Tips from Jessica: Studying

I havent been a student for close to a year now (WOW! Time flies!), but I feel like my last semester of University was  by far my most effective studying time. Despite the fact that I only had three classes.

Yeah, three.

Sounds easy, right? Well yeah. I thought it would be too.

But I had never spent as much time in the library as I did that final term!!

I tried a lot of different studying techniques, and found what really worked for me.

I know everyone is different. You might feel like your current method of studying works just fine. Good for you! But everyone at some point feels overwhelmed with the amount of work they have to do. If/when that happens to you, try some new studying techniques. They might help you be more effecient and effective.

Here`s what works for me:

• Stop multi-tasking!!

I know, chatting to your friends on facebook, looking up youtube videos, etc, makes homework seem far less like work. Probably because you generally aren`t getting much work done. I used to be crazy multi-tasker. Texts, facebook, youtube... I would try to do it all while doing hw. And while I felt like I was totally capable of working effectively with it, it wasnt until I tryied studying WITHOUT all those distractions that I found out how wrong I was.

There have been many studies about multi-tasking and the effect on the brain. The general consensus is: it doesn`t work.

One of my classes in Japan has a giant poster with these words: Study while your study, play while your play (Yes, they really did use your. Bless the hearts of these little Japanese citizens). I challenge you to apply this to your studying (see? That your was correct. Possesive of a gerund).

This is what I did: I got rid of all my distractions; closed facebook, gmail, put my phone on silent and put it out of reach, etc. Then I sat down and just studied, read, wrote, etc, for 30 minutes. After that, I could take a break. 5-10 minutes, depending on how I was feeling. During that time, I could check my phone, check facebook, surf the internet, whatever. It was enough of a break to re-energize me, and helped me stay super focused during my STUDY times. I got a lot more done in 30 minutes than I got done in an hour+ while multitasking.

• Choose your music wisely

Many people like listening to music while they study. I am one of them. I find that oftentimes silence makes it harder for me to concentrate. But I found that listening to my favorite tunes also distracted me from what I was working on. I`d stop to hum/sing/headbang along. I tried listening to classical music, and sometimes it worked well, but othertimes it left me sleepy and unenergized.

So my tip is to find worldess music that words for you. I listened to the How to Train Your Dragon score countless times. I also really like the score from Tangled, and the soundtrack from the video game Shadow of the Colossus. Ratatat is another band that creates upbeat instrumental music that helped me focus.

• Location, location, location

For me, it was helpful to study in different places every so often. I`d study in the library for a few hours, then go home or to a friend`s apartment to study for a few more. At the library, I would sit in different places, different tables, and different floors. Somedays I would sit in the dead-silence sections, sometimes where groups were whispering to each other. Other times, I`d claim one of the little booths against the wall, which made it difficult to people-watch (another fantastic distraction!!)

• Competition

Have friends in your classes? Have a friendly battle. See who can get the most done (and correct) in a set time frame.

• Schedules and to-do lists

Do you love to-do lists? I definitely thrive on them. Sometimes I write thing I have already done on my to-do list just so I can cross it out. I am weird like that.

But here is a to-do list with a twist-- try literally scheduling out every hour of your day. And dont write "study, 3-5" Write what you will study from 3-4, what you will study from 4-5, etc. If you`re going to work on a research paper, write down what you will be doing. Reseaching? Outlining? Rough draft? Editing? etc. Be as specific as you can.

That`s all I can think of for now. These are things that really helped me kick my studying to the next level. I challenge you to try some of them, and let me know what you think! Did they help? Hinder? Am I crazy??