A common problem students are facing when they try to study is their laziness and procrastination. It prevents them from finishing tasks on time and also making them feel incompetent when compared to other students. The answer to your problems is probably easier than you think.
In high-school and college, I went through the same process of self-doubt and fear of failure. These two things instantly triggered my laziness as well as my ability to delay my tasks until it was too late. I knew that if I didn’t resolve my problems they would keep bugging me for the rest of my life.
After hours and hours of research, I finally found out how to overcome my problems with a few innovative solutions. Laziness and procrastination occur when you don’t know how to approach your study material. That’s why your brain manifests negative feelings through the prism of laziness and repulsion.
These are my ways of studying which helped me a lot during the school sessions:
1. Implement The Feynman Technique For Studying
This technique was invented by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. Overall, the Feynman technique helped many people to retain crucial information or knowledge throughout their studies. Many studies suggest that this technique makes students a lot more effective and efficient during their studying.
The technique can be broken down to 4 simple steps :
1. Write the name of the topic you are interested in learning on a blank piece of paper.
2. Learn the basics of your designated topic and pretend that you’re explaining it to a student in grade 6
3. Analyze the gaps in your explanation and cover the whole material again.
4. Filter your content and exclude unnecessary, complicated and long words.
Using this technique is incredibly helpful because you review your knowledge in the most relaxing way and pinpoints your gaps and flaws.
2. Divide and Conquer
The “divide and conquer” technique was commonly used by Julius Cesar so that he can find optimal solutions to many problems. In this case, we can use this technique to simplify our tasks by dividing them into smaller subproblems.
This way you can easily understand your material and also you will trick your brain to like studying. This technique reduces procrastination and significantly helps you finish your tasks on time.
3. Audio Record Your Lectures
When I was in college this was my favorite method of studying and learning new things. During my classes, I recorded my professor and on my way home I would repeat his lectures. Even though I haven’t memorized everything from that tape, I could still follow his lectures without even opening my book.
This helped me a lot because I knew on what part of the material I should really focus on. Listening to audio files helped me ace my exams and learn the essence of each subject.
4. Manage Your Time and Energy
When we say time management we think of a list of activities that need to be completed in a given period. Our day is limited to 24 hours, and how much we use those hours is up to us. In fact, according to science, maximal usage of our brains occurs between 10 am – 2 pm, and 4 pm – 10 pm.
This time is perfect for studying because our brain is relaxed and prepared for its daily challenges. With this being said, your list of activities should start from the hardest to the easiest ones since at the beginning of your working time you are most effective.
5. Study Aggressively For A Short Period Of Time
Having an aggressive study session 5 times a day is better than staying in front of a book for the whole day without a break. On average, people can stay focused for 45 – 90 minutes without having a break. Anything above 90 minutes of active studying is a waste of time.
What people don’t realize is that having a hard study session improves memory recall because our brain gives greater significance to that information. According to science, morning is the best time to practice aggressive studying because our brain is most relaxed.
6. Watch Video Tutorials
We’ve all had a crappy teacher that hated his job and was too lazy to explain the material to the students. As a result of that many of our grades were drastically worse than average. Luckily, the internet provides many free online lectures with high standards.
Video tutorials are effective because they activate our photographic and auditory memory at the same time. You might find really good examples and smart tricks that would help you understand the material easily. Also, some people are gifted at teaching and explaining things, so take advantage of that.
7. Eliminate Distractions
According to studies people need at least 15 minutes of effort to reach their focusing potential. Every distraction during those first 15 minutes resets everything and you are back to zero. That’s why it is crucial to eliminate all distractions that influence our focusing potential.
What you have to do before each study session is to turn off all devices that distract you. You can also use many apps that are designed to keep you focused when needed. Try to avoid listening to music that has text and creates a mental image because it enters your subconsciousness and prevents you from focusing.
8. Organize Better
Being organized is crucial for staying calm when preparing for a hard exam. Many times when I was behind with my material, I would instantly start panicking. On top of that my room was a total mess and I couldn’t find any of my notes and paper. I would end up wasting at least half an hour finding everything I needed.
Having an organized and clean desk can certainly help you during your studies. Whenever you want to make a project, being organized can save you lots of time during your research. Instead of searching for your books and notes all over the house, you can keep them well organized and easy to reach.
9. Change Your Study Environment
Changing your environment has a positive impact on your brain as well as your studying potential. Many people miss out on opportunities to change their place for studying simply because they don’t believe in changes. According to studies people tend to perform better when they change their environment more frequently.
The designated study place should have a lot of direct sunlight and preferably quiet. This way you can let the atmosphere and the positive energy to take away all your worries. Having a better study environment will improve your concentration levels as well as your memory recall.
10. Repeat Everything Learned
“Repetitio est mater studiorum” Is a latin phrase meaning repetition is the mother of learning. Many centuries after this famous phrase, scientist finally approved that repetition stores the information into the long-term memory of our brain.
According to psychologists, you can activate your long term memory if you repeat everything learned after 1 week, 4 weeks and 24 weeks. This way any crucial pieces of information will become available to you at any moment.
11. Change Your Lifestyle
Many teenagers and younger students tend to have an unhealthy lifestyle. Many of these habits like staying up at night, eating junk food, and avoiding physical activities can lead to laziness and procrastination.
Doing an occasional exercise like running, walking, lifting weights, yoga or playing sports can be highly beneficial for your mindset as it boosts brainpower significantly compared to the ones who don’t exercise.
12. Quiz Yourself With Flashcards
One of the best ways to see your gaps and flaws in your knowledge is to quiz yourself with a few flashcards. Make a couple of flashcards, invite a friend or two and start repeating the material you have already studied.
Studying like this is fun and you won’t feel like you are torturing yourself all the time. If you want to know all the reasons why flashcards are so great, you can visit Brainscape for more information.
Final Words
Growing up with ADHD made it difficult for me to study and keep my focus. To be more efficient at my studying, I had to search for many ways to make studying not look so hard. These are the great examples that worked for me and I hope they will work for you.