How to Study Smarter not Harder

When it comes to school, oftentimes students end up putting in a lot more work than they need to. This happens because students don’t always have the best study habits. 

Having good study methods helps a lot in learning the material without extra effort or work. 

I am going to share a few tips that might help you study smarter and not harder!

Studying Over Time and Not Having Cram Sessions

I am guilty of doing this so many times. It is not a good idea to save everything for the last-minute late-night study session. This ends up being detrimental to not only your learning but your mental health as well. If you try to cram all the lessons you need at one time, it won’t be effective, and you are going to end up stressing yourself out a lot. 

Instead, I recommend studying a bit each night. Even 15-30 minutes of studying material each day can be extremely helpful. If not every day, try and do an hour or two every other day. Another option is setting time aside at certain times of the week for you to study as well. 

Take Breaks

I can not study constructively without breaks. Breaks allow me to refresh and not overwork or over-exhaust myself. Studying in one shot for a few hours may cause more harm than not since you may get tired and not take in the information you are studying or not be productive anymore. 

Planning Ahead

Using a planner is one of the best ways to keep yourself on track. You can write down upcoming assignments, deadlines, quizzes, exams, and more!

This will help in keeping yourself accountable to deadlines and getting better at time management. Time management is an important key to success. 

Setting Matters

Studying becomes a lot more productive when you are in an environment that allows you to do so comfortably. It would also help if you are in a setting where you won’t get distracted easily.

For example, I can’t study at home when my family is around because I don’t focus well. What I do then go to the library or a cafe to study and find myself getting a lot more done there versus at home. 

Minimize Phone Time

To be honest, this is one I struggle with, and I know others are in the same boat. 

A good way to go about this is to limit how often you go on your phone during your study sessions. You can also go on your phone during breaks, but I would limit that as well, so you have more time to relax. Screen time can make time go by super fast lol.

I won’t say eliminate it as that might be difficult, but minimizing that time will make you productive. 

Practice Questions 

A good tool to use to help you learn and study is doing practice questions. This can help you see if you can solve problems and is a good way to apply what you are learning. 

Practice Tests

This is the same concept as practice questions. Doing practice tests can help you test the knowledge you learned and see what you did well on and what you may have to relearn and improve on. 

Studying in a Group 

Studying with a group of people can be extremely beneficial. This is because you can help each other out with things that you don’t understand. It’s also a good way to revisit concepts with others. Studying with others is also great because you can teach each other and teaching offers even more revision. 

However, be cautious of whether the people you are going to be studying with are productive. There have been numerous times when I went to study with a group of people, and there were more conversations that took place outside of the material we had to focus on. 

But, I still recommend studying with people that you know will stay focused and will help one another out. 

Put More Emphasis on Learning Concepts While Studying

While you study the material that is going to be on an upcoming quiz or exam, definitely learn the concepts behind the problems you are doing.

Often with classes like chemistry and math, students just learn the types of problems that show up on the exam. It is really important to learn the theories or the main ideas that are within those problems. This will not only allow you to do better on test questions but will help you be more successful in understanding the material.  

Let me know down below what things you struggle with while studying? Also, what are some ways that help you study better?

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