Study Tips: Improve Study Habits Through Organization

For many of us, it can be difficult to improve study habits, particularly if we have developed poor ones and become used to them. If you often find yourself in a situation where you are madly rushing to finish an assignment the day before it is due or to study a textbook before a test, this guide is particularly for you. Follow these tips and it is sure to improve your study habits dramatically.

Tip 1: Use A Calendar

This tip may seem obvious but few truly stick to it. At the start of the year, organize a calendar of some kind and list exam and assignment dates. One trick is to use two different markers for two kinds of dates: a warning and a due date. For instance, if an exam is on the first of June then it will be written on that date with black ink, but a fortnight before it a warning that it is a fortnight away will be written in red. Often the best way to do this is the set up the warnings to roughly the amount of time a book can be borrowed from the library of your choice. This way, you will have to take the book back to the library on the same day the assignment is due and so will have it as long as you need it.

Tip 2: Set Goals

Goals can particularly help when studying for tests as they can make it feel as though you are making accomplishments. For example, if you have a test that is towards the end of the semester and covers an entire textbook, you could set yourself a goal to have finished that textbook by a week or two before the test. Find out how many pages you would need to study, divide it by how many weeks or days you have and get studying in increments. Having a particular number of chapters you need to have done before the end of a week is a great way of pushing yourself to study.

Tip 3: Organize Practice Test Days

One of the most effective methods of studying is to attempt practice questions and practice tests, then mark them yourself and find out where you went wrong. A particularly effective method of doing this is to set test days for yourself where you sit down and attempt questions at the back of the book or even in a practice test, which is often available as part of a course or on websites for free such as MIT Open Course Ware.