#study method

sometimes we get caught up in trying to memorize all the material rather than study and learn the material. we also may come to realize that the way we currently “study” isn’t actually studying at all. i’ve fallen into this way of studying, but i’ve learned some really helpful tips and tricks to make sure that i actually learn and understand the material and get it to stick rather than memorize it just to forget everything later.

let’s begin …

୨ৎ — incorporate study methods

there’s a variety of different study methods that have been proven to truly help students learn the material and have productive study sessions.

some study methods:

There’s a version of studying online that looks perfect. The desk is spotless. The iPad is paired with a $150 stylus. The notes are color-coded with 12 markers. The lighting is soft. There's a candle burning. Maybe even a matcha latte.

And somehow, all of it makes you feel like what you’re doing… isn’t enough.

Let’s get one thing straight: none of that stuff is required to learn.

1. You don’t need an iPad to study.

Yes, digital notes can be convenient. But paper works. Google Docs works. A $5 notebook and a pen work. Don’t let your brain trick you into thinking you need to buy a whole setup before you’re “allowed” to be productive.

2. You don’t need a rainbow of markers or highlighters.

Highlighting isn’t learning. Sometimes, the urge to decorate your notes is just procrastination in disguise. If it helps you process info, great. But don’t feel bad for using one pen and underlining stuff once.

3. You don’t need to romanticize the grind.

Studying doesn’t have to look cute. It’s okay if your space is messy, if your notes are chaotic, if your focus looks like silence and staring. You’re not building content — you’re building understanding.

4. You don’t need to spend money to be “serious” about school.

Expensive gear doesn’t equal discipline. Flashy setups won’t magically give you consistency. Focus comes from habits, not hauls.

5. You don’t need to look productive to be productive.

No one needs to see your routine for it to count. You’re allowed to keep it quiet, small, and completely your own.

If you enjoy making things aesthetic — go for it. But don’t let the internet convince you that you’re doing it wrong if your notes are messy, your tools are basic, or your desk isn’t Pinterest-worthy.

Studying is not a photoshoot. It’s not a lifestyle brand.

It’s you, choosing to show up for your future — whether that’s in a Moleskine, a Google Doc, or the back of a receipt.

The best study tool you have? Your brain.

april 20 | a lot, a lot, A LOT has happened. but now finals are over, my prospectus defence is in two days and after that I’m cruising over to spring semester. if anyone has any tips for a good defence, let me know!

🎧 waterfall — sticky fingers

🎮 the wolf among us, persona 5 royal

📺 attack on titan (s1), apothecary diaries (s1)

📖 the raven king

I recently made a post on my study method, and decided to make a whole separate post on my note taking method. The structure of the notes I write doesn't vary too much from my lecture notes to things I might have to read. A couple of useful informations you might want to know before I start actually talking about note writing is that I am mainly focused on studying history (tho I have had other humanities exams in my degrees), and that I study for oral exams in which the material is mainly composed of non fiction books, but sometimes include articles as well as lecture notes. Somehow I have also failed to mention that I am speaking about HANDWRITTEN NOTES. I only do handwritten notes, I don't work well digitally, so keep that in mind. And with this being said brace yourselves for a very long post. The bullet points I will be making are not really in a specific order and I will be including a few pictures too.

The first step when I am working on the materials for an exam is to figure out in which order I will be reading (and writing notes) the books. This hasn't really much to do with the notes themselves, but it's important to know which of your materials is more general and what other things go more in depth, so that you don't struggle too much while studying. Another plan related thing I always do is to write down each chapter of the book I have to study on my bullet journal and how many pages it is so I can plan my studying more comfortably. If the chapters are very long, and divided in subchapters I sometimes also write those down.

The goal of the notes I write is to fully take the place of the book, so they tend to be very detailed and long. I do this because the very act of writing is part of my study method, and working on things I have written down in my own words is just much better for the type of learner I am. So basically I read the book only once, then it goes back on the shelf and I work exclusively on the notes. This means my notes need to be detailed and well organized.

My method is to read a chapter, underlining important stuff as I am reading, and then right after I am done reading I work on the notes for that chapter before moving onto the next. I do this because it makes the note writing more effortless, I am fresh with informations I just read and I basically just need to skim over what I have underlined.

On underlining, since it is so important. I underline everything I will be including in my notes, it might seem much as sometimes it consists of full paragraphs, instead of key words. But this is okay because my notes I don't just copy and paste.

To create useful notes you need to be re-elaborating the informations. You need to read, understand what you read, and be able to write it down using your own words. That way the notes will be easier to review, they will often be composed of shorter sentences, and by doing so you are also actively making writing part of your studying and not just a mindless activity.

Personally I don't work well with full pages summaries, I need the text to be visually broken into sentences/small paragraphs, and I use a lot of symbols as well as abbreviations.

Symbols and abbreviations are in a way part of your very own language when you are writing notes, you tend to develop these with time, but they are so useful. I personally use different types of arrows, all caps words, position of the text in the page, different methods of highlighting and abbreviations (usually for words that come up often like country names, for example Italy becomes ita, France becomes fr, etc.).

Your notes need to be useful for you, they don't have to necessarily be comprehensible for another person (which means you can and will fuck up sentence structure because sometimes skipping a couple of words makes the notes shorter and still understandable), and they do not have to be pretty. They should be as tidy as possible, but again that might change from person to person, I have some very messy looking notes that make total sense to me. With time you'll learn what works best for you.

I have a visual memory so as I mentioned titles, highlighters, all caps, the placement on the page and other similar things are very important in my notes. I cannot fully exapain some of these things because some definitely only make sense to me in the moment (like the words I choose to write in all caps, or the way I highlight things).

I like to have a clear chapter and subchapter break (so that in case I need to refer back to the book it's super effortless). I like to write those with a red pen, usually the chapter title is in all caps and the subchapter in coursive, but it really depends.

I use only two highlighters in each set of notes yellow for dates, and the colour I associate with the book/the subject of the book (I have synesthesia I don't make the rules when it comes to colours). This of course might change depending your preferences and on the element of your notes you want to focus on. I like to have spacific colour for dates and time periods, because of course while studying history that is a fundamental element. If you are focusing on other subjects you might want to have a specific colour for names, or other elements.

I like to leave a big side margin to add either key words (especially in lecture notes since they might be messier and jump around informations more often), or additional information in a second time (sometimes it happens, after you read another book, or attended a particular lecture you have to add a couple of sentences and I rather have a blank space that never gets used rather than no space at all for emergencies).

I honestly mentioned everything that came to mind right away, but since note writing is now basically a mindless skill I have been practicing for years I surely forgot about something. I might end up adding to this post in the future or write another one. My note-writing method has also changed a lot thought the years from high school to university, it's a skill I have been perfecting for the past decade. This to say that depending on what you are working on things might change, and by experimenting with different things you might find out things that work very well for you. If you have any questions on specific things I didn't mention or that wen't clear my inbox is always open and I am more than happy to help.

Since this post is already very very long I am adding the pictures below the cut

140725 🌱 day before the exam

Trying to stay positive while reviewing for my zoology exam tomorrow. Thankfully I'm pretty chill, I know I studied well and I remember almost everything.

Right now I'm just rereading some notes, highliting in red and green to see what I need to revise before jumping into the big review process which is repeating everything out loud and making some outlines of all the topics 🐌