Know When To Start Studying
When do your study sessions start? In the evening after all your socializing is done for the day? The night before a big exam? How does that make you feel?
For many people, the typical study session starts in the evening when there’s absolutely nothing left to procrastinate with. That’s totally understandable because we all know that studying for exams can be a really stressful experience. What happens is that you end up trying to cram everything you were supposed to be learning all year into a couple of nights before your exams. It’s not surprising that you have a hard time concentrating.
Would you be surprised if I told you that the reason for this stress is a result of not starting your study sessions in the proper place?
Instead of beginning in an environment of stress and overwhelm that makes focusing practically impossible, start your study sessions before your class even begins. In the rest of this article I will show you a three step routine you can put into practice to ensure that when it comes down to the night before your exam, you will be able to review your materials in a calm and focused way.
The first step in this process is to actually do the required reading for each class before the class begins. You’ll be able to understand what the professor is talking about more clearly if you’ve at least skimmed the material beforehand. You’ll also find that you retain more of the material presented in lectures and seminars if you already have had some exposure to the topic.
The second step in this process is to go to class. That might seem obvious but when I was teaching it always amazed me how often people would just not show up for classes. While you’re there, pay attention and take notes or record the lectures to listen to later.
The third step is to go over your notes as soon as possible after the class is over. Make corrections and not any areas where you may have missed something, or where you have questions about the material. Make sure you get the missing information and get your questions answered as soon as you can.
If you have recorded the lecture, then transcribing it is another excellent way of reviewing the material. You’ll be surprised at how much information you pick up the second time through. The combination of listening and typing at the same time forces you to concentrate on what you’re hearing.
These may seem like little, common sense tips but I can tell you from experience that if you take the time to use them, you’ll find that when it’s time to sit down and study for a final exam, you will be much less stressed because you will already have a good understanding of the material. And less stress makes it much easier to focus on the material you do need to work on.
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How To Concentrate While Studying – New Article Series
It’s getting to be that time of year again! The arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere also means that final exams are just around the corner for thousands of students.
Far and away, the questions I get asked most often have to do with how to concentrate while studying. So in order to help those who have a hard time studying, I’ve decided to create a new series of articles. Look for a new article to be posted every few days for the next couple of week beginning this weekend. You can sign up for notification of new posts by email, or subscribe to the rss feed if you’d like to be notified when each new article is posted.
As always, if you have a question you’d like answered, or want to share your favorite study tips, feel free to post a comment.
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About the Book
“What about the book?”
I’m glad you asked, because…
It’s been almost 2 years since How To Concentrate was written, and it’s time for a rewrite. So while I’m doing the revised and expanded edition, you can pick up the original for dirt cheap. To order click on the cover.
Okay, that’s it for now … shameless self promotion over!
Check back this afternoon for a new article, and have an incredible day!
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