to end, but think about and pause to remember every important thought. New information is much easier to assimilate if you can link it to familiar material. Don’t spend a lot of time learning things you won’t be able to do on a test or exam. Direct your energy in the right direction.
Learn important concepts and terms. Look at the explanatory dictionary or find explanations of terms in the text. Find out if your textbook has a dictionary or list of terms. Terms may not need to be memorized, but you should definitely know their meaning. Learn to use these terms.
Get the group together. Arrange for several classmates to study together for an exam or test. Have everyone bring their cards, test each other, and have quizzes. If any of you don’t understand something, explain the material to each other. Turn the learning process into a fun game!
Divide the material between the group members. Let everyone learn and explain some of the material to others.
Divide the lectures among all the members of the group, have each of them sum up a certain lecture and write a summary for the others.
Every week, study a new topic. This way, you will study throughout the semester, not just before the exam.
Make sure that each group member is a responsible and diligent student.