#summary notes

3. have a separate study space

have a designated space for studying, away from possible distraction.

if you can’t have a separate room for it, have a cue. for example, get a lamp only used when studying. once you turn it on, it’s a cue for you to study. you turn it off, and it’s either break time or you’ve finished for the day. leave your desk as well.

train yourself to use the area for studying only.

4. separate facts from concepts

facts are what you can use rote memorization for. you can look it up using google or reference books.

concepts are what stay with you for a long time. you need to understand them.

how to learn a concept:

take notes during the lecture

break them down

ruminate to discover their meaning

relate them to something you already know

5. form a study group 

an instructor probably can’t understand why you’re struggling with a concept, because they’ve been spending a lot of time studying and researching it. but your peers are just as new to the whole thing as you are, you can figure it out together, show one another your thought process. also, you can share the same reference points, making analogies easier to understand and remember.

6. avoid confusing recognition with recollection

when you highlight, you highlight the most important parts. but during revision, you confuse your visual recognition with recollection. you recognize the highlighted parts, because it stood out to you visually, but you don’t really remember it enough to take a test.

if you can recite the content in your own words, when looking up at the sky, then you’ve got it.

7. sleep

your brain can store information better thanks to rapid eye movement sleep (rem).

telling people to sleep doesn’t make anyone money, so you don’t hear this advice in the media often, but it’s the simplest thing to do when you want to learn effectively and efficiently.

8. take notes

everyone knows how to take notes, but it is what you do with them that matters.

you should invest about 5 minutes to flesh out your notes right after the class. you can give it more details, write down your own interpretation. if you leave it for too long, you may forget the meaning of what you wrote, then it’s a wasted note.

if you have questions, you can reach out to a classmate immediately, or ask your instructor. it doesn’t always look like that sometimes, but instructors want you to succeed. you asking them questions also makes them feel important, so it’s win-win.

9. recite

80% of your study time should be spent reciting, 20% reading

recapitulate your lectures to someone else. or have a dialogue with an empty chair. try to think out loud so you know for sure whether or not you’ve got it.

you can also write things down in your own words, whatever suits you.

10. SQ3R

how to use your textbooks effectively:

S: survey the entire chapter, looking through things and pose

Q: questions. if you intend to find something, you’ll find it. have purpose while you

R: read. follow this with

R: recite. follow the advice above so that when the test comes close, you’ll only need a quick

R: review

11. mnemonics

use acronyms, coined phrase, or interacting images

example:

to remember the direction to unscrew a screw: righty tighty lefty loosy

to remember how many calories there are in carbohydrate: car-bo-hy-drate (4 syllables, 4 calories) or c a r, there are 4 wheels on a car