subject: For A's & B's in School Study Smarter not Harder [print this page] For A's & B's in School Study Smarter not Harder
For many if not most students in school they think in order to get better grades I have to study longer and harder. This could actually be the problem. The way to get better grades is to study smarter. Studying smarter means being more focused. Instead of spending two hours studying the wrong way you could get just as much if not more accomplished studying 30 minutes with the right focus.
The first thing you can do is study smarter. The best way to do that is to pay attention in class. 95% of the material that you will be given during an exam whether you are in high school or college will be covered by the teacher orally in class.
If you pay full attention and focus to the teacher taking notes you will get much better grades.
Bring a tape recorder to you with the class taping the class. This way when you were doing certain activities at home or in the dorm such as washing dishes or cleaning your room you can listen to the tape and this will reinforce the learning in the class reducing the amount of time you actually have to spend studying.
Study early in the day when your mind and brain of the freshest you'll be able to focus the best and you will remember and retain much more.
To help increase your focus during study as mentioned above set inside a special area just for study that is completely free from distractions. No phone calls no friends know anything except complete peace and quiet for focused study. Again think quality not quantity. Putting in 30 minutes of highly focused and intense study is more valuable than two hours of ineffective study.
While taping the class or lecture taking notes of the key points the teacher covers in class. Here you are doubling the effectiveness of your time getting two things accomplished at the same time. You are taping the class for listening to later andtaking notes to help reinforce the learning. You are actively engaging both your ears,eyes ,and hands in the learning process.
The more senses you can engage in the learning process the more impact full that learning will be again reducing the need for study later and reducing the amount of time you need to study a later.
Many students make the mistake of not studying at all until a week before the exam. Then they attempt to cram for the exam. Cramming is basically trying to make up for not studying throughout the year by studying long and intense hours. This is not nearly as effective as studying a little bit every single day.
If you apply the main techniques discussed above which are paying close attention in class, taping the class, and taking notes during the class, and devoting small regular periods daily to study and recall, your grades should improve considerably and the amount of time you have to spend studying should go down considerably as well. That is studying smarter not harder.
Get the Best Grades with the Least Amount of Effort is jam packed with lots of ways to study smarter including how to increase your reading speed to 1000 words per minute almost instantly.
