This may not initially make sense as a study tip, but bear with me... Studying for your classes, reviewing the day's material, memorizing, and learning to apply your new knowledge are the only way to truly excel in college, and if you fail to do this you will likely just be "getting by" or even failing before long. But I urge you to also make some time to do the things you love. If you do nothing but eat, sleep, and study, sooner or later you are going to burn out. Yes, for a while you will be on top of the world, doing wonderfully in all your classes and gaining praise from your family and friends... but after a while the joy of doing well academically will start to fade. It may happen quickly, during even the first semester, or it may happen much later as a senior or graduate student, but when the regret and resentment starts to set in, it can drain all the joy right out of your life. I have seen this play out in two ways:
1. You get so tired of always studying and missing out on doing the things you used to love to do, that you just up and stop studying altogether and go on a fun binge that you may or may not ever come back from. This seems to happen to people at the worst times too, like exam week. The pressure they place on themselves and the expectations their family and loved ones have becomes too much and they simply have to escape it all for a while. This can have dramatically damaging effects on your grades and your mental state, leaving you wondering why you ever started down this path in the first place. You are then unable to succeed, and only get half of what we are all looking for from college; a life we enjoy, but without success you can't fully enjoy your life because you are always having to worry about how to get by and just survive living paycheck to paycheck. Or...
2. The pressure and expectations placed on you by yourself and those you love gets so high that you almost can't take it anymore. You miss enjoying life the way you used to, and you wonder what is the point of all this if I am not able to enjoy my life and be happy? But instead of cracking and just going off on a fun binge, you refuse to let down the ones you love and simply push through, and you continue to do this throughout the rest of your college and professional career. You are a great success, but there is no real joy in your life, and you still end up with only half of what we are all looking for; success, but you are unable to enjoy being successful because you have trained yourself to abstain from enjoyable activities for fear that you will become distracted and lose all you have worked for.
In either case, you are only able to get part of what you desire out of life. So my point here is that a big part of college is being able to balance different aspects of your life, and be diligent about studying, but also make time for the things you enjoy. You can't always do the fun stuff, but you shouldn't cut it out of your life either. By taking some time every week, say, one day of the weekend and committing part of that day to doing whatever it is that makes you happy, you will be able to go back to studying the next day feeling refreshed and recharged. You will realize that while you are studying in order to one day be successful, the whole reason you want to be successful is so that you can enjoy and get the most out of life. With this kind of balance in your life, you will be a much happier and more energetic person, and you will bring joy to yourself and all those around you. You won't be resentful of others when you see or hear of them having fun, and you can simply smile and get back into what you are studying, remembering that you are going to be doing something you really enjoy soon too.
Showing posts with label Study Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Study Tips. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Choosing your Study Area(s)
One of the most important (arguably the most important) aspects of study is choosing where you will do your studying. Choosing a study area is a key part to efficient and effective use of your study time. You want to choose study areas that are easy for you to get to from where you are living, so you aren't wasting a lot of time every day getting to and from your study area. You also want to choose an area that doesn't have a lot of traffic, or at least doesn't have a lot of traffic at the times of day you have designated as study time. Choosing a good study area can be tricky, but I have a few tips that will help you find the perfect area for you and your group to get the most out of the time you have set aside to study.
Get to know your campus inside and out.
If you really want to find the best spots to study, spend some time discovering all the nooks and cranies of your school's campus. Every school has a few of those perfect little spots tucked away in a corner somewhere that very few students know about, and if you can find one or two of them, you will always have a great place to study and ace those exams! Some good areas to check are the school library, any public libraries in the surrounding town, computer lounges (which are located in multiple buildings), empty classrooms, older buildings on campus that aren't used often, or some schools have very nice study spaces in the cafeteria buildings and dormatories. If you start to look over a building or area in a building thinking there is not likely any good study area there, that is probably a place you should make sure to check, because most students will think the same thing as you and simply pass by it, and if there is a nice study area there you will probably be one of the few who know about it.
Know what makes a good study space.
It's hard to find a good study area if you don't know what comprises a good study area. It has to have the essentials; a table large enough to allow several students to spread out their books, study materials, laptops, notebooks, and everything else your group might have out. You will also need enough chairs to seat your group. You want enough space to allow everyone to be comforable in their own space, but small enough so that everyone can talk quietly and share notes easily. Having good lighting is also important, and if possible find an area that not only has overhead lights, but adjustable desk-style lights as well. You will be looking at your notes and books for long periods of time, and you certainly don't want to start having pain and watering in your eyes from straining the whole time. Also make sure there are plug ins for power and for your laptops to charge. The less traffic (students nearby studying or talking, or people walking by) in your study area, the better you can study there. It can be very distracting to have people walking by and talking near your group while you are trying to focus on studying. This is where finding a place few know about comes in handy. Many areas also have certain times of day when there is a lot of traffic, and other times of day when there is little traffic. Take note of these times in different areas so you can plan your schedule and study area accordingly. If you find it difficult to locate any areas that have little traffic and are quiet, try going to the study floor of your school or public library. Most libraries have a certain floor or area that no one is allowed to make noise in, they will literally ask people to leave if they are being too loud! These can be great areas to study, especially when studying on your own (because sometimes your group may get too loud for these areas). The problems with these areas is that everyone knows about them, so you may have trouble finding an area that isn't already occupied.
Examples of poor study areas.
Your living space whether it be an on or off-campus apartment, dormatory, with family, or a house, most times the place you live is not a great place to study. You tend to get way too comfortable there, and you also have access to TV and social media (knowing there is no one there to see that you're checking FaceBook will make you much more likely to check it often), food and drink, a bed, and all the other comforts your living space provides. It is also easy to start talking to your roomate or whoever is living with you or is there at the time and waste an hour or two before you know it. The gym and athletics areas are not usually good places to sit down alone or with a group to study. There are people playing sports of some sort in those places from opening to closing everyday, and all that noise will definitely be distracting. Your fraternity or sorority house is normally also a poor place to study for obvious reasons. There will be events going on there all the time and when there are no events there are usually friends there hanging out and talking loudly. Keep in mind that any of these places may work well for you, but typically for the reasons stated above, they don't work out well as study areas.
Get to know your campus inside and out.
If you really want to find the best spots to study, spend some time discovering all the nooks and cranies of your school's campus. Every school has a few of those perfect little spots tucked away in a corner somewhere that very few students know about, and if you can find one or two of them, you will always have a great place to study and ace those exams! Some good areas to check are the school library, any public libraries in the surrounding town, computer lounges (which are located in multiple buildings), empty classrooms, older buildings on campus that aren't used often, or some schools have very nice study spaces in the cafeteria buildings and dormatories. If you start to look over a building or area in a building thinking there is not likely any good study area there, that is probably a place you should make sure to check, because most students will think the same thing as you and simply pass by it, and if there is a nice study area there you will probably be one of the few who know about it.
Know what makes a good study space.
It's hard to find a good study area if you don't know what comprises a good study area. It has to have the essentials; a table large enough to allow several students to spread out their books, study materials, laptops, notebooks, and everything else your group might have out. You will also need enough chairs to seat your group. You want enough space to allow everyone to be comforable in their own space, but small enough so that everyone can talk quietly and share notes easily. Having good lighting is also important, and if possible find an area that not only has overhead lights, but adjustable desk-style lights as well. You will be looking at your notes and books for long periods of time, and you certainly don't want to start having pain and watering in your eyes from straining the whole time. Also make sure there are plug ins for power and for your laptops to charge. The less traffic (students nearby studying or talking, or people walking by) in your study area, the better you can study there. It can be very distracting to have people walking by and talking near your group while you are trying to focus on studying. This is where finding a place few know about comes in handy. Many areas also have certain times of day when there is a lot of traffic, and other times of day when there is little traffic. Take note of these times in different areas so you can plan your schedule and study area accordingly. If you find it difficult to locate any areas that have little traffic and are quiet, try going to the study floor of your school or public library. Most libraries have a certain floor or area that no one is allowed to make noise in, they will literally ask people to leave if they are being too loud! These can be great areas to study, especially when studying on your own (because sometimes your group may get too loud for these areas). The problems with these areas is that everyone knows about them, so you may have trouble finding an area that isn't already occupied.
Examples of poor study areas.
Your living space whether it be an on or off-campus apartment, dormatory, with family, or a house, most times the place you live is not a great place to study. You tend to get way too comfortable there, and you also have access to TV and social media (knowing there is no one there to see that you're checking FaceBook will make you much more likely to check it often), food and drink, a bed, and all the other comforts your living space provides. It is also easy to start talking to your roomate or whoever is living with you or is there at the time and waste an hour or two before you know it. The gym and athletics areas are not usually good places to sit down alone or with a group to study. There are people playing sports of some sort in those places from opening to closing everyday, and all that noise will definitely be distracting. Your fraternity or sorority house is normally also a poor place to study for obvious reasons. There will be events going on there all the time and when there are no events there are usually friends there hanging out and talking loudly. Keep in mind that any of these places may work well for you, but typically for the reasons stated above, they don't work out well as study areas.
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