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Taking breaks from studying is v v important! they improve both focus & attention. Also it is important to know what you actually do in each time-off to better your productivity!

I distinguish the bad from the good activities if either they make it harder for me to go back to studying or if i come back refreshed and ready to start working again. they vary for everyone and even depend on the ammount of time you are taking, so here are some suggestions of activities to pick & try during your study breaks.

previous tips: a really important thing is to time your break with a real timer!! when the alarm sounds force yourself to go back to studying. No more. Just do it.

It depends on how i’m feeling but most times i take a 5 minute break every 25-45 minutes studying. And I repeat 4 to 5x before a bigger break. That system has really helped me!

find your work time, maybe you can handle 1h+ followed if you’re well rested! know yourself.

your breaks can go from 5 to 20 minutes or even more if you feel like it, but it’s better (scientifically proven) to work in smaller chunks and take a bigger number of smaller breaks.

if you really want to quit in the middle of it, just focus on the reward you’ll get afterwards, like eating lunch or going online. Stick to the work and it’ll pass soon enough.

DOs:

wash face and hands with nice smelling soap

brush teeth

close/rest your eyes, look at objects distant from you

switch your study spot

read book (better if it’s fiction)

check on your planner

clean your desk

listen to your favorite song (++bonus points: dance)

take a nap

do a few exercises like stretches for the back and neck (1 / 2 / 3 / 4)

do warm ups like waist circles or even jumping jacks if you’re feeling energetic (1)

do light strength exercises like bicep curls and triceps with small weights for 30 seconds each

do a 7 minute workout! (workout timer for computer)

stand up, go to the window, breathe fresh air and look at people

talk to someone!

solve a crossword or sudoku puzzle outside or away from your study desk

watch a TED talk

drink/refill on water/juice

prepare/eat food

do the dishes/ laundry

take the trash out

tips: the activities shouldn’t require too much concentration, since you’ve been working hard, thus physical low-attention-required activities are prefered.

make it enjoyable and distracting.

DON'Ts:

procrastinate and enlarge your break!!!

give up

feel guilty about taking a break. you work hard and are entitled to it

go online if you know you can’t control yourself (aka if it has happened to you before) - leave it for after everything is done, it’ll be right there waiting for you

start watching a TV show + episodes… bad move. once again, do it later.

tips: know when to quit the break! I know the hardest part of studying is getting started. It all comes down to that decision, don’t hesitate and linger.

do NOT THINK ‘one more minute’. it will never be just one more minute and you know it. Don’t cheat yourself.

HOW TO APPROACH CLASSES A guide to getting the most out of your classes and lectures

By Eintsein

Taking breaks from studying is v v important! they improve both focus & attention. Also it is important to know what you actually do in each time-off to better your productivity!

I distinguish the bad from the good activities if either they make it harder for me to go back to studying or if i come back refreshed and ready to start working again. they vary for everyone and even depend on the ammount of time you are taking, so here are some suggestions of activities to pick & try during your study breaks.

previous tips: a really important thing is to time your break with a real timer!! when the alarm sounds force yourself to go back to studying. No more. Just do it.

It depends on how i’m feeling but most times i take a 5 minute break every 25-45 minutes studying. And I repeat 4 to 5x before a bigger break. That system has really helped me!

find your work time, maybe you can handle 1h+ followed if you’re well rested! know yourself.

your breaks can go from 5 to 20 minutes or even more if you feel like it, but it’s better (scientifically proven) to work in smaller chunks and take a bigger number of smaller breaks.

if you really want to quit in the middle of it, just focus on the reward you’ll get afterwards, like eating lunch or going online. Stick to the work and it’ll pass soon enough.

DOs:

wash face and hands with nice smelling soap

brush teeth

close/rest your eyes, look at objects distant from you

switch your study spot

read book (better if it’s fiction)

check on your planner

clean your desk

listen to your favorite song (++bonus points: dance)

take a nap

do a few exercises like stretches for the back and neck (1 / 2 / 3 / 4)

do warm ups like waist circles or even jumping jacks if you’re feeling energetic (1)

do light strength exercises like bicep curls and triceps with small weights for 30 seconds each

do a 7 minute workout! (workout timer for computer)

stand up, go to the window, breathe fresh air and look at people

talk to someone!

solve a crossword or sudoku puzzle outside or away from your study desk

watch a TED talk

drink/refill on water/juice

prepare/eat food

do the dishes/ laundry

take the trash out

tips: the activities shouldn’t require too much concentration, since you’ve been working hard, thus physical low-attention-required activities are prefered.

make it enjoyable and distracting.

DON'Ts:

procrastinate and enlarge your break!!!

give up

feel guilty about taking a break. you work hard and are entitled to it

go online if you know you can’t control yourself (aka if it has happened to you before) - leave it for after everything is done, it’ll be right there waiting for you

start watching a TV show + episodes… bad move. once again, do it later.

tips: know when to quit the break! I know the hardest part of studying is getting started. It all comes down to that decision, don’t hesitate and linger.

do NOT THINK ‘one more minute’. it will never be just one more minute and you know it. Don’t cheat yourself.

Almost two months have gone by already! Time flies, doesn’t it? It feels as though last week we were just reflecting on our past year and planning for the year ahead. Most of us start every new year with a set of goals we are determined to achieve. There may be changes we want to make in our lives, bad habits we want to get rid of , places we want to travel to, activities we want to try, or things we’d like to tick off our bucketlist. 

I am just like you. Sometimes I become side-tracked. I let my lazy mind overtake my willpower. I let my mood get in the way of what I ultimately want to achieve. I procrastinate, put things off, and feel even worse later when I try to get things done in such a short period of time. Sometimes life gets in the way and disrupts my good habits. The next thing I know I’ve fallen back into this hole of laziness, procrastination, and not doing what I know I should be doing. Then I wait for the new year or my birthday to come around in order to get excited about my New Year’s Resolutions as if the date is going to make any difference. If you feel like you can relate to this and are starting to feel unmotivated, even though it’s only February, read on!

Here are 6 tips on how you can remain inspired and motivated.

1. Get used to forcing yourself to do things.

This sounds tough, doesn’t it? Our mind has muscles. It memorizes patterns. By doing this over and over, you’re building your willpower and self-discipline. Forcing yourself to do things that you don’t feel like doing (but you know you should be doing) is a habit you can learn. 

Every time I don’t feel like doing something like going to the gym or abstaining from eating chocolate, I tell myself that if I keep doing it for several weeks, one day it will become a habit. At that point, doing it will become second to nature. The next thing you know, you won’t even feel like breaking your good habits anymore. 

Let me put this another way: Inside your head, there is Mr. Better Man and Mr. La La Land.

Mr. La La Land will always try to persuade you not to do things that Mr. Better Man know you should do - like exercising, eating healthy, or being productive with work. These two guys don’t like each other, and they are in constant competition with one another.

When you don’t feel like exercising, remind yourself that if you don’t go, it will become even harder to force yourself to go the next day. Why? Because when you follow Mr. La La Land’s advice by not going, you’re giving Mr. La La Land the permission to control you. You also boost Mr. La La Land’s ego and self-esteem by listening to him. Over and over, Mr. La La Land wins and Mr. Better Man becomes the loser. 

But if you learn to tell Mr. La La Land that “Hey, I’m going to listen to Mr. Better Man because he knows what’s good for me”, Mr. La La Land will feel small. He will start to lose his self-worth and self-esteem and eventually he won’t have the confidence to tell you what to do anymore. He already knows you will always listen to Mr. Better Man. 

Don’t let Mr. La La Land win. Nurture Mr. Better Man and he will lead you to the person you’ve always dreamed of becoming. 

2. Seek inspiration - every day.

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing - that’s why we recommend it daily.

Zig Ziglar

No matter how intrinsically driven we are, we can easily lose our motivation if we don’t continue to seek it out. Ever since I was a child, I have made it a habit to look for inspiration. The Internet has given us the power to find anything and everything. It is up to you to use that power to your advantage. Because I am a creative person and I feel stuck, bored, and stagnant the moment that I don’t feel inspired. To feel alive again, I look for inspiration. I read books, watch videos, read articles, and do things that reflect what and who I aspire to become. I find ways to better myself and find inspiration every day.

If you have lost motivation with exercising, try going to new fitness classes, join a bootcamp, watch fitness videos, or get a personal trainer.

If you have lost motivation with work, see if you can do more challenging tasks. Read articles and watch videos that inspire your creative spark. Meet new people. Go to events. 

Everyone is different and you’re the only one who knows what suits you the most. 

3. Focus on the emotional reward you will get. 

When you’re on the fence of fear, doubt, laziness, and tiredness, you have to focus on the emotional reward you will get if you just push yourself a little bit more to jump over that fence.

Focus on the feeling you feel after doing something that you know is good for you.

The feeling of an adrenaline rush.

The feeling of being fit and healthy.

The relief you feel after having finished a big project.

The pride you gain from an accomplishment.

The confidence you feel after having faced your fear.

Focus on these feel-good moments and remember that achieving that feeling again is just one step from saying “Yes”. 

4. Track your goals weekly and periodically.

Tracking your goals is crucial. We hold ourselves accountable when we don’t achieve our goals. Failing to track our goals is the easiest way to let ourselves fall off track. It is one way that our mind tells ourselves that we do not fully commit to those goals. If we can’t even tell our mind to commit to those goals, especially difficult goals, how are we going to accomplish them?

Writing things down is a way to reinforce to our subconscious what we want. Just like the practice of prayer. The more we tell ourselves what we want to achieve, the more likely we are to take action. We’re not letting those goals slip through our minds. The subconscious is powerful. The thoughts you say out loud are not as powerful as the thoughts you whisper to yourself. Positive affirmations hold their power. By tracking your goals and telling yourself over and over what you want to achieve, eventually you will overcome your laziness.

One day at a time, you can build a habit. Start with the habit of tracking your goals because tracking your goals is making a commitment to those goals. You cannot achieve difficult goals without making a commitment to yourself and to your subconscious mind. 

5. Set a reward for yourself.

Who doesn’t like rewards? Rewards can keep us motivated. And if a reward can keep us motivated for 30 days, then we might have successfully changed our habit by then too. Pick a healthy reward for yourself. While a material reward like a new outfit, a vacation, or a massage can be great, an inner reward feels better and is more sustainable. 

What is an inner reward? An inner reward is the emotional reward you feel from within. This brings us back to point 3 - focus on the emotional reward. Instead of focusing on rewards such as “if I lose 10 lbs, I’m going to buy a new outfit,” focus on the confidence and happiness you’ll feel from being fit and healthy. Think about how much more productive you’d become when you feel energized. If you focus on a material reward, you may get excited when you get the reward, but after a while, you will lose your motivation again. The emotional reward is sustaining and it is built from within. Make it a habit to focus on the emotional reward and it will become easier to make real change in your life. 

6. Find someone to hold you accountable for your goals.

Instead of tracking your goals yourself, you can ask someone you trust to keep you on track with your goals. This can be a sibling, friend, partner, or even a professional such as a life coach or a personal trainer. They can be your source of motivation, and even better, inspiration. It is important to pick someone you believe in or someone whom you know would not let you fail at achieving your goals. Pick someone whom you know will kick your butt and will push your limit. Most importantly, you need to pick someone who believes in you. The feeling you get when you know that “someone believes in you” can be tremendous. This feeling will help push you forward and restore faith in yourself when you feel like giving up.

Need motivation?

To get an education. 

To earn a degree. There are barely any jobs that offer positions to people without a degree, or are on the path of obtaining one.

To prove people wrong. That science teacher that said you’ll never make it in the medical field? Make him eat his words. 

To prove yourself wrong. Every student has doubts on whether or not they can be good enough in the classroom. Prove yourself wrong, and always be better than you were yesterday. 

This is a privilege. Regardless of how much you believe that you HAVE to do this, to some extend you don’t. Realize that you have the privilege of an education even being an option for you.

Take advantage of what you’re capable of. Don’t waste a perfectly intelligent mind. 

More money. That degree can do wonderful things to your bank account in the future. 

It’s interesting. Studying can get pretty boring, but there are always those topics that spark your curiosity and motivate you to learn more.

It’s attractive. Not everyone cares for someone who is academically gifted, but a partner who is eager to learn makes me eager to take my pants off.

It’s useful. That random fact that you read in a random textbook can stick with you and really end up helping you out one day.

It’s fun to know useless shit sometimes.

To make your parents proud. This is one of the main reasons I study. My parents have always been aware of my capabilities and have pushed me to be academically better every year. They know I have big dreams, and I just want to achieve them so they can know that their child made it.

To make myself proud. This goes along with number four. Knowing that you accomplished something, however small or big the thing may be, is a huge self-esteem booster.

To be independent. There’s nothing quite like knowing that you don’t need someone else’s job, degree, intelligence, or presence to make you successful.

To pursue your passion. 

To gain knowledge. Whether its in your field, or a completely different one, being knowledgeable is just downright fun.

People will look up to you. Your siblings, your best friends, and your classmates may see you consistently studying, and it could motivate them to do the same. 

To make a name for yourself. “Oh yeah, (insert name here), I know them. Aren’t they like really successful now?”

To become your own role model.

To be able to pay off your student loans.

Because the long nights and excessive coffee will all be worth it. Even if it doesn’t seem like it now. 

To exercise your brain. Your brain is just like a muscle, and like the body it needs to be exercised. 

To improve your hippocampus. Your hippocamus is responsible for memory, and if you study your memorization will become significantly better.

To not waste time doing useless stuff. 

Because stationary is amazing. I could spend a whole paycheck on just pens.

Because notes are actually all so pretty. 

To be productive. I used to spend a lot of time on social media, and although I still do, the amount of time I spend studying and getting stuff done has definitely increased.

So classes will be easier. 

So tests will be easier.

To impress your professors. Get those letters of recommendation! 

So the anxiety of getting a bad grade is sufficiently decreased. I constantly worry about my grades, but studying has helped me not worry so much.

Because coffee exists. 

There is no other atmosphere quite like the inside of a library. 

So you won’t have to retake a class. Failing a prerequisite for your major really sucks, so maybe try not failing the first time around. This also saves you a lot of money because you won’t have to pay for the class again. 

Finals week won’t suck as bad. You’ll be used to studying so when finals week comes around it wont nearly be as stressful as for those students who are now opening a textbook. 

You won’t go to as many college parties. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for socializing and having fun, but a lot can go wrong at a college party very quickly. And there’s no better way to prevent that, than just not going to the party cause you’re reading your economics textbook. 

You’ll get used to FOMO. Fear of Missing Out. Every teenagers nightmare. Eventually, you’ll get used to the feeling. 

You’ll be getting the most out of your college experience. You’re paying for these classes. Might as well try your best to pass. 

You’ll get used to not getting enough sleep. So, if you decide to go to grad school you’ll have that department covered. 

There’s really good study music out there. 

I guarantee there will be at least 5 places on campus, or around you that are perfect for studying, and you’ll want to go there everyday. 

You’ll become a pro at writing essays, or lab reports.

You’ll learn fairly quickly that study groups rarely work. 

You’ll make a lot of friends that are just as passionate about studying as you are. And you will cherish them. 

Beauty and Brains. Don’t you want to fit that description? 

Thousands of students before you have done it, so you can too. 

You can run a studyblr. Aren’t they the cutest? 

You get really good at time management. 

Sleep becomes 5x more satisfactory after a night of studying.

How To Study For Final Exams?

The secret for a successful final exam preparation is a plan! After three years of college, I developed a strategy for an effective final exam study session. Here it is:

1. How much time do you have left?

The very first step is to determine how much time is left and how much material you need to cover during this period. 

Count how many days you have left before the final (e.g. 6 days)

Count how many chapters and sections in this chapters you need to study (e.g. 4 chapters with 5 sections in each => 4 ch x 5 sec = you have 20 sections in total)

You need to spread 20 sections through 5 days and leave 1 last day for a total review. Here you have 4 sections per day. 

If your chapters are not broken down into sections you can either break them down into sections yourself or just use the number of chapters. You can also use the number of points in your study guide if you have one.

I like this strategy because it customizes a study plan for any class and time you have left.When I know what I need to finish every day in order to kill this final, it makes me less stressed and more motivated.  

2. Determine what you know and what you don’t know

Let’s use your time efficiently. Don’t waste your time on what you already know, focus on information that you don’t understand or don’t remember. 

If you have a study guide, look through it and circle points that you can’t answer from the top of your head. 

If you don’t have a study guide, go over your notes or your student book, and analyze the material. Write down the topics that you’re not 100% confident about (you don’t have to be specific here, just make a simple outline). That’s gonna be your personal study guide.

3. Study Plan

When you know how much you need to study every day, you need to create a study plan. The study plan includes what do you need to do with all this material. It can be reading, rewriting notes, practicing problems, memorizing formulas, and etc. As you can see, the study plan will depend on the class and the chapter. 

To create a study plan write down what you need to do every day. 

E.g. Day 1: you need to finish reading 4 sections, rewriting and memorizing definitions you don’t know yet, then you need to practice 2 problems per section. 

Do this sort of thing for every day and for every class you have a final for, and this is gonna be your final exam study plan. 

4. Track your progress

It’ll motivate you

It’ll make you feel accomplished

It’ll make you stay on track every day

I usually track my progress crossing out the number of sections I’ve done. I draw it as a “download bar”. 

Every class is different so they will have a different amount of material. 

5. Switch subjects

Don’t study for one class 5 hours in a row! Switch subjects, give yourself a break, eat.. There’s a Pomodoro technique when you study for about 30 minutes and then have a 5-minute break, and then study for 30 minutes.  

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post, and I figured that these tips might be extra helpful with exam season approaching. As someone who struggles a lot with procrastination, I do everything I can to fight the urge to put assignments off until the last minute (even though I’m not always successful). 

These are some of my most important tips when it comes to studying for maths that seem to have gotten me high marks in maths. If you have any more questions or requests, message me and I’ll get back to you. I’m considering a part II being maths test tips and strategies. Let me know what you think!

1. Having organised notebooks

I have use two notebooks for school, one for class notes and one for homework. This keeps notebooks organised and a lot easier to manage. It also makes revising for maths more efficient. 

I also use two notebooks at home. One containing the theory of all maths topics learnt with heaps of example questions. The other containing harder maths questions and their working out. This second notebook is really useful when studying for exams, as you can revise questions that are more uncommon to help you solve harder questions in the exam. If you would like a more detailed post regarding how I organise my maths notebooks, just let me now by messaging me.

2. Practice 

This is by far one of the most important tips for maths, because maths is simply not a subject that you can do well in by cramming the night before. In order to under the concepts in great detail, you must allocate ½ hour to one hour a day to revise. This keeps all the formulas and methods fresh in your mind.

3. Do your homework  

Teachers give you homework for a reason. That is to practice and revise. Doing homework everyday allows you to keep up with what your teachers are teaching in school and to practice using the methods and formulas. Sometimes when I have more important priorities such as assignments I chose 5-10 questions to quickly revise. 

4. Do practice papers 

Before an exam make sure you’ve completed all available past papers. All exams tend to follow the same layout with a few general questions followed by harder and complex questions. By completing understanding the easier questions you can guarantee that you will understand the correct methods of completing then. understand the layout for the exam and common types of questions asked 

5. Don’t stress out or get frustrated 

Just because you can’t a few questions in a practice paper doesn’t mean you should stop practising or you’re going to fail you’re exam. Of course you’re not going to be able to do certain questions, that’s part of learning. Skip the question and move on. After you’re finished go back to the question and spend 10-15 minutes on it. If you still can’t do it, ask a teacher or a friend. 

6. Understand and review your mistakes 

How to Study or Methods of Learning

I work as a tutor for a year now, and I noticed that many students know only one way to study for an exam: flash cards. They come to me with a pile of hundreds of flashcards and tell me that this is the only way works for them. I probably could write another post about how much I don’t like flash cards but it’s a different story…

Here I want to list all kinds of study methods that I found helpful after three years in college

1.      Rewrite notes

Many professors now upload copies of the notes or PowerPoints. If they don’t do this, you can use your own notes or a student book. One of the study methods is to rewrite those notes. That doesn’t mean that you need to rewrite word by word, it’s the opposite. The purpose of this technique is to analyze the material, put it in your own words, organize it as you want, and then write it down. Never rewrite information when you don’t understand it, it defeats the whole purpose.

2.      Make diagrams, tables, and trees

You can’t use these visuals to study everything, however, they’re extremely helpful to remember complicated concepts and processes. I draw them in my notes and sometimes redraw them on a draft paper multiple times if a concept is very hard to remember.

3.      Use other visuals

If you can’t create your own diagrams, you can look for them on the Internet or use visual resources like Crash Course and Khan Academy

4.      Teach your friend

As a tutor, I teach many students.  Teaching others helps to remember any material and even understand it better. It works because you talk about a subject aloud and you force your brain to recall information as fast as possible. You don’t have to be a tutor to do this. You can teach anyone: your friend, sibling, mother, or you can pretend that you teach someone. This method is also great because it uncovers all hidden parts that you didn’t know you don’t understand/remember.

5.      Imagine what you study

Most people probably do it on an intuitive level, but there are some students that don’t do it. You can incorporate this method while you’re reading or rewriting notes. I always imagine different processes in my head. For example, how molecules collapse and interact with each other or how gases diffuse from alveoli into capillaries. I kinda create “a movie” in my mind. It’s fun!

6.      Read out loud

 Preparing for your exams

Check whether you have anything you haven’t studied. If you do, list them out in a paper/document. Put them into three categories: 

1. Things you are not familiar with at all (that you probably haven’t paid attention during class, and haven’t read through them)

2. Things you have already gone through once and have a rough idea what it is about, but not clear with the details

3. Things you are quite familiar with, that you just want to go through them once again to memorise them

It is very important that you have every content of your exam syllabus on the second level around 2-7 days before your exams (depends on the amount of materials that is going to be on the papers)

So you should make a timetable to go through everything if you still have a few days/weeks

Don’t try to spend so much time actually memorising them for now. The key right now is to understand everything, so that they can be in your long-term memory. 

You can leave other small details and examples (that probably requires your short-term memory) till the last week/last three days before exams.

If you have the feeling that you MUST remember things word by word / very clearly, mark them with a red pen or something to make sure they stand out so you can quickly memorise them during the final review.

You can also make index cards during this stage

Which may help you to organise the information and help you to stay focus (without wasting you so much time in making full and comprehensive notes)

And to quiz yourself during your final review

Final Review - 2-3 days before your exams

Scientific research shows that we are all very good at recognising things, but that does not mean that we are good at recalling them (which is exactly what requires during exams)

So, instead of just reading your notes, definitely quiz yourself using flashcards, or just look at the heading of the notes and recall as much information as possible

“no I have to memorise everything first before quizzing myself”??

No, not really. It is known that even pre-quiz can help you to remember the information better! Quickly quizzing yourself once to understand which areas you are least familiar with so you can focus more on those chapters in your final review

It actually does activate your mind too since you will be curious about the information (after knowing you cannot recall them during the quiz) - that can help you to remember better

Memorise in the right way!

Auditory learner: read the information out loud / try to teach others

Visual learner: recall the information by writing them all out in a piece of blank paper (feynman technique)

You can recall the information better when you are in the same kind of environment (scientifically proven)

That is, if you exam hall is silent, it’s better for you to remember things in silence

Even works for your condition too.

If you take energy boosting drink while your are studying, you can probably recall the information better if you drink them before exams (same as NOT drinking energy boosting drink too)

Write a list of very important keywords / information / equations as a final summary

The morning before your exams

Try not to go through anything new, you probably can’t remember/understand them anyway

The best thing to do is probably simply to go through the summary sheet you made before exams. It will help you to recall all the information you have memorised + you won’t panic since it’s everything that you have already studied

Breakfast, remember. You don’t want to be starving during exams.

Biology was one of my least favorite subjects during my postbacc because it took me a while to learn how to study for it. Unlike chemistry, my hard science bff, biology doesn’t have many immediately evident patterns. A lot of biology just exists and as a student, you have to accept it’s existence and memorize it to do well in the class. If you’re great at memorization, you’ll be fine in college bio. But for the rest, these tips should help you study for college biology

Do Tons of Practice Problems + Legit Old ExamsYou hear this a lot for math and math-heavy topics, but it’s true for biology too! Did you know that you can do a Google search for “[biology topic] + practice questions” and you get more options that you will probably be able to get through before your next exam? Practice problems are money, especially if you can find ones that give detailed explanations of their answers.

Practice problems are very helpful because they allow you to see the information you’re learning in the way it will probably be tested. That gets you thinking more critically about the topics. It also gives you a better understanding of your weak areas. If you keep getting questions that have to do with epinephrine and the adrenal gland incorrect, then you know where you need to focus your studying.

You can also ask your professor if they will share old exams that they don’t use anymore for practice. If they are willing to share these, these are the best way to study in the 3-4 days before your exam. They will (hopefully) give you an idea of the way your professor asks exam questions.

Love the Questions You Get Wrong

This is so so so important. This tip will help you through MCAT study and any kind of exam prep. Love your weaknesses the most.Everyone gets questions incorrect, especially when studying. If you knew it all, you wouldn’t be studying. Incorrect questions tell you what you should study for that A. How do you love the questions you get wrong? You dissect them. Ooh, so doctor-y.

First, find the part of the textbook that deals with the topic area at hand (see #3). Then, read all about it. Determine a) what the question is asking, b) why the right answer is right, and c) most importantly, why all of the wrong answers are wrong. This tactic will teach you about at least 2-3 topic areas that will be on your exam. More often than not, learning in this way will help you in other areas of the test because practice questions tend to incorporate different parts of a topic area to make the questions more challenging. Guys, this is the money. Get good at doing this, give yourself time with difficult questions, and reap those A’s as benefit.

Get the E-Book, Too + Use It!I love a tangible, physical textbook that I can flip through. But for bio, I always had the e-book version on hand too. It was amazing for when I wanted to look up a certain diagram or topic and didn’t want to sift through a 1000+ page book. CTRL + f on a laptop and the iBook search function are lovely time-savers.

This was most useful when I was doing practice problems. I would look up a keyword in the question stem or in the correct answer to find the relevant topic area in the book. Then, I would read all about it and determine why the right answer was right and why all of the wrong answers were wrong. Seriously, go back to #2 and read it again. It’s important.

Draw Images + Reinterpret Diagram

You’re not an artist? Me neither. But drawing out the nephron when you’re studying the kidney or the heart when you’re learning about blood flow lets you understand the circuitous language in your textbook. Your depiction doesn’t have to be a work of art, it just needs to make sense to you. Draw the image and follow along with the textbook explanation of what happens in that organ/system/whatever.In the same vein (see what I did there), sometimes diagrams are really helpful and other times, they do the exact opposite of what they’re supposed to by further complicating dense info. Don’t be afraid to repurpose the information from a diagram into a picture or a story that makes more sense to you! I did this when learning hormones, because having the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla in different columns made me forget about their proximity to one another. Instead, I drew an (ugly) picture of the kidney and adrenal gland and put the names of the hormones inside of the correct areas of the adrenal gland.

Do you already incorporate any of these tactics for studying biology? Many of them are useful for other topics as well, even outside of premed. I hope these give you useful ideas on how to get the A you deserve in college biology! Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments or as a Tumblr ask.

Take advantage of that lower workload in between exam periods to make good notes, clean your house, get work experience and do the things then rather than when you’re busier

Use Highlighters instead of pens to save time. Or vice versa depending on you

Change the timing in the pomodoro technique to suit you rather than the other way round

Use a planner to 

Work out what time of day you study best. You could get up and study in the morning if you’re that sort of person

Attend your tutor or form sessions. Even if you don’t do much in them, you can

Keep your planner small and carry it everywhere

Even better, put your planner on your phone

 Don’t sulk if you fail, look back at why you failed and try to improve

If you get distracted by wanting to do something when you should be focusing, write it down. It gives you a checklist of things to do later

Do these things on the checklist in your study breaks

Answer questions without your teaching asking you to

Read about your subjects outside of your classes, especially in high school

Sit at the front of the class room

Don’t sit by yourself in class

Get an early nights sleep

Or at least use sleepytime to get a good time frame

On school days when you wake up, get up straight away, it stops you lazing about

Work hard from the start of the year. There isn’t a time to slack off

Try spaced repititon for learning key facts or a revision schedule

Have snacks and a drink during study sessions. Preferably water.

Summarise and make all your notes onto smaller bits of paper for revision, it helps you cognise what the important facts are

To avoid study stress, take breaks and avoid studying for more than two hours a day

It’s also good to have a day where you don’t study at all once a week

Don’t schedule too far in advance, you’ll just get busy in the meantime or change your methods

When you’re feeling too stressed to work properly but not studying stresses you out, do easier tasks like reviewing flashcards or watching videos on your course

Do as much of your work in school as possible

Prioritise your classes. Especially if you have loads

Make any big habit changes you’ve been thinking of at the start of a term or new year

Study a little before bed, you’ve probably seen that study that says you remember more just before bed

Only make flashcards of the things that you don’t get or are important, not everything

Use online sites like Brainscape, Memrise, Anki or Quizlet for flashcards between devices

Print off your powerpoint slides before a lesson

If you can’t do that, read ahead in the textbook

The syllabus is your guide, so use that as a framework for your revision notes

Your stress and nerves are normal, don’t worry

Aim to finish your revision a week before your exams, it makes you start earlier and finish earlier, you also can rest before your exam

When you pick your subjects, choose the subjects you love

Don’t drink alcohol when you’re studying or any type of drug

Don’t listen to how much everyone is studying. A lot of people big it up or say they do none, usually both aren’t being truthful

Take messy notes in class and neaten them up later

Or take your notes online or on a computer

Have a folder to put your loose sheets and handouts in

Keep your to do list and schedule all in one place, whether that’s a book, app or phone

If you fall behind or are ill a lot, your classmates are your friends for a realistic description of what you’ve missed

When at school, know all the places you’d like to study in case one of them is busy

Don’t work in your bed if it makes you tired

Or work in your bed if all your seats are uncomfortable and it’s distracting

Don’t have too much coffee! And energy drinks are just terrible for you so maybe not have those either

You don’t have to be truthful to your actual opinion in essays, just go for what option has the most points

Listen to your teacher

Have your window open, the fresh air helps

Use practice papers and questions, they really help

Try to teach others as well or if you can’t, explain it in your own words to yourself

Combine more than one technique, so that the weaknesses of each method gets covered by another

Seriously just listen to your teachers

Check your emails every day

Set realistic goals and try not to be too harsh and unrealistic about the time you’ll spend achieving these as well

Use loud and annoying alarms to get you to do things

If you have to read, read out loud rather than in your head

Use a hair tie if you have long hair to keep it out of your face

Keep clean and get dressed for studying

Don’t waste your term making your notes pretty, if it helps, make sure the benefits outweigh the time problems

Study when you can. Don’t study if you’re too exhausted to do so.

Keep your desk as clean as you can

Know your sources of motivation. Possibly find a way to put that in your study space.

Attend as many classes as possible and don’t skip

Keep yourself busy with stuff that isn’t studying

Reward yourself for your hard work

Before you go back to school, start to wake up earlier so you’re ready

Wear comfortable clothes to school

Or wear whatever makes you feel good, feeling bad can be pretty distracting

Always think about the next step early, whether thats getting work experience, choosing subjects, finding a job or picking a thesis

Always eat breakfast

And always eat lunch too! Especially at school

Do whatever is best for you. Don’t follow a studyblr trend, do what’s best for you.

Make your studying a habit. Do it nearly every day for a long time and it’ll begin to feel more like second nature

Get to know your teachers if you can

And don’t be afraid to ask them for help outside of a lesson, either by email or afterwards, it helps a lot 

Look at the types of questions you often get wrong as well as the topics you keep missing out on 

Keep a spare bit of food in your bag, I usually have some sesame snaps in my bag as a small snack so I don’t have to get up to get food

Make productive friends and people with similar goals to you

When revising, revise everything and then focus on your weak points

Don’t spend too long on tumblr, and if you are right now, then this is your reminder to log off!

Don’t panic when you don’t know all the answers in a test, do you really need 100%?

Break your studying into smaller bits and spread it out over time to avoid headaches, burnout and all the problems that come with it

Eat better. Get enough fruit and vegetables

Don’t forget about Protein, from meats, nuts, etc. it helps a lot

If you’re falling asleep in class, I usually drink water, pinch myself, take lots of notes and fidget to keep myself up

Regularly clear out your bag, because a lot of stuff builds up

If you’re a more artistic person, use drawings like visual notes, mindmaps, timelines and literal drawings to help you study

If you study with a friend, quiz each other

Study on public transport if you can, notes and flashcards on phones are good for this

Don’t neglect any of your subjects, make sure they all get some time spent on them

Also focus beyond your first exam, it’s easy to overprepare for the first test and then not be ready for the rest

When taking a test look through it quickly before hand

Remember you don’t have to take the test in order

Review your notes all the time, review helps the memory

If you want to pull an all-nighter see if you can do it in the morning or day instead, and don’t do it the night before anything important

Always look at the details, especially if you get a mark-scheme or guide for your assignments

here are tips I discovered very recently:

something is better than nothing. 5 minutes of work are better than zero. Just because you missed something on your schedule doesn’t mean you can’t still work on it, even for 5 minutes. Grow and build on this.

second drafts / reviews can be done after.

Don’t think you are going to do your very best work on the first try. Take the weight of perfectionism off your shoulders.

don’t think about doing it. just do it as fast as you can.

build on your productivity, not your failures.

If you come from a past of procrastinating and now feel motivated to change and discipline yourself, do NOT try to do everything at once.

if you have a set of different goals to accomplish, begin with the most important one. Wait until the rotine of working for that one settles in (you feel productive and comfortable-ish), and then begin with the next. Repeat.

this way you’ll be building your way up and not juggling everything at the same time, hoping everything works out.

be patient with yourself, you’ll get there!

set smaller deadlines for your goals

have monthly and weekly-ish deadlines

e.g. if you are doing a project, due 22nd Feb, set personal deadlines, like have Introduction written by 2nd Feb, have Methods written by 10th Feb, have project complete by 18th Feb.

take them as seriously as you possibly can, don’t miss out on yourself.

write realistic daily tasks and don’t stop until you finish them. after them you can do whatever you want

on writing realistic daily tasks, the secret is knowing you can only do so much in one day, but trusting you can accomplish everything in the course of any period of time (a week, or 2 weeks or a month, etc.) because you will combine the work from all these different days.

it’s very tempting to write down all the tasks you need to accomplish in one day to just get over with it, but the real deal is you won’t accomplish half of them. You’ll feel very unproductive then, wich leads to demotivation.

spread daily tasks in the time necessary.

have a consistent sleep schedule.

if your mind isn’t ready everything will fall apart.

have one rest day per week where you plan nothing, do whatever you want except studying. this can be harder than you expect!