Category: Study Smarter Not Harder

Beware of ‘easy’ weeks. This is the calm before the storm. Lighter work weeks are a great time to get ahead on work or to start long projects. Use the extra hours to get ahead on assignments or start big projects or papers. You should plan to work on every class every week even if…

Controlling your schedule and your distractions will help you to accomplish your goals. If you are in control of your calendar, you will be able to complete your assignments and stay on top of your coursework. The following are steps to getting control of your calendar: On the same day each week, (perhaps Sunday nights…

Try to explain the material in your own words, as if you are the teacher. You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you…

Find several places to study in and around campus and change up your space if you find that it is no longer a working space for you. Know when and where you study best. It may be that your focus at 10:00 PM. is not as sharp as at 10:00 AM. Perhaps you are more…

A significant amount of research indicates that multi-tasking does not improve efficiency and actually negatively affects results. In order to study smarter, not harder, you will need to eliminate distractions during your study sessions. Social media, web browsing, game playing, texting, etc. will severely affect the intensity of your study sessions if you allow them!…

Working and re-working problems is important for technical courses (e.g., math, economics). Be able to explain the steps of the problems and why they work. In technical courses, it is usually more important to work problems than read the text. In class, write down in detail the practice problems demonstrated by the professor. Annotate each…

Know where you study best. The silence of a library may not be the best place for you. It’s important to consider what noise environment works best for you. You might find that you concentrate better with some background noise. Some people find that listening to classical music while studying helps them concentrate, while others…

Not all studying is equal. You will accomplish more if you study intensively. Intensive study sessions are short and will allow you to get work done with minimal wasted effort. Shorter, intensive study times are more effective than drawn out studying. In fact, one of the most impactful study strategies is distributing studying over multiple…

One of the most impactful learning strategies is “distributed practice”—spacing out your studying over several short periods of time over several days and weeks. The most effective practice is to work a short time on each class every day. The total amount of time spent studying will be the same (or less) than one or…

The Study Cycle, developed by Frank Christ, breaks down the different parts of studying: previewing, attending class, reviewing, studying, and checking your understanding. Although each step may seem obvious at a glance, all too often students try to take shortcuts and miss opportunities for good learning. For example, you may skip a reading before class…