How to increase efficiency when studying (1 Viewer)

[lmao1010]

Any1 any advice appreciated
@jimmysmith560 do you have anything to suggest?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Sure, there are a number of things to consider if you wish to enhance your efficiency while studying. They include:

Creating a suitable study space:

The place where you study may be an important element that can contribute to your study efficiency and finding the perfect place to study means maximised comfort, which will consequently lead to increased efficiency. For instance, do you feel you are sufficiently productive in the study space that you currently use, or do you feel that changing/modifying your study space would allow you to become more efficient/productive?

Getting rid of any distractions:

It is important to ensure that you are not getting distracted in any way while you are studying. Removing any objects that can potentially distract you or cause you to procrastinate, such as your phone, is likely to assist you in increasing the efficiency of your study strategy.

Ensuring effective note-taking:

Where applicable, you should make sure that the notes you are making are concise, so that it is easier for you to understand them and revisit them at a later time when needed.

Setting clear goals:

Goal-setting is an important element that can contribute significantly to your study efficiency. Being fully aware of your study goals will enable you to target the most important aspects of whatever it is that you are studying, leading to increased efficiency since you would then be aware of your specific study goals and their application in terms of each of your subjects.

Staying healthy:

Lastly, it is important that you allocate time for breaks. Having regular breaks constitutes an essential component of an effective study plan and can assist you in increasing your efficiency. Breaks allow you to refresh your mind and are particularly needed when you start to feel that you can no longer focus on what you are studying. If not addressed properly, this can become problematic as your productivity may end up being compromised, causing you to waste your study time.

I hope this helps!

 

[nourished.]

@jimmysmith560 has covered basically everything, so I'll just add being consistent. 'Quantity builds quality' - your studying becomes more productive the more you do it, because you'll figure out what works for you along the way.

 

[Xnopyt]

Lastly, it is important that you allocate time for breaks. Having regular breaks constitutes an essential component of an effective study plan and can assist you in increasing your efficiency. Breaks allow you to refresh your mind and are particularly needed when you start to feel that you can no longer focus on what you are studying. If not addressed properly, this can become problematic as your productivity may end up being compromised, causing you to waste your study time.

Firstly, I think your advice Is excellent, and I will definitely be trying to integrate that into my study routine. Just going on the study breaks, is there an amount of time that you recommend for study breaks? Is it something that is constant (ie take a 10 min break every 40 mins for all homework) or something that is dynamic and should be decided on the day because of the intensity of work, energy levels etc. I've used the Pomodoro technique for a while and although it has helped a bit I find that it isn't universally efficient as some subjects have homework that I can do for 2 hours straight with no break and others are so intense that I'm buggered after 10 minutes. Whats your personal experience with that?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Lastly, it is important that you allocate time for breaks. Having regular breaks constitutes an essential component of an effective study plan and can assist you in increasing your efficiency. Breaks allow you to refresh your mind and are particularly needed when you start to feel that you can no longer focus on what you are studying. If not addressed properly, this can become problematic as your productivity may end up being compromised, causing you to waste your study time.

Firstly, I think your advice Is excellent, and I will definitely be trying to integrate that into my study routine. Just going on the study breaks, is there an amount of time that you recommend for study breaks? Is it something that is constant (ie take a 10 min break every 40 mins for all homework) or something that is dynamic and should be decided on the day because of the intensity of work, energy levels etc. I've used the Pomodoro technique for a while and although it has helped a bit I find that it isn't universally efficient as some subjects have homework that I can do for 2 hours straight with no break and others are so intense that I'm buggered after 10 minutes. Whats your personal experience with that?

That's great to know, thank you!

I believe it would be a mix of both, that is, you should definitely have a standard time allocation for your breaks that you would follow when you are completing linear tasks across your subjects, such as revisiting notes or completing relevant practice questions. In such a case, you may wish to allocate between 15 and 20 minutes towards your breaks. When tasks become non-linear and require special attention, such as preparing for the trial and HSC exams of your respective subjects, time allocations for breaks will become more specific to suit your specific needs in terms of each subject, which may be different each day and as you progress in your preparations.

Essentially, while the point of having breaks is to refresh your mind so you can get back to studying and being productive while doing so, breaks that go for too long may result in your brain leaving its "study mode" and entering a more "lazy" or "non-study" mode. This is something that you should try to avoid because your brain will not work as intended as you get back to studying, i.e. you are less likely to be as productive as you want to be, which ultimately obstructs your ability to study for longer periods of time. This is because your brain will either partially lose its focus or completely lose its focus as you get back to studying. Similarly, breaks that are too short may not allow your brain to sufficiently recover as you get back to studying.

While different study techniques (including the Pomodoro Technique) may suit the specific needs of different students, I personally feel that a 5-minute break every 25 minutes would constitute a consistent interruption that would affect a student's ability to be fully engaged/immersed in their studies and would thus limit their ability to fully focus on what they are studying, with focus/sustained attention being an essential element of an effective study strategy. This is also something I believe would become more relevant at university level.