I have seen students employ the most of absurd of tricks all in the name of making studying less tedious. From eating Kola nut to soaking their legs in a bucket of water, to binge drinking cups of coffee, most are willing to try out anything if only it promises to make their brain a bit more receptive.
But truth is, you don’t have to jeopardize your health or appear half mad before you can make straight As. Well, the last point is not entirely true.
There are many healthy study hacks with scientific backing for their effectiveness, but you probably never heard of them, thus my motivation for writing this post.
Here they are:
1. Spray an unfamiliar scent when you’re about to study and when you’re about to write a test or exam. It helps jog your memory. If you’ve ever wanted a good reason to try all the perfumes belonging to your friends, this is it.
2. Jilt your favourite music in favour of ambient sounds. Listening to the former has been shown to affect concentration and productivity negatively, whereas the latter help to boosts them. You can use sites like Focus at will, or just google ‘Ambient sounds’, and have your pick.
3. Prepare your study notes as if you’re writing them for someone else. I believe this work almost the same way as teaching another person what you have learned.
4. If the past questions you have access to in your school have become too familiar, overdone or less challenging, try Googling “site:edu (subject) exam” to find exam question papers from different colleges.
5. Use an interactive flashcard site like Quizlet to create your own flashcard or have access to those created by others.
6. Use coloured pens to write your notes. You can, for example, use a different colour for titles, a different colour for your bullet points, and so on. Apart from making your notes pretty, it helps with visual memory.
7. Chew Gum: There are so many other uses for this thing apart from clearing bad breath guys. According to popular Google searches, some of them include nausea, weight loss, memory and yes, focus. Like with the scent, unfamiliar flavours work better.
8. Jilt your favourite corner: Studying in one place every day doesn’t work in your favour according to research. Your mind tends to make subconscious connections between your study environment and the study material, which means if you’re sticking to one place, you ought to make sure you’re going to write your test or exam there. Since this is often not possible, the best thing is to change your study environment frequently. This way, your mind is forced to learn to adapt.
9. Use proper lighting: Lights that are too bright or too dim are not your study buddies. The best lighting for productivity is soft and natural.
10. Read your material out loud: Alas, studying is all about indulging your senses. Just make sure not to do it in a crowded library.
11. When you’re reading on your phone or laptop, stick with Times New Roman. It is the easiest font to read on planet Earth. I don’t know about Mars.
12. Meditate, because it helps you to stay focused when studying and prevent pre-exam stress. On a general note, meditating improve your mental and physical health making you a better person and a better student.
13. Reward yourself at intervals to keep yourself motivated. Promise yourself a treat if you read for a certain period of time. The expectation of the reward will keep you going.
14. Use Pomodoro technique: This super productivity hack can also be used to study. It says; read for 25 minutes straight, rest for 5 minutes. That’s how your brain wants it.
15. Summarise your notes inside diagrams of boxes, chickens, cars, cups or anything you can think of, instead of just writing them down. I don’t quite know why this works, but it does.
That’s more than enough hacks to revolutionalize your student life and boost your performance. Thank me later.
