15 ESSENTIAL STUDY HABITS FOR GOOD STUDENTS - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The study habits can be learned and develop certain techniques to improve academic performance and ability to learn. These habits are important for children, teenagers, college students and adults who have to study frequently, since otherwise it can be difficult to pass the exams.

Exam time comes and you think you should have already started studying. However, you still have work to do, you have not been able to organize the material, you have last minute doubts…

Academic success and the security with which you face an exam depends on your planning, your organization, the time you have been able to dedicate to study, having good material, controlling your emotional state…

Different investigations in relation to the academic achievements that university students achieve today, for example, indicate that a lack of study habits contributes significantly to obtaining poor results during this stage.

Study habits are the most powerful predictor if we talk about academic success, above the memory capacity or intelligence that one possesses.

Therefore, if you want to get the most out of it, I encourage you to get to know and train yourself in study habits that enhance the way you learn.

Definition of study habits

We can define study as the set of skills, behaviors and attitudes that are directed to learning. It is the facility that you have acquired to study by training various activities.

It is the way you are used to approaching study, that is, how you organize yourself in time, space, the techniques you use or the methods you put into practice to study.

For example, you could say that you have a study habit if every day you study 2 hours at a certain time.

Study habits are regular patterns when approaching the study task. These patterns or styles are in turn made up of study techniques (underlining, taking notes, summarizing…).

11 good study habits and how to develop them

1. Prepare for exams in advance

If you study an exam that you have in three months for 3 hours a week, you will learn it much better. What's more, the knowledge will settle in your long-term memory, that is, you can use it in your real life and keep it for a long time.

If you study the day before, or two or three days before, you may pass, but the knowledge stays in short-term memory and will eventually be lost.

Studying days before serves only to pass, you become a passing student with mediocre knowledge.

2. Study with energy and without hunger

Being hungry will make you distracted and out of energy, making concentration much more difficult. Therefore, it is very important that you have breakfast or lunch before starting to study.

Among other foods, almonds and fruits are good options.

3. Alternate study locations

If you alternate the places where you study, you will improve attention and retention of learning.

Also, studying for weeks in one place can be tiring and boring. Alternating between various libraries or study rooms and your home is a good option.

4. Take mock or mock exams

Giving yourself mock test questions or tests is much more effective than underlining or rereading. You will be asking yourself possible questions and you will be practicing for the actual test.

That is, you will have taken many possible exams before and the real exam will be one more. Also, probably in the "mock exams" you will ask yourself questions that will coincide with the real exam. The more attempts you make the better.

5. Exercise or take walks before exams

Research conducted at the University of Illinois showed evidence that 20 minutes of exercise before an exam can improve performance.

It is a general mistake -both in parents and students- to think that on the day of the exam or the day before you have to be bitter, without going out and studying all day.

You do not pass the exam the day before, you pass it during all the hours you have dedicated the previous months or weeks.

6. Read comprehensively

First of all, it is important that you read carefully. For your study to be effective, you must be able to read comprehensively. This means reading slowly, deeply and thoughtfully.

Also, for effective learning, you need to be able to tell when you are not understanding what you are reading, in order to correct misconceptions. Reading comprehensively implies delving into the content of the text, asking questions and all this favors the memorization of the syllabus.

All the skills that are part of reading comprehension are called “meta comprehension”.

Meta understanding is the knowledge you have about your cognition and awareness about how it works. If your meta comprehension is high, you are able to monitor your reading comprehension effectively.

Advancing without understanding what you read or memorizing without understanding can confuse you and you will quickly forget what you have studied.

7. Learn to plan

Planning is necessary if you want to be effective and efficient in your work. In this way you will achieve greater performance by investing less effort.

When you plan your study, your task is to adapt your daily work or study to what is set in the plan, so that you stop improvising about what to do at all times and avoid the procrastination of doing nothing when you have many things to do..

With planning you are promoting the creation of a habit, it allows you to concentrate for longer, you avoid the accumulation of work for the last day and it allows you to go more relaxed.

Good planning happens because you are aware of your abilities, your limitations (concentration, speed when studying…) and therefore adapt it to your individual characteristics.

Do not forget that, if necessary, you can always make adjustments to the planning. It is important that it be flexible and rectifiable, but this does not mean that you can skip it and then rearrange it. This should be the case in case unforeseen events arise.

In addition, it is important that it is realistic and that you put it in writing for daily reference. When you do, write it down visually so you can see it.

Establish a paper calendar and write down everything that happens there. It will allow you to see over time what works for you, what makes you waste time, what is the time you need to meet all the goals… and it will allow you to better adjust to your real needs.

8. Try to study the same time every day

You must turn studying into a practice that helps you carry out your goals and create a way of studying that allows you to gain confidence in yourself.

Try to find a balance between your availability and your best hours of study (concentration) to try to adjust your planning.

If you plan properly, you manage to comply with it and also maintain an optimal study routine, you will avoid studying the night before the exam, which contrary to what many students do, is a wrong decision.

9. Take good notes and ask questions in class

If you spend time planning and studying but the basic material is not good, the effort invested will be of little use. Therefore, it analyzes the way you take notes, trying to take care of the aspects you affect (relevant ideas, coherence, order, cleanliness…).

If you manage to be a fast and neat person and take your notes well, you will not need to clean them later and you will save time.

When taking notes, try to find abbreviations that will allow you to go faster and focus more on what the teacher is saying.

When you are listening to the lesson in class, try to pay as much attention as possible and ask any questions you have. This will make it easier to understand the syllabus and also save you time when studying.

Also, get in the habit of looking for information about what you don't understand. Use the internet, information manuals, etc., but make sure that all the information you study you understand and are able to relate it to the syllabus you study.

It is an essential method to achieve deep learning and it will help you face the exam questions.

10. Keep study material updated

Keeping the material updated requires constancy. Every day review what was seen in class and do not leave everything for the last day.

If you keep the material up to date, you will be able to ask any questions that arise at the moment, which will avoid that moments before the exam you find yourself with a large amount of information that you do not understand and are unable to handle and memorize.

Also take into account the type of exam you face, because the material can and should be adapted to it.

It is not the same to have an oral exam, where good verbal fluency, the ability to react or a quick command of the subject is essential, than a development exam, with short questions or multiple choice questions.

Prepare yourself for each type of exam and practice the requirements you need for each of them.

For an oral exam, review the topics out loud and find someone to share the topics with. This person should be able to tell you your strengths and weaknesses so that you are able to improve for the day of the exam,

In an oral exam it is important that you look confident and confident and that you do a mental scheme before telling the lesson. Pay attention to the first and last things you say, as they are relevant to the listener. It is important that you distribute your time well and that you are able to relate the concepts.

If the exam has short questions, you have to be able to synthesize properly, you have to have a good memory and a great command of the subject.

If the test is multiple choice, read the instructions very well. It usually seems like a simpler exam because it is one of recognition, but usually mistakes are discounted, so a mistake can play a trick on you.

11. Take care of the study place and eliminate distracting elements

All this happens because you eliminate all the distracting elements: electronic devices, materials that you may have on the table… It is essential that your study place is clear.

It is recommended that it be illuminated with natural light, but if it is not possible and you study with artificial light, blue light is more appropriate. Also take into account the temperature, since it influences the study.

Since you will be spending a lot of time there, it has to be a warm and comfortable place. Take care of the silence because the noises will distract you and take you out of the concentration of the study.

When it comes to music, you can study silently or with soft music in the background if it helps you focus.

When you go to sit down to study, take all the items you anticipate you will need and leave them close to your reach. This will prevent you from losing focus because you have to get up for things you need.

12. Set concrete goals

It starts small. It is the way to build meaningful learning, to begin to assimilate it and not abandon it after a few days.

The goals you set should be realistic, specific, clear, and concrete. You must know what objectives you must meet, not only in the long and medium term, but also in the very short term.

When you achieve each of those goals, reward yourself. You should praise the effort you have made. These prizes should be small things that help you to continue within the study dynamics and it is necessary that they motivate you.

For example, an award may be talking with a friend, looking at your mobile for a while… An award is not, for example, getting up to stretch your legs or going to the bathroom. It has to be something that has reinforcing value for you.

That is why the reinforcements before the proposed objectives or goals are personal and specific to each one of us.

If you have very complicated tasks or jobs, distribute them into smaller tasks, which do not block or paralyze you and allow you to handle it better and keep moving forward without being overwhelmed by the volume of work.

13. Use study techniques

Within good study habits, it is recommended that you use study techniques. We refer to the underlining, the summary, the use of mind maps, diagrams…

All this helps to focus attention, facilitates understanding, helps you discriminate what is relevant from secondary ideas, favors the capacity for analysis and synthesis and facilitates study.

Study techniques help you reduce study time and facilitate the reviews that you do the moments closest to the exam.

The review is important to face a test well. As studies on the forgetting curve argue: once we study something, most of the information fades away in later moments.

To counteract it, review is essential. To do this, plan them in your study guide as well. For example, several days after you've studied a topic, save some time to review past topics.

As you study, take notes as you read. If you are making a general outline of the material that makes sense and coherence for you, remembering the details will be easier for you.

If there are ideas or concepts that you cannot retain, use a "card or post-it system." Write them down and leave them in a visible place so that you can consult it regularly and this favors retention.

14. Take short breaks

It is important that you study in several periods in a row and that you take short breaks after each stage of study.

Distribute the time you have proposed to study according to a key for you: every hour a break, or after studying each topic, etc.

When distributing the material you will study, allocate time for both study and breaks. Keep in mind that attention lasts for around 30-40 minutes.

You can, for example, rest for at least 5 minutes within each hour of study and when you have been studying for around 3 hours, extend the rest more.

Once completed, strengthen yourself. Do something that you like and that helps you disconnect.

Sometimes it is appropriate to study in company because, if both of you are working to fulfill your planning, you will study the proposed time and you will be encouraged to do so and you can use the breaks together to escape and talk about other things.

15. Spend more time on difficult subjects

It is important that when planning you take into account which subjects are more difficult, as well as which of them you have a greater volume of material to study. This will facilitate your work and help you optimize resources.

Also keep in mind that it would be very useful if you put the order of study of each subject according to your level of concentration.

If you know that your concentration level is very good as soon as you start studying, study the subjects that require more complexity first.

If, on the contrary, you are one of those people who get distracted at the beginning and who after a while begins to concentrate, start with a simple subject and leave the complex ones for later.

16. Maintain a positive attitude and motivate yourself

A negative attitude or symptoms such as anxiety or low spirits are also associated with poor academic performance problems associated with loss of motivation and low frequency of study-related activities, that is, lack of study habits.

Motivation itself, or understood in another way, the ability to delay gratification, as well as the capacity for self-control are essential when it comes to maintaining proper habits that allow us to successfully achieve our goals.

The presence of anxiety or depressive symptoms leads to situations where we cannot adapt effectively to academic demands, also leading to problems in academic performance.

Various investigations have found a relationship in terms of presentation of problems related to anxiety and depression in the university population, the profile of study habits that they maintain and their relationship with academic performance.

Therefore, try to maintain a positive attitude, try to relax and find moments for enjoyment, do sports that will help you calm your anxiety.

How do study habits influence learning?

As a student you must be able to study independently and have good learning for yourself. This implies having a good capacity for self-control and good management of time and one's own resources.

Different investigations have shown the relationship between the time spent studying, the effectiveness with which you spend that time and the relationship with academic performance.

Unfortunately, many young people end up leaving the educational system without good study skills. It is interesting to intervene to promote effective study and help remedy the study problems of today's young people.

The importance of self-efficacy

If you put into practice the different study habits and are constant, they will improve not only your academic results, but also your self-efficacy.

Not only will you be able to achieve your goals, but you will be able to do it in less time, you will increase your self-esteem, you will build your own learning in a meaningful way and you will grow in security and self-confidence.

A high level of perceived self-efficacy is an element that protects and increases motivation, helps to better tolerate failure, reduces emotional disturbances such as anxiety and also helps you improve academic performance.

Through all the advice that I am going to offer you throughout the article, you can work to acquire competence and greater confidence in yourself. Put these self-regulation activities into practice and they will help you generalize your self-efficacy.

Various investigations conclude that when the subject is perceived as competent, they are actively involved in their own learning process.

It is imperative that you trust your abilities, that you have high expectations of yourself, that you feel responsible for your achievements. And all this influences the strategies you put in place to approach the study.

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