Study tips

[Scurvy]

A few things that help me study:

write down the time your gonna work, even if its in 5mins, so like, 10am-10.30 wtc. just so you brain gets ready to learn at that time, so you dont have 5-10mins trying to motivate yourself to work while playing mtw or whatever

work out the best way you work individually, ie. do you learn better by reading or writing etc. but also vary occasionally

I'v never liked working in silence, so usually have radio on, or even work away from desk, in cafe's etc.

[shlin28]

Unplug the Internet.

Are there any past papers you can practice on? For my exams I just download a couple of them, print them out, do the questions and see what areas I need to improve.

[Cute Wolf]

Don't forget the positive thinking about yourself and some nice optimism....

[Rhyfelwyr]

I always study at my desk with the computer. That way I quickly browse the forums every once in a while, and taking short but fairly frequent breaks mean that I can study efficiently for long periods of time.

EDIT: Sorry to contradict half the other posts!

[TosaInu]

There are many studytips, some work (for some) some don't work at all.

Sometimes it just works to start studying the whole day prior to your exam: lock yourself up and absorb the whole book. You may pass with an A or fail miserably. It's not a recommended method though, if only because you'll more than likely forget everything again very soon. That might not be a problem now or even next year, but at some point you'll regret it.

It's better to study a little bit during the entire course and repeat. It's like training for a marathon: the guy who runs 5, 10, 15, 20 miles a day has a much bigger chance of succes than the guy who only moves 40 miles the day before.

Which time of the day is best for you to study? Morning, afternoon, evening? There's a best time for everything. Use the best time for study, the best for eating, the best for sport, the best for hobby, the best for sleep.

Food will influence performance. A large amount of food puts your body in must digest mode. It's not recommended to sport or study after a big meal. Your body will fail to focus and you won't achieve anything.

Not only the amounts of food matter, the type matters too. Some food will make you sleepy, others will alert you (I mean normal food/drinks).

Music can help a bit. You have to tolerate it of course, but some instrumental classic music can boost the brain a bit while learning/working.

When you grab a book to study, do not just open it and start reading at page 1 and so on. Browse the book first. Start simple: check the title, turn the book around. Open it, check the TOC, the chapters, is there a preface? Motivate yourself to dive in, at least pretend for yourself that the book is interesting and good and that you'll learn a lot from it. Quickly read the first chapter, it's ok if you don't understand the whole of it. Read the first chapter again, more closely. Sometimes chapters have a summary, you can read those first and/or last too. The benefit of this seemingly clumsy method is that your brain will get some sort of deja vu, you already know what you are going to read/learn (whether you realize it or not).

Best of luck with the study Beefy187.

[Beefy187]

@ Crazed Rabbit

My laptop is the main source of distraction. So thats true. Cheers

@Scurvy

I've made a few timetables for the daily schedules. But I've always found a reason to ignore it. Silly me

@Shlin

Not going to stop me EBing but that should help...

@ Cute Wolf

My entire family is saying "think of the plan in case you failed.." and its annoying the hell out of me

@ Rhy

Thats what I try to do but my quick browse usually end up being 1 hour internet surfing session..

@ Tosa

I can study best in the mornings from about 9- 12 ish. But the problem for me is always lunch as It always makes me sleepy... My afternoon session starts around 4 pm but I can only get my self going until 5 pm or so.. Evening is when all the good tv shows are on

Thanks for you advice everyone. If anyone knows how I can get my self to keep awake after lunch, that will help heaps. Maybe I need to get my self a cup of coffee..

[Legosoldier]

If you're gonnna get some coffee, just smell it, don't drink it. Smelling coffee is enough to keep yourself awake.