Studying is essential to learning new information for most people. While it is easy to pick up a few ideas here and there as you read over new information for the first time, there is still usually a huge amount of information to be taken from those same sources. The only way that you can really improve your overall knowledge at a reliable rate is to study on a regular basis and stay focused. Unfortunately many people have a hard time remaining focused while they are trying to study, and the end-result is wasted time and an overall lack of knowledge.
In this post:
Make a Plan
One of the easiest ways to stay focused during a study session is to map out what you are going to learn during that time period. When you have a goal that you want to achieve during a certain period of time you will be more likely to work harder and focus more closely. Not only will this technique help keep you working hard while you are studying, but it will help ensure that you are studying the right information during your study sessions as well.
Environment Checklist
Check the environment for any of these possible distractions to avoid.
- A television within eyesight of you.
- Loud music with a large number of lyrics is playing nearby.
- People are moving around or having conversations.
- Children are nearby.
Get Away from Distractions
Although this is pretty obvious it is hard to learn difficult information if you are surrounded by things that are going to take away from your concentration. You probably won’t be able to effectively study new topics in a crowded room filled with loud people, and most people can’t learn while there is a TV on in the room either. For the best results you should go to a quiet room that has as few distractions as possible. If it is noisy outside of the room you can play some classical music to help drown out the background noise and keep you focused on the task at hand.
Teach Information
If you are studying with another person then this step is going to be pretty easy to accomplish. While you are studying take momentary breaks to try and teach a concept to the person that you are working with. It doesn’t matter if they already understand the concept, what matters is that you have a good enough concept of it to explain the information to someone else clearly If you feel like you have studied one topic enough stop and try to teach your partner about it. If you sound like you know what you are talking about, move on to a different topic and repeat the same process over and over again until all of the information has been covered.
Budget Your Time
Another major issue that is going to ruin your study period is getting bogged down on one topic for too long. If there is something that you are having a hard time understanding you will probably have to study it over several different periods before you completely understand it. Make sure to plan out a schedule for the information that you are going to study and keep with it throughout your study time. If you are supposed to be studying World War I for 30 minutes don’t let it drag on for 90. By switching around as you study you will keep yourself from becoming discouraged, and you will end up learning more information while making your study time more enjoyable overall.
Use Verbal Notes
This goes along with the concept of explaining information to someone else, except you are creating a set of notes for yourself that you will be able to listen to when you don’t want to look at your paper notes.
As you are studying the information that you want to learn, describe the information to yourself in a sound recorder. If you are near a computer you can use that to store the information, but a portable recorder is even more useful for this purpose.
Good study skills will help you master the concepts that are most important to you for the rest of your life. Follow these steps and eliminate most of the stress that is typically involved with studying.
Steven Grella is the owner of WorksCited4U.com, a site that allows you to take the guesswork out of creating your APA bibliography for your research papers and projects.
