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A good study strategy makes all the difference in your information retention and comprehension. On the other hand, poor study habits prevent you from optimizing your approach toward understanding concepts. Therefore, the first step towards developing good study habits is identifying and correcting the least effective habits. Once you develop effective study habits, it will be much easier to use your time effectively by improving your study-life balance.
Benefits of Building Good Study Habits
A lot of pressure comes with being a college student, from bulky assignments to long classes. This pressure sometimes prevents one from managing their time effectively, resulting in ineffective study habits such as reading for an exam at the last minute. Here are some key reasons why you should work on developing good study habits.
Information Retention
Retention of information and genuine comprehension of concepts are among the building blocks of academic excellence. Developing an effective study plan makes it much easier to achieve these two. A structured schedule, especially when reading complex concepts, gives your brain ample time to process and retain this information.
Time Distribution
Time management is a common challenge for most students in college, especially if one has a lot of concepts to grasp. It is why most students opt to buy essay to ease off some tension. It can be difficult to distribute your time to fit into all the information you want to read. But with proper study habits, you can maximize your study time. It will be much easier to partition the required materials to review and allocate enough time for each without feeling like there are some uncovered areas.
Improved Study and Life Balance
Sometimes one may feel like they spend much time studying and that their social life could improve. On the other hand, some students may feel like attending to their social circles takes much of their time. However, with a good study plan, it is easier to strike a balance between the two without feeling you are neglecting any of them. Poor study habits like studying for extended hours at night can prevent us from getting enough sleep. So if you need to burn the midnight oil to beat an assignment deadline, it’s best to reevaluate your study strategies. A good study plan allows you more time to socialize or relax without guilt.
Improved Academic Performance
Good study habits mean information retention and good preparation for your exams and assignments, which improves your confidence even when the exam is around the corner. Sometimes low conviction can result in poor performance since one must trust themselves to understand certain concepts. However, once you are confident that you have the information you need to pass your papers, it will be much easier to excel academically.
Poor Study Habits and How to Correct Them
Sometimes one may only know if the study plan they use is effective when they receive poor results. Here’re some study habits that may be standing between you and your desired grade and how to resolve them.
Bad Planning
A poor study plan can lead to unstructured reading, which may not yield many results. You may find it hard to fit all the concepts you must grasp into your little time. To resolve this, create study goals and write down every idea you want to learn. After outlining all the required tasks, start working on them; you can allocate each of them equal time. Start with the easy ones to grasp to get more motivation and proceed to the harder concepts; sometimes, starting with more intricate ideas may discourage you.
Procrastination
Procrastination is another bad study habit that keeps students from attaining their academic goals. It results in the accumulation of tasks that you are required to handle, and eventually, it may take a lot of work to tackle them quickly. Procrastination of handing assignments can also sometimes lead to missed deadlines or submission of roughly done work.
Starting your studying immediately after the semester begins will help you avoid the rush hour studies at the end of the semester. Therefore, to avoid procrastination, you should devise a study plan that allows you to master several concepts every day to prevent piling off your workload.
Other tips for avoiding procrastination include:
- Setting attainable goals.
- Breaking tasks into manageable steps.
- Working with a study group.
- Holding yourself accountable.
- Changing your mindset.
Distractions While Studying
Maximize your study time by eliminating any distractions since they may interfere with your concentration levels. Access to your phone or watching TV while studying may interfere with your focus, and thus, you may only achieve some of your study goals.
Creating a reading-friendly environment starts by eliminating any form of distraction to achieve silence. Additionally, it would be best to find a private study area with limited disturbance from people responding to conversations, which also affects your time management and focus. Some students prefer listening to music while studying. While music can get you in a study mood, it can also be a distraction if you focus more on the lyrics. So lower the volume or turn it off to maintain your focus.
Additionally, finding a specific study area helps get you in the mood since you will only associate the space with reading. Finally, decluttering your desk also helps your concentration, so keep only the necessary things. Staying when you are tired is another distraction since you will only concentrate a little.
Multitasking
Most students believe handling several units simultaneously is more efficient and can help save time. However, the truth is it is an ineffective study habit since you may find that you will not master most of the essential concepts. Multitasking may also take longer compared to handling one task at a time. To void multitasking, list the tasks you need to manage and allocate time for each. You can group similar ones. Then tick them off the lists as you complete them. Having to-do lists helps you with organization, and your brain will not be bombarded by unstructured information.
Staying Up Late the Night Before an Exam
Staying up late trying to extend your revision before an exam is a common habit among students. Sometimes it might work, while sometimes, it may not since it involves multitasking and stress. To avoid this habit, outline your study goals and plan at the beginning of the semester. Early preparation helps with information retention and confidence, and you will also be more motivated to review weak areas before exams.
Embarking on your revision earlier also enables you to identify your weak points, and you can work on them before exams. Last-minute cramming sometimes leads to poor study time management since you might focus on your strong areas and ignore the weak points.
Focusing on Cramming
You should approach your reading with the intention of comprehension. Understanding concepts helps you remember them long after you have read them. Cramming may not be impactful in the long run. It is important to focus on gathering knowledge for future assignments and papers instead of the next exam when studying. You can use analogies and comparisons to enhance information retention for better comprehension. Additionally, you can create hypothetical scenarios that will help you memorize and retain the information. Such methods not only make studying enjoyable but also you can store facts longer.
Forgetting to Include Breaks in Your Timetable
Taking breaks between your studies helps reenergize, boosting your productivity and focus. If you struggle to understand a concept, you can take a break and return to it later. Failing to take breaks can also easily lead to fatigue, and you may not be productive in the long run. You can take strolls or stretch between your studies to help you reset and get the zeal to study back.
It may be more complex than it sounds since some students think they are shrugging off their tasks or being lazy by taking breaks. Taking long breaks may also be counterintuitive; thus, you should time your intervals. A break can be as simple as stretching or getting up to serve food. You need to ensure that you go for breaks that increase your energy levels, and you also need to take them at the right time.
Ignoring Old Material
Reviewing old materials from previous semesters gives you a better foundation to comprehend concepts at advanced levels. Therefore, review old materials for units with close similarities for better comprehension. Once you finish one academic year, do not dispose of the study materials and exam papers since they may help refresh your knowledge if you find a closely related unit in the next class.
Conclusion
Developing good study habits is gradual since you must understand what works for you. You should also identify several issues about yourself, such as your preferred time and the best study methods. Once you identify such issues, you can create a suitable study plan. As a student pulling an all-nighter to study for an exam may seem like the right thing to do. However, it is best to focus on long-term academic goals to ensure you excel in not only your following paper but also the ones you will sit for throughout your years in college.