Five Best Ways to Study Effectively
Five Best Ways to Study Effectively
You have been studying the wrong way till now! For years it has been drilled into you that reviewing your notes, highlighting important points and repletion are ways to memorize and retain information. These are however a waste of time as they are effective only for a short period. It is tested and proven that certain study techniques are efficient and beneficial than others.
There are some people called memory athletes who are so good at remembering things. In an annual contest of memory sports called the World Memory Championships, they were given a list of 72 random words and on an average, they scored around 71 of 72, whereas an untrained control group could only manage 26. Thirty two- year- old Boris Konrad can memorize more than 100 random dates and events and in the 2009 German Memory Championships won the gold medal for memorizing 195 names and faces in fifteen minutes. He claims that it was no innate talent but the effort he took to train his brain using some effective memory strategies that did the work.
It’s possible that you also can be one of these memory athletes and have a remarkable power of memory. You are no longer going to be a mere student or graduate who has to beat information into their heads. You can have control over your brains that will allow you to memorise pages of notes and equations effortlessly. Here are five best techniques for effective studying that will motivate you to study and produce remarkable results.
- Memory Palaces
It is an ancient Greek technique which when mastered will open your dormant reserves of memory and improve your retaining ability. The steps are:
- Walk through an environment like your house
- Place objects in specific places
- Match the objects with things that you want to learn
When you try to recall the notes or information it takes you back to the objects you associated it with and repeat it till becomes very clear in your mind.
2. Protégé Effect
It is quite well known that the best way to understand a concept is by explaining it to someone else or teaching someone what you want to learn. According to a study in 2007, students who taught younger students were found to have scored better than those who learned for themselves. Researchers have found that when you try to teach someone, you work harder to gain a better understanding and try to recall it correctly and apply it successfully.
Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Richard Feynman ensured that he always understood concepts better than others, known as the Feynman Learning Technique which includes four steps-
- Choose a concept you want to learn about
- Pretend that you are teaching it to a student of grade 6
- Identify what is missing, then go back and re-learn it
- Review and simplify
These steps will help you to deconstruct and then reconstruct ideas.
3. The Zeigarnik effect
It is a psychological phenomenon that describes the tendency to remember unfinished of interrupted tasks better than completed ones. This is because when you start a task and interrupt it, a Task-Specific Tension is created that can improve your cognitive function. It helps in keeping the task as the top priority and keeps your brain focused by which you can easily access the information and remember it better. The best way to take advantage of this technique is by taking small breaks between studying to do totally unrelated activities like reading a book, listening to music or taking a walk.
The Pomodoro technique is a popular time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo which uses a timer to break down work into intervals of 25 minutes in length separated by short breaks.
4. Distributed Learning
Spacing out your study time is known as the distributed practise that is better than cramming information in one go. Distributing learning over time either in a single study session or across study sessions benefits in long-term retention. A group of scientists looked at 254 studies that included over 14000 people and overall, students recalled more after spaced studying than massive or crammed learning.
5. Studying Effectively
Repeated reading of notes, highlighting and using key-word mnemonics are scientifically proven to be low in effectiveness. Some effective measures include:
- The time dedicated to studying
- Doing a lot of practise tests
- Spacing out your learning
At the end of the day, you have to adopt and practise the techniques that work best for you. Spending time on your phone, watching television or missing classes is not going to help you. Getting proper sleep and nutrition, following a good routine, doing practise tests and using these techniques will help you become a star performer. Focusing on what is important and taking action every day is what is essential at this time.
“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
-Pablo Picasso
References:
https://fs.blog/2012/04/feynman-technique/
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