15 TRICKS TO STUDY BETTER FOR AN EXAM IN 2019 - ARTE - 2024

Neither in school nor in high school do they teach you ways to study well. At least they didn't teach me any kind of technique or strategy. The traditional way is to memorize by repeating yourself or writing, but that doesn't work, it's a waste of time, and it's boring.

In my first year of college I got tired of memorizing, so I began to worry about how to study better for exams, in more effective, more fun and faster ways.

Without exaggeration, learning ways to study well and quickly allowed me to raise my grades quite a bit; in many subjects I went up to more than two points. Can you do it too? Of course, just learning a few simple techniques and habits can greatly improve your grades.

I doubt that I would have been able to get such good grades without any memorization or study techniques, since university is hard and you have to learn a lot of facts and knowledge.

The tips that I will tell you will help you for entrance exams, history, English, competitive exams, language, primary, final, call or test, chemistry, the periodic table… In short, any subject or knowledge that you have to learn.

Practical tips to study and improve your grades

1-Get rewards

Thinking that you have 3-4 or 5 hours of study ahead of you is very demotivating. But there is a way to do it much simpler: Rest every 50-60 minutes and do something that is pleasant for you for 10 minutes:

• Have a coffee with a friend
• Walking your dog
• To have a snack

It is about being aware that the effort is not going to be infinite, but that you will have to do things that you like during the period in which you are studying.

Also, get a great reward at the end of the period. For example, you have been studying all day or all morning and you finish at 20:00:

• Go visit your partner
• Put on a movie
• Go have a drink with your friends
• Practice your favorite sport
• Do whatever you like

2-Eliminate distractions

Are you the typical student who is in the library looking at whatsapp every minute or watching who walks through the door?

So I have seen hundreds and they probably studied 1 hour out of 4 that they were sitting. To reach an optimal state of concentration it will take approximately 10 minutes.

If you get to that state and interrupt it, you will have to start over. This is why it is so important to eliminate distractions:

• Avoid social networks and whatsapp. Hide your mobile or turn it off.
• If you work with the computer / laptop, use programs or applications that block access to social networks.
• Don't have the TV in your sight.
• If you study in the library, try to put yourself in a place that does not allow you to be distracted.

3-Choose a suitable type of music

Rap, pop, electronic, or rock are not the best styles to listen to if you want to be focused. Some tips regarding music:

• Listen to classical music
• Put on youtube "music for concentration" or "concentration music"

Other tips:

• Avoid searching every minute for the music you like
• Choose a list of at least 50 minutes and start studying
• Avoid radio as it distracts the voice of the presenters

4-Start studying in advance

In my career years I hardly ever studied on the day of the exam or even the day before. Not even for the most important exams such as selectivity, partial or final exams.

This is not because he passed without studying, but because he studied months 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.

5-Create mind maps

Mind maps are one of the best ways to remember the structure of content. If you have long topics to develop, it will be an excellent tool.

6-Use the association technique

The idea is that instead of trying to memorize by simple repetition, you associate the concepts or words with mental images. Repetition is an ineffective way of learning and I do not advise it. Also, it is boring and you will waste a lot of time.

For example, let's say you have to learn that the frontal lobe of the human brain is in the front:

How could you do it in such a way that that knowledge stays "in your mind" in a stable way? For example, imagine a person playing fronton (a sport played with the hand hitting a ball that bounces off a large wall) in the front of the brain. This is a fun way to memorize and it will also be more difficult to forget, because it is something striking.

7-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.

On many occasions, I have been playing tennis the day before exams. And that helped me not to stress too much, and even downplay it.

As I had studied for at least 1 month almost daily, I already had the knowledge in my long-term memory and I would not forget it on the exam if I was calm.

In my opinion 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.

8-have the right mindset

In my case, the mentality has been key to be able to get very good grades and that it does not cost me my health.

Some colleagues (90% of psychology students are women) had anxiety attacks, excessive stress or even cried before or after exams.

I think it's because the result is given too much importance and I don't want to downplay the importance of passing it, but you won't die if you don't get it…

A healthy mindset is:

"If I study for months I will have a good chance of passing, and if I fail, I will be calm because I have tried hard."

With that way of thinking, you will avoid the stress and anxiety of exams and if you study in advance you will pass most of the time.

9-Try to be interested in what you study

If you are disgusted by what you are studying you will advance like an ant.

But if you have a genuine interest, it won't take any effort to study. It will be like spending free time informing you about what you like.

10-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.

11-Plan the material to study

If you have 300 pages to study, you are going to get dizzy when you start.

But if you divide 300 pages into 30 days, it makes 10 pages a day, which is quite affordable. In 20 days it would be 15 pages a day.

If you comply with the rule of studying months or weeks in advance, you can plan calmly and effectively.

12-Alternate study places

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.

13-Practice the exam: take 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.

14-Avoid studying the night before

In the exam you have to be awake.

You have to demonstrate for an hour or more the knowledge that you have acquired over weeks. If you go sleepy, you will be with low attention, with fatigue, you will have little energy and you will make mistakes.

15-Other tips

- Forget about "I'm going to fail" or "I haven't studied"

In my career - and as I understand it in many more - the competition was fierce. My classmates used to say:

• I have not studied anything
• I'm going to suspend, it has been fatal

It is a pessimism that serves as a defense of self-esteem. If you are pessimistic and fail, you do not get disappointed or look like the "fool" for others.

However, it is very unpleasant to hear these nonsensical complaints and you will also get into the habit of being pessimistic. On the other hand, self-esteem is not built like that, that is more to destroy it.

- Multiple choice exams?

I have done many multiple choice tests and they have their pros and cons. Some people are good at it and others are bad.

There are some tricks:

• Even if it seems obvious, read the instructions
• If the errors do not subtract, always choose an option
• Answer the easy questions first and save the hard ones for last
• False answers are often less well described and shorter
• The true answers are usually longer and use qualifying language that is not open to discussion
• The answer "All of the above are true" is often correct.
• "All of the above are false" is usually false (creating false alternatives is difficult for the examiner)
• Answers with "never" or "always" are usually false
• If you choose an option and then hesitate a lot, leave the first option you chose (if you are clear that you were wrong, no)

Here is a video summary of the article: