#studyblogpost

You have to take a deep breath and just begin.

I understand that this is frustrating. The first step in doing anything is usually the hardest one. But, it’s doable — it’s a matter of figuring out how to approach the problem. In this case, your first step is to change the way you think about this problem. Here’s what I mean by that.

👉🏾 First, adjust your MINDSET.

When we say, “I can’t” or “I don’t want to” or “I don’t feel like it” we are giving priority to our emotions and therefore we have an emotional response to the problem. Where are the emotions coming from? Is it just your current mood or is this a typical reaction to this particular task or others similar to it? Is it a reaction that has become habitual every time you see your textbook? If the answer is yes, maybe it’s your fixed mindset talking.

What’s a fixed mindset? It’s your belief that your skill set, your strengths, and even your affinity to the subject matter are “fixed” i.e. you’ve had them forever (or never had them), and that’s just how it is — you can’t change a thing.

How does this play out in your everyday life? You say, “I don’t want to do this because I know I won’t be good at it!” or “I can’t do this because it will be painful and hard, and it will take a long time to do, so why try?”

What’s better than a fixed mindset? Cultivate a growth mindset: show yourself that you can build your strengths and skills through your efforts over time. The benefit: a growth mindset can be hugely empowering during your years of studying. Read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to better understand how you can make lasting change with continuous effort.

👉🏾 Don’t think of studying as an OBLIGATION.

If you want to get rid of this problem, it’s important to identify where the sense of obligation is comes from. It can be external or internal.

External: Is someone else telling you that you have to study? It could be a parent, a professor, or a manager. Consider what they’re telling you: do they have your best interests in mind, are they considerate of your future, or do they have another agenda? Use your critical thinking to see if this advice is valuable to you, and if it isn’t, consider other options.

Internal: Are you telling yourself that you have to study? If you know there is something that’s important for you to do, it’s easier to come up with a solution. All you need to do is make the task less of a chore, and more of an important piece of work — just one piece, not all of it — that is critical to your personal development. How do you focus on that one piece? Read on.

👉🏾 Promise yourself you’ll reach ONE STUDY GOAL a day.

If you experience resistance towards your studies every single day, the best way to get your mind on board to begin studying is ask yourself this question each morning: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?”

There are many benefits to this technique. It will encourage you to think strategically about the day, keep you focused on your top study goal, make you prioritize what you need to accomplish, and limit the time you’ll actually spend at your desk. It won’t feel infinite any more. Keep in mind this — identifying your one thing doesn’t mean you don’t have many study goals, but it does means that you can finish one today (read a certain number of chapters or practice exam questions, for example), so you can concentrate better on other goals in the days that follow.

Although some of them are not really rare but some of them are really talked about less. Some of them have really helped my grades to grow.Up like mimicking exam environment, teaching my friends. Which one of them did you find was obvious?

Mimic test Environments. Lots of people don’t know this but our brains remember things better if we learned them in the same environment in which we will be tested. For example, if the room will cold make your study room cold, if it is hot wear a sweater when you study. Try it, it works.

MP3 Notes. So I don’t know if I’m the only one who does this, but I record my notes as MP3 files and then listen to them on the go. First, it helps me to remember when I’m first learning the information, and then over time, I am better able to remember everything because I’m hearing it in my voice. Over and over again.

A brief walk before a test. Lots of people think they should be cramming before an exam, and that is dead wrong. Lots of studies show that a brief 10–20-minute walk before your test will help you have better recall and maintain focus while you're in the test.

Don’t highlight. So this part of my don’t study hard but smart facts, but basically highlighting is useful. It focuses your brain on small unimportant facts and stops your brain from making larger connections. So don’t highlight and underline it doesn’t do anything, but get you to focus on a single small detail. Learn about passive studying techniques . Click here

Cramming is bad and good. I know a lot of people don’t say this, but I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t cram and why you should. Cramming is bad because you jumble up all the information and facts, but if you quickly review 2–3 hours before the test everything research has shown that you will outperform the ones who didn’t quickly review everything.

Study Smart not Hard. I mentioned this briefly above, but basically, it means to focus on the authors not just their theories. Focus on big ideas and not just the small details, and never study just a single subject all day. More on my best study smart ideas HERE if you are interested.

Syllabus. Lots of people look at the syllabus for one minute at the start of the semester, but with most teachers, it actually has the most important info you need. Whether Berkeley or Harvard so many of my teachers told me that each week may have 4–5 readings of assignments, but the most important ones where the first ones, so focus on those.

Study before Bed. Lots of people think if they are tired they won’t learn things, but science shows that if you study right before bed you’ll remember things better. I tried it and it does work.

Teach Someone. I only was ready to take an exam after I spent like 20 minutes teaching someone else the information. I would annoy my friends in school, high school friends, or parents to make sure I knew it well enough to teach it.

Tell a story. Ok so you can make up a story or find one of TV, but whenever I couldn’t remember things I would make a story for it. I would make up characters and names that directly tied back to the materials, and during the test, all I needed to do to get the A was write out my story.

Give yourself a greater sense of control by making a plan and then sticking to it. A plan that you don’t need to be motivated to do, in the mood to do, and also not feel like you’re forced to do. Make a plan because that’s what you choose to do.

You may be reading this as a high school or university student, and you may feel that the road to graduation will take forever. I have been there and I understand you. You have many expectations of yourself, and most likely other people (your parents and professors, for example) have expectations of you too. But right now, I want you to promise yourself that in order to move forward, you will study for yourself. Why? Because the benefits you will have from completing your studies will outweigh all the difficulties you’re experiencing now.

There are three things that can help you lower your stress.

#1. Be kind to your brain. Treat it like a friend. This friend is a genius! It’s a supercomputer that can help solve problems you encounter in life (including exams). But, it needs some extra care. I’ll get to that in a bit.

#2. Focus on the quality of your study time. Not the quantity of hours sitting at your desk. Being successful doesn’t take 12 or 16 hour days.

#3. Train you brain. Do it so it works together with you, just like a good friend should, and not against you. How do you train your brain?

✅ Make sure your plan includes studying difficult material early in the day.

Why? For most people, your brain’s peak performance happens 2-4 hours after you wake up. This is the time when your brain can focus on analytical thinking — in studying this can be reading, writing, coding, analyzing, critical thinking, or problem solving.

How early is early? If you wake up at 6, your peak times are between 8–10. The goal is to wake up as early as you can and max out your peak time.

What are the benefits? Doing your hard work early in the day allows your brain to focus fully on the problem at hand, with fewer distractions and with a lot of energy that you've gained from a restful night.

✅ Divide up your study sessions with a timer.

Review study material. Set the timer to 50 minute increments (followed by a 10-minute break) to maximize concentration; or, try the Pomodoro technique for even shorter time blocks.

Practice for the exam. Use the review questions from the textbook or create your own questions based on the most important concepts from each chapter. Write the questions down on a sheet of paper. Then, use the Pomodoro technique to give yourself a short time to answer each question.

Talk it through. As you’re going over new material for the first time, write an outline of the basic points and then read it out loud. This helps you review, recall, and retain what you’ve learned in a much better way than just silently looking over the material and writing notes.

✅ Visualize success in an important exam.

Why? This technique is called building a mental model: you imagine in detail how you expect things will go during your exam. By telling yourself a story, you train your brain to anticipate a positive outcome.

How can you do it? Take about 5 minutes to visualize what happens on exam day. Think of all the steps you will take (from receiving the exam questions to writing the answers). Anticipate which questions you may find challenging, and come up with ways in which you will attempt to give the best answer. Imagine yourself after the exam feeling good about what you’ve written.

✅ Reward yourself for your efforts.

Make time for laughter. Call a friend at the end of the day instead of watching TV. It’s important to share life experiences, both good and bad, with others. Find something funny to laugh about. Laughter will boost your happy hormones (endorphins) which will help you feel more relaxed.

Have a plan for chilling out. Prepare dinner (or help someone who’s making it for you), enjoy the meal, do a puzzle, sketch or write in your journal, read a book, or do any kind of fun project that boosts your creativity.

✅ Get enough sleep to help your brain sort out new information.

Why? Neuroscientists believe that sleep can help us learn and memorize better. What happens when we don’t get sufficient rest? Chronic sleep deprivation can reduce your cognitive abilities, negatively impact your concentration, and even reduce your IQ.

Can you optimize your sleep? Sleep on your side. According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the brain's glymphatic pathway (the exchange of two fluids, the cerebrospinal fluid in your brain and the interstitial fluid in your body) helps to eliminate “brain junk,” and this process of elimination is most effective when we sleep on our side.

Here are some tips of studying long hours:

Make a study schedule. Having a study schedule is going to help you to be clear about what you need to study each day and you will not get confused or disoriented on what to study.

Divide the classes and schedule them on different times of the day. 3 classes in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 3 at night. (Or anyway you please it is upto you )

Do not study same subject for a long time, try to switch it up.

Try to find video lectures which will help you to get the gist of the topics fast .

Discuss with your friends so that you can share important insights and avoid reading the whole text.

Study the most important thing. Use the 80/20 rule. Studying the 20% of the most important stuff is going to help you to score 80% of the marks

The first thing you got to know is that, its not going to be an easy task and you need to grind for it. Here are some things you can do:

Use the 80/20 rule: Do not try to study everything. You will end up with nothing in your brain. Try to study the most important stuff, precisely the most important 20% of the stuff.

Eat the frog: Study the most complicated and difficult lectures first. Don’t waste time on the easy ones. Finish the complicated ones first and then move on to the easier ones.

Keep making Mind maps: Mind maps are great tools to absorb huge amount of information in little time. Try to use Mind maps as much as you can

If you fail to learn any lecture, take a demonstration from your friend to explain the topic to you. Sometimes this works better than a lecture itself.

Step 1: Make up your mind what self-discipline means to you.

Why is this important? Because your mindset about self-discipline will determine whether you’ll stick to new habits or not. Because your attitude about it will either push you forward or hold you back. Because self-discipline is not — and never should be — a way to punish yourself.

Instead, think of self-discipline as a skill, a habit change, even a lifestyle. It can be something real to practice in any way you want, in any area of life you choose (personal or professional). It can be the freedom to design the life you want for yourself instead of going aimlessly from day to day, month to month, year to year, without an idea of what you’re supposed to be doing and why.

What are some effective ways to learn self-discipline?

➡️ Make it easier to focus.

Like any other kind of lifestyle, leading a self-discipline life starts when you start the day — in the morning. You can choose to be reactive, which can mean you wake up, get your phone, and start checking emails, Twitter, or Instagram. Or, you can train your brain to be focused as soon as you wake up by asking this question: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?” Write it in large letters on a sheet of paper and hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall. Read it out loud as you start your day, for example as you’re brushing your teeth. Come up with an answer on the spot and answer it out loud. Then follow up by taking action — focus your energy throughout the day to completing your one thing.

➡️ Maximize your morning time.

Being self-disciplined means you do your hard work first before you do anything for pleasure. Make the most of your mornings by getting into the habit of doing your hard work early. This means taking full advantage of your circadian rhythm. For most people, the early morning hours are optimal for doing deep work—work that requires a lot of concentration. Specifically, the brain’s peak performance is 2-4 hours after we wake up. So if you wake up at 6, then your peak time is until 10 a.m. Working early allows your brain to focus fully on the problem with fewer distractions.

➡️ Delay what feels good.

What’s the point of doing something difficult first in order to reward yourself later? In a study performed by Stanford University scientists called the Marshmallow experiment, results showed that delayed gratification can increase your chance at succeeding in many areas of your life — education, career, short and long term goals, even personal life choices. To try it yourself, start by observing the things you’d like to indulge in: food, drink, binge-watching TV shows, etc. Resist the temptation to immediately treat yourself by thinking of one reason why not to indulge: maybe you’re working on new fitness goals or better eating habits. And follow up — take your attention away from the distractions and focus on your priorities — completing homework, going out for a run, listening to a podcast, or preparing dinner.

➡️ Eliminate distractions.

Leading a self-disciplined life means that you learn to say no to many different things: giving in to temptations, curbing your desire to procrastinate on daily priorities, and not letting distractions take over your day. They may seem harmless to begin with, but distractions can easily make you slip from your work. To avoid them successfully, set your phone to Airplane mode when you need to focus on your work — try it for 2 hours. Let family members, friends, and roommates know you won't be available in the next few hours. Check your email and social media apps at certain intervals only 2–3 times a day. Avoid browsing the Internet or reading news on the hour, and close all tabs in your browser so you’re not tempted to do yet another Google search on something you’ll forget in the next five minutes.

➡️ Find three things to be grateful for.

There’s a lot of negativity people bring into their life when they compare themselves to others. Why can’t I accomplish what he did? How am I not that successful? This way of thinking is disempowering and limiting. Practicing gratitude can rewire our brain to think about the things that we have going for us instead of obsessing about everything we don’t have which can make us feel frustrated and unhappy. To try this, take a few minutes when you wake up and before you start getting ready for work or school. Focus on three things you are grateful for today — having a warm bed to sleep in, working on a job that pays the bills, making a delicious cup of coffee, having a friend or a partner to talk to. Be specific. If it’s one person you’re grateful for having in your life, emphasize which of their qualities you are grateful for: they’re honest, trustworthy, warm, smart, funny.

Now I'll try to make the answer as short as possible but also to the point:

1.Increase gradually:Try studying the first day for 4 hours,then the next day by 6 and increase each day by 2 hours.

2.Use the pomodoro technique:Study for 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break.

Once you have completed 4 pomodoros reward yourself by taking a 30 minute break be back by 30 minutes.

3.Start early:Its hard but trust me its worth it,start studying by 6:00am (which means you should take your books and begin learning by any time before or at 6:00am,try not to go beyond).Your study session should look something like this:

2 hour study(4 pomodoros)|30 minute break do this till you call it a day. Eg:

Study(S)

Break(B)

S: 5:00am-7:00am

B: 7:00am-7:30

S: 7:30am-9:30am

B:9:30am-10:00am

S:10:00am-12:00pm

B:12:00pm-12:30pm

S:12:30pm-2:30pm

B:2:30pm-3:00pm

S:3:00pm-5:00pm

B:The rest day is yours use wisely and sleep before 9:30 pm its a must!

4.Stay motivated:Read,listen and watch motivational stuffs.Your motivation level must remain high hence you must start to listent,watch,read and think motivational stuffs. Even if you dont feel like watching do so, the words will be embedded in your subconscious mind and soon those words will come into action.Remeber your subconscious mind is super powerful,if you say to yourself that you need to be motivated all day long ,trust me after 21 days it will become a reality and it will be second nature to you.

Building better connections in brain!

There’s a time for absorbing and analyzing new material throughout the day, just like there’s a time to let the brain sort all that new material out. The key is in understanding the importance of downtime to help the brain retain what it needs.

Why is this important? You need downtime in order to process all the inputs you’re exposed to throughout the day. Give yourself plenty of time to pause, reflect, and let your brain classify the information, make connections, and store the new inputs so they’re easier to memorize and recall at a later time.

What can you do? Go out for some exercise. It doesn’t have to be anything intense; it can be a 20–30 minute walk later in the afternoon, or a short bike ride, or a run. Getting your body active will give your brain a chance to take a back seat, unplug, and process what you’ve covered during the day.