Study Hacks

hey, thank you for the feed back, some good apps for note taking is:

1. google docs, google docs allows you take notes offline on devices such as phones or iPads, and will upload them to the cloud when you finally get an internet connection. you have to down load it to you devices for easy access but you can access it form your Gmail on your computer. 

2. forever note is a great app as well but you have to download it. 

Studying for more than one test

Every student is in a situation where they have to study for more than one test/exam. It is an overwhelming situation and some of us aren’t the best at studying but there are ways to work around things and to study for more than one subject. Here are a few tips:

Study Schedule: If you know you’ll have multiple test/exams, the best thing to do is to create a study schedule. This will help you to allocate time for each subject/unit and not stress out on not having enough time to study for everything.

Rank by importance: One of the things you should do first is to write down the test/exams you’ve got and what each of those is worth. If they are all worth the same, then figuring out what to study first should be easy but if they are all worth different, the subject with the most per cent would obviously be the priority. This is a simple solution to knowing what to study first.

Think ahead: Another tip is to figure out what grade you actually need from the test/exam. This will help you to know which subject/unit is important, which one you have to focus on and whether you even have to worry at all. It also helps you be more organised.

Avoid cramming: What most students tend to do is to study and cram everything within 12 hours of when you’ve got the test/exam. This isn’t a good idea and nor will it help you be confident on the day of the test/exam. It is important to relax and that is why you should always leave time to study for all subjects, which will result in not having to cram everything.

Good Luck!

Recordings

Sometimes students can get frustrated at the lecturer due to them being too fast or just plain boring but at the end of the day, information is information. Instead of having to furiously type or write down everything the teacher says, why not record the lectures.

Whether the teacher already does that for you or you have to do it yourself, this will allow you to play back the lecture and see if you miss any vital information. Another advantage is it will allow you to work at your own pace and you do not have to worry about catching up to the teacher, on what slide they are on.

Good Luck!

Do you have a negative relationship with your phone? Is it affecting how you study? Well here are some tips for you!

1. Don't look at your phone when you wake up, we all do this first thing in the morning our alarm wakes us up from a beautiful dream, we turn the alarm off and then instantly check all our social media. Well, you all need to do is stop, leave your phone on charge and have breakfast first and then check your phone.  

2. Don't take your phone on short trips, if your going to the shops for some milk and bread leave your phone at home. you have message bank for a reason and those texts aren't going anywhere. 

3. Keep your phone away from you during meals and conversations. The phone inhibits your ability to hold a conversation, leave it in your pocket (or put it in your bag).

4. Keep your phone away from you when you are doing tasks. You don't need your phone to work, and you don't need it when you're reading a book, or when your watching television. 

5. don't sleep with your phone, it doesn't need to live in your bed. Put it in another room so that you don't get tempted to look at it while you are trying to sleep.

Good luck!

What are SMART goals?

SMART is an acronym for the 5 elements of effective goal setting.

SMART goals are:

Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. This is a simple yet effective tool, this tool is used by business to achieve goals and pass the realm of ineffective goal setting. make sure you use this goal setting tool to always make effective use of your time.

Good luck!

Productivity is defined as achieving a significant amount or result.

Productivity is about getting more done efficiently. there are many ways to become more productive.

1. Make a to-do list and then out of that to-do list, get rid of everything that is not absolutely necessary.  

2. Set daily goals, setting goals is a major part of becoming productive, and to set SMART goals is an amazing way to get results.

3.  Peak times, figure out what times are you most productive in and work around them.

4. Taking out the worst parts, knock out the worst most boring parts out first, this will allow you to enjoy the rest of the task. 

5. Make sure you delegate your time, set tasks in easy to manage time frames.

6. Constant improvement, always look for ways you can make your work better, this will help you improve in the future. 

7. Do not associate yourself with people that will slow you down, stay around people who encourage you to do better, these people will give you ways to improve and will help formulate ideas that can only be of benefit to you.

8. Keep it fun. not every to-do item has to be boring. Spice up the task. 

Good luck!

Lecture Notes 

It is very important to develop an organisation system that works best for you. Well organised notes are essential for exam studying material.

1.    Read allocated materials before attending class

2.    Analysis of previous lecture notes

3.    Reduce your notes

4.    Recite the information in your notes

5.    Reflect upon your lecture notes

6.    Self-testing is a very useful tool

These steps are very useful to ensure exam studying is well organised and less overwhelming.

Good luck!

How to study for Mathematics? 

Go to Class! and when you are absent make sure you 100% catch up with your work immediately, because when you are absent make sure you 100% catch up with your work immediately.

Ask questions and listen. This is VERY important because it can help you out when you are stuck. This is VERY important because it can help you out when you are stuck.

Read over your notes before you do your homework while you do your homework the night you are given it. 

Show all of your workings out and double check it.  Making sure that this habit while studying helps you throughout test and exams.

Make a list of all the important concepts.  Put all of your concepts into your own words and triple check the lists so that you can memorise it, add to your cheat sheet or bound reference book.

Good luck!

Why colour code your notes?

When highlighting paragraphs in your textbooks, print-outs and study notes, it does help to have a consistent colour system.

Colour Guide:

General Highlights/ Information - Yellow or Purple

Author/s and works cited - Orange

Titles, chapters - Pink

Vocab - Blue

Require research - Green

Examples - Red

As a REMINDER do not go with the colours because if you do not highlight what is necessary, it will become a completely colourful page with problems.

Good Luck!

Can’t into Cans!

Many people find that tasks, especially assessment, hard to do and they begin to tell themselves that they can't do something, and that very sentence “I can’t” is what stops you from actually doing it, by saying you can’t your saying that the task is impossible for you, and this is just not true. you can do whatever you set your mind to. You cloud your own judgement by belittling yourself.

I want you to do a thought exercise here. I want you to imagine a very fertile field, and this field is your field, you own it. One day a man gives you seeds for hemlock (a deadly poisonous plant) and seeds for corn. what will happen if you plant the hemlock? You will have a deadly weed to take control of your farm, and you will only be able to take back control of the farm if you totally destroy the weed. 

Take this field as your mind, your mind is very similar to a fertile field, if you plant negativity into your field you will only harvest negativity, but if you were to choose to plant corn you would harvest a beautiful crop and will have more corn to plant next farming season. 

Don't sow negative thoughts into your mind, don't dwell on those thoughts, you can control your emotions and you can control where you go in the future.    

Good Luck!

Is it that hard?

There are  multiple ways that you can study a hard subject/unit and here are just some techniques that you can use to study through that hard subject:

Google is your friend. For real, Google has everything you don’t know.

Make a Review Sheet. Know of the information, not word for word.

Do as many Practice Problems as you can. Come on. Textbook questions, past exams and homework.

Stary Organised. Keep information for different topic separate. Chances are, you ’ll find something important.

Summarize and compress information for easy memorisation.

Good Luck!

Hey, the best way to learn maths is working with the formulas think back to when you were in primary school and how you learnt addition, you would have repeated the equation over and over until it became easy. 

Maths is a science, it is repeatable. It is a series of trial and error. the best way to learn maths is to use what ever formula you are studying. If you need help with that formula YouTube has many tutorials on any formula you could possibly need. 

The best thing to do is ask questions about how it all pieces together, your teachers and tutors are only there to help educate you, ask all the questions you can, and if your teacher won’t help you, there is tons and tons of information on YouTube or Google, your teachers should always try and help you.

Don’t be afraid to put your hand up! 

Every student has there own way of studying for assessments, test and exams. However, when it comes down to those times, where they are struggling to get any work done, most of us are too scared to actually put our hand up and ask for help.

The first thing that every student should always do is to always ask questions. Doing this will allow them to understand what they are doing. 

The following are just a few people who can help you; 

Teachers: The teachers should be the first person that you should be asking Questions. Whether it’s in class or after class or even through email, it is Always helpful to ask questions that you are unsure of. 

Classmates/Friends: Classmates/Friends are another options for who you can ask for help. They are the next best option, due to the fact that they are doing the same class as you are or the same units. This is also an option that most university students will take because they know that they are getting help from a friend. 

Librarian: Your university/high school librarian is another person who can help you with your assessments. If you need any help, always feel free to ask them your questions/inquiries. The added bonus is if they know that there is a book or article that you can look at, they will be able to help you with that too.

Good Luck!

Motivation

Motivation is hard to find. 

But here at FtwoA our study hacks have created many ways, you need to get your environment into something you mind links with work. put yourself into a place where you only do work, if you don't have one, make one.

The second step is getting yourself motivated, I find after a workout or a walk I feel a slight bit of motivation and that's all you need to make a start and once the ball is rolling, it becomes easier and easier to keep the motivation, walking with music and use of our study hacks, you will find that you become motivated.

Good luck!

Study Break Tips

After re-reading and completing a question or notes its important to implement study breaks. Here are some tips on when to take breaks and effective it is for your brain.

15 minutes break

Fuel the body and mind by a healthy snack break ( we have a post on healthy brain snacks while study down on the blog )

Get moving, go for a quick walk or stretch

Time is everything – get into a study routine that works best for you

Social media free zone – put the phone and log off all social media accounts also do not have the tv on while studying. Best to have some music that helps you stay focus ( we have a post on what music to listen too while studying down below )

Don’t get discouraged when you don’t understand a topic or when having a meatal block just take a short break and slowly ease back to your study routine)

Keep things organized

Remember to have a good night sleep

Drink plenty of water

Good luck!

Flashcards a Great Classic Study Tool

Promotes to actively recall, allowing for our brains to learn most effectively. This can be implemented for assessments, final exams, class quiz and tests.

Write Your Own Flash Cards 

It is best to make your own flashcards, using words and diagrams that make the most sense to you. Using pre-made cards can sometimes be usual but most cases overwhelmed by facts it's harder to remember all the facts.

Add Pictures to Flash Cards 

Some students are visual learns and by adding photos to flashcards it helps to actively recall facts.

One Question on Each Card 

What you are trying to achieve is a quick and simple flash card by having one question per card. By implementing that to each of your cards only maintaining one question of fact,  will not make you run into a mistake of too much information on a topic.

Break Down Complex Facts into Several Flashcards Best 

To break down the hard complex concepts into multiple cards to ensure you understand every step/part to the concept. To ensure you study and memorize while using flashcards.

Reading Flashcards Out Loud 

Saying your answers out loud is a more effective way to study flashcards. To have a friend, family members or partner quiz you on your flashcards actively have your brain working.

Good luck!