Neither school nor high school teach you ways to study well. At least they did not teach me any technique or strategy.
In my first year of career I got tired of memorizing, so I started to worry about How to study better for exams , In more effective, fun and faster ways.
Without overdoing it, learning ways to study well and quickly allowed me to raise my grades well enough; In many subjects I went up to more than two points (the qualification system in Spain works from 0-minimum qualification - to 10-maximum qualification).
I doubt that I would have been able to get such good grades without any technique of memorization or study, since the University is hard and you have to learn a lot of data and knowledge.
The advice that I will tell you will be used for admission tests, history, English, competitions, language, primary, final, summon or test, chemistry, periodic table... In short, any subject or knowledge that you have to learn.
Finally, before you begin, remember that effort is the most important thing!
1-Bridge Rewards
Thinking about having 3-4 or 5 hours of study ahead will demo much.
But there is a way to make it much simpler:
Rest every 50-60 minutes and do something pleasing for 10 minutes:
- Have coffee with a friend
- Walk your dog
- To have a snack
It is about being aware that the effort is not going to be infinite, but that you will have to do things that you like during the period in which you are studying.
Also, put a great reward at the end of the period.
For example, you have been studying all day or all morning and you finish at 20:00:
- Go visit your partner
- Put a movie
- Go have a drink with your friends
- Practice your favorite sport
- Do whatever you like
2-Eliminate Distractions
Are you the typical student in the library looking at whatsapp every minute or watching who walks through the door?
So I have seen hundreds and probably studied 1 hour out of every 4 that were sitting.
To reach a Optimal concentration It will take about 10 minutes.
If you get to that state and interrupt it, you'll have to start over.
That is why it is so important to eliminate distractions:
- Avoid social networking and whatsapp. Hide the cell phone or turn it off.
- If you work with your computer / laptop, use programs or applications that block access to social networks ( In the productivity section Of extensions for chrome you can find several)
- Do not have the TV in your eyes
- If you study in the library, try to put yourself in a place that does not allow you to distract
3-Choose an appropriate type of music
Rap, pop, electronic or rock are not the best styles to listen to if you want to be focused.
Some tips regarding music:
- Listen to classical music
- Put on youtube"music for concentration"or"concentration music"
Other tips:
- Avoid looking for every minute of the music you like
- Choose a list of at least 50 minutes and start studying
- Avoid the radio as it distracts the voice of the presenters
Know more benefits of music here.
4-Start studying in advance
In my career years I hardly ever studied the same day of the exam or even the day before.
Not even for the most important exams such as selectivity, partial or final.
This is not because I approved without studying, but because I studied months in advance.
If you study a test that you have within three months for 3 hours a week, you will learn much better.
Moreover, knowledge will be based on your Long-term memory , That is, you can use them in your real life and you will keep them for a long time.
If you study the day before, or two or three days before, you may approve, but the knowledge stays in the short-term memory and will end up being lost.
Studying days before serves only to approve, you become a student you approve with mediocre knowledge.
5-Create mental maps
Mental maps are one of the best ways to remember the structure of a content.
If you have to develop long topics, you will be an excellent tool.
6-Use the technique of association
This technique I learned from Ramón Campayo , A world champion of memorization.
It is excellent for learning names, data and in general anything you have to memorize.
If you have to learn difficult names (like in medicine, physiology, pharmacy, biology...) you will solve a big problem and you will remember them with ease.
1-Relate numbers with something.
You simply have to relate a number to something (an object, an animal, a person) that you remember well.
In my case, I related it like this (more than 4 years ago and I still remember it):
1-tea.
2-Ñú.
3. Love (a boss).
4-KAO (a punch).
5.Ola.
6. Bear.
7.UFO (a UFO).
8. Garlic.
9. Ave.
10.Toro.
Applications:
-If you want to memorize a very long number (20 numbers or more) you can do it in 1-2 minutes. Once you have numbers associated with things, you imagine or visualize a chain reaction. For example, for the number 67589:
Visuals: a bear caught by a UFO. The UFO is shot down by a giant wave of garlic that tries to eat several birds. The more absurd and spectacular the story is.
-You can also memorize any list of objects, although in this case you would not need the number object relationship.
For example, to memorize this list: dog, computer, table, popcorn, car.
You can visualize: a dog hitting a giant computer, which is dropped from a table to a floor full of popcorn. In the end he is run over by a car.
- If you want to memorize an image: you simply have to relate the objects of the image with your list of 1-10.
1-Tea: you visualize a lemon bathed in tea.
2-Ñú: you visualize a wildebeest eating giant tomatoes.
3-Master: you visualize a master of a house throwing apples to the people that walks in the street...
...
Visit this article to know other techniques of memorization: .
7-Exercise or take walks before the exams
An investigation carried out in the University of Illinois Demonstrated evidence that 20 minutes of exercise before a test can improve performance.
On many occasions, I have been playing tennis the day before the exams.
And that served me not to stress too much, and even take away.
As I had studied for at least 1 month almost daily, I already had the knowledge in the long-term memory and would not forget me on the exam if I was calm.
In my opinion, it is a general mistake - both parents and students - to think that the day of the exam or the day before must be bitter, without going out and studying all day long.
The exam does not approve the day before, you approve it during all the hours that you have dedicated the previous months or weeks.
8-Have the right mindset
In my case, the mentality has been key to be able to get very good grades and not cost my health