Effective Study Habits to Help You Perform Better

Every new academic year brings the excitement of going into the next grade and the joy of leaving behind the tough academics of the past year for students. However, this joy can be short-lived. Each progressive grade also brings a high academic load and expanding curricula.

It is becoming increasingly important for students to develop good study habits to stay on top of their course requirements. Good study habits keep you on track with your course, help you improve your results, and most importantly help you avoid the last-minute panic before assessments.

How Do Study Habits Help You?

Some subjects are your favourites, others you enjoy, but a few you might find especially tough. It is easy to find motivation to pursue the topics and subjects one enjoys but those that are challenging keep getting pushed for later.

Effective study habits help set a customised study pattern for you to overcome these mental and physical challenges. Study habits help you leverage your skills and strengths optimally and tackle your weak areas for improved and optimised academic performance.

Good study habits help you learn more deeply and effectively. They assist you by setting a strategic goal to work towards, teaching you to work smart without having to work very hard, and easing the process of grasping topics you find demanding. Consistent daily practice of effective study habits has been proven to deliver better results than ad hoc or last-minute massive studying efforts.

Now that you have understood the benefits of study habits, let’s dive straight into some of the most effective ones.

16 Effective Study Habits

1) Know Your Purpose

As a student, you know your main objective is to internalise your curriculum, adding to your knowledge and subject expertise, but do you know why a certain topic is important, what aspects of it are key for subject mastery, how will you be tested on the subject etc.? Simply following a day-to-day study schedule without a long view of expectations and performance measures is like moving without direction.

2) Creating a Study Plan

A study plan is like a game strategy you devise to ensure your win. You have to consider your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses to figure out how you will tackle the situation. Like any game, you also have to evaluate your strategy throughout the match to make sure your efforts are aligned with your goal.

A study plan ensures that you have all your study needs covered and have a strategy instead of just working on what comes up. A good study plan starts with understanding your purpose and gauging the workload.

Create a plan taking into account your subjects and course requirements by allocating appropriate time for different things. Put down specific goals you plan to address and your markers of success. Assess your progress to ensure you are moving towards your markers. Review your plan at regular intervals and reconfigure if needed.

3) Right Study Environment

Create a study environment that is right for you. An environment that helps you maximise your focus while minimising your distractions. Make sure this space is comfortable and has enough lighting. Having all your study resources accessible helps optimise your time and removes time wasted looking for the material.

Personalising your space with what drives and inspires you to put in your best helps keep you focused. Don’t shy away from mixing it up when needed. Sometimes a change in place can add fresh energy to your efforts. Sit in the library, go to a cafe, or work with a friend when you need a change.

Also Read: How to Study for Long Hours

4) Set Goals

Set specific goals for your study sessions. A measurable and targeted approach yields better results than general and broad efforts. The goal you set should challenge you by pushing you to try your best but not be so out of your reach that it becomes demotivating.

Solving 10 math equations in 60 minutes is specific and measurable, while just targeting solving math equations might not give you the momentum. Solving 30 equations in 60 minutes might be too audacious, leaving you discouraged. Your goal could also be qualitative such as understanding the law of relativity with 3 examples in 60 minutes or finishing a writing assignment in 20 minutes.

5) Schedule Study Time

Setting aside a fixed time consistently for study helps you build a routine and stick to your study plan. This discipline not only builds a habit but also helps you tackle difficult course material without last-minute panic and overwhelm.

Being consistent with your study time aids in breaking down your curriculum into smaller chunks of work. A manageable workload also releases time pressure and last-minute performance stress, leaving you better equipped mentally to handle reviews and assessments.

6) Do The Difficult Stuff First

Don’t put off difficult topics or assignments for later. Postponing them will only make it feel tougher when you get to them. Research shows attacking the difficult stuff first gives you a couple of advantages.

• One, your brain is not fatigued and can work on processing the information much better.
• Two, the mind is more resilient to challenges when it is not fatigued, hence the challenges seem easier.
• Three, it boosts your motivation to successfully handle difficult tasks and get them out of the way early leaving you feeling more accomplished.

This makes getting through the easier tasks a breeze and the overall study time enjoyable.

7) Be Organised

Use a calendar to stay organised. The last thing you want to do is miss an assignment deadline. Sometimes we get so caught up doing one thing or pursuing a specific topic that we miss the dates on other submissions. Using a calendar, whether a physical or a virtual one through an app, gives you a top view of assignments due each week or month. This allows you to factor in the time you need to work on the submission and plan your study time accordingly.

8) Study Group

Joining or starting a study group with a handful of your peers can help speed up your learning process. A study group that meets regularly, sets targets, and discusses learning can not only incentivise your efforts but also aid in a deeper understanding of topics via repetition and teaching others.

By discussing and analysing tough topics with peers you can transform them into easier collaborative learning activities. Shared learning experiences facilitate idea exchange and teach you give-and-take, leaning into the strengths of your friends and offering to address their weaknesses with your strengths. If in-person meetings seem a challenge you can also use digital technology to assist in virtual meet-ups. Sometimes group studying can also lead to destructive groupism and socialising. Make sure you stick to constructive learning practices.

9) Avoid Procrastinating

Procrastinating on your study schedule usually results in setting you back on your targets, leading to last-minute cramming. This rushed state is accompanied by stress and performance anxiety, which in turn leads to poor retention of information and superficial understanding of topics.

The outcome is often under-par performance on assessments. Pay attention when the urge to procrastinate comes up to understand the underlying reason. Is the topic too tough, or is it boring and uninteresting, Is there something distracting you etc.? Once you know the trigger it’s easier to address it and get back to your study plan.

10) Utilise Study Techniques and Tools

The role of study techniques, tools, and strategies is to help you organise the information received in a way that is easy for you to recall and, at the same time is a true representation of the concept learned. You can revisit the study material, use colour coding, sticky notes, stick on flags, etc. to highlight the main points for revision and easy access.

Depending on the topic and your learning style you can choose between making flashcards, using digital tools such as educational apps, resources, videos, etc., creating mind maps and learning algorithms, or using active learning techniques such as representing the topic in your own words as well as teaching others.

Note-taking is another key tool that assists in internalising knowledge. Repeating the information seen and heard in the form of notes helps the brain process and organise it better. Some of the best ways for note-taking include:

• The Cornell Method: Under this method, notes are taken in a 3-step process. First, you take down notes during class as per the teaching flow. Second, you revisit the class notes to draw your insights and add any questions or comments. Third, you synthesise and summarise the topic in your own words, structuring it as per your understanding. At the end of the academic year, you could have an organised and personalised bank of notes on each topic.
• Mapping Method: In this method, you take down notes during class creating a map or flow chart of sorts. The main idea is noted at the top of the page, leading to the sub-points and heading. This helps in breaking down large concepts into smaller bite-sized pieces to aid understanding and retention.
• Sentence Method: This is simply taking down point-wise notes of the topic being discussed in class. The main heading gives you a way to index all the information related to the topic in one place. This helps you revisit and revise the complete topic whenever needed.

11) Take Practice Tests

Testing your knowledge is another key strategy to check the depth of your understanding and assessment preparedness. Regular reviews help you identify areas that need more work and help reinforce your learning. You can have your friends quiz you or utilise quick online quizzes, multiple-choice questions, and test questions to check your understanding of specific topics.

You can also take full-length practice tests to simulate exam conditions. Practice tests are a great way to boost your confidence and mental preparedness for the actual exams.

12) Understand Your Learning Style

We learn most efficiently when we learn through a style suited to our needs. Pay attention to how you retain information most effectively. Are you a visual learner, or do you learn best when you apply the learning via projects and experiments? Personalised note-making in your own words will assist you in breaking information down in a way that you find it easier to retain.

13) Take Breaks

If you think studying round the clock will give you a better output, think again. Research has shown that taking the right kind of breaks can improve your concentration, reduce strain, release stress, and increase your retention capacity. The key is to ensure the breaks fit into the right category.

Avoid surfing the internet or social media, watching a screen or eating junk. Instead, go for a walk, spend time outdoors, exercise, meditate, eat a healthy snack, listen to some music, play with a pet or connect with family members and friends. Intentional breaks, scheduled after a period of high concentration, can improve productivity.

14) Reward Yourself

Remember not to be too hard on yourself. Creating a reward system is a great way to keep yourself focused on getting through the study material. Rewards can be flexible and are a great way to incentivise consistency with your study plan. Maybe finishing a tough task gets you 10 minutes extra time with your friends or a piece of chocolate. If you perform well on your practice test you get a movie night. A reward can be anything that motivates you and something you enjoy, but make sure they are not excessive or they can be harmful.

15) Ask for Help

Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Sometimes a topic can prove to be too much of a challenge. Seek help from educators, friends, seniors, or parents who can detail the concept giving you a fresh perspective. At times adopting a different learning style can help understand the topic better. When you ask for help, it can inform the educators that the teaching material or approach might need to be revised, helping other students as well.

16) Take Care of Yourself

A crucial aspect of good study habits and a key driver of performance is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Though seemingly unrelated to the act of studying, self-care goes a long way in ensuring that you can perform to the best of your abilities. Adequate and quality sleep plays a role in learning and memory consolidation, while a balanced diet provides your brain with the necessary nutrition to function at its best.

Exercise works on maintaining your body in optimum health boosting blood circulation, and ensuring nutrients reach all organs. Exercise also helps regulate mood and energy while reducing stress. Other stress management techniques like deep breathing and meditation help balance your energies and deal with unwanted exam time stress and anxiety.

How Extramarks Can Help Students to Develop Good Study Habits:

Extramarks Learning App gives you many tools to aid deeper understanding and grasp of topics. It provides a structured approach to subjects, topics, and resources, organising them in an accessible manner. It also helps you build a strategic and consistent study schedule and guides you to keep to it.  Whatever your learning style, Extramarks has a learning tool for you! Stuck on a topic, revisit and practice it through different angles. Familiar with a topic, learn how to apply it in different scenarios. It even hosts an exhaustive question bank, and practice tests to ensure you’ve got it all covered. Plus, it can personalise your learning journey showing you areas that need more work, making sure you are confident and exam-ready.

 

Start today and inculcate good study habits that can help you deliver your best. With a little effort consistently, you can solidify your grasp of every subject, dominating the tough ones and acing your favourites. Not only can you learn in patterns optimised to suit your needs, but you can also escape all the last-minute stress, giving exams like a boss!

Last Updated on July 15, 2024