The first thing that you need to realize is that it does not matter how long you spend studying if they way you are studying is flawed. Many people sit down and try to memorize facts while exceptional learners try to see the big picture and then connect the ideas together. Too much studying just demonstrates the fact that you did not learn the information the first time. Studying should only be a refresher.
There are ways to boost your studies and make yourself a more efficient student. You have to change the way you look at studying and here is how you can do it:
• Use all of your senses to connect the information. This is taking yourself beyond visualization and making use of your other senses as well. People retain information better when they are in an emotionally aroused state, so use your emotions to make boring ideas easier to retain.
• When you are studying practice explaining everything to yourself as if you are a ten year old child. You should be able to simplify most things so that they begin to seem obvious to you.
• Take a random fact or concept and then link it to another idea in your subject. Once you have done this you can link it to another idea and another. You should keep doing this until you have linked several ideas together.
• Scan through your text until you encounter an idea that you are not familiar with or are not entirely sure about. When you find these ideas link them to ideas that you already know. Use symbols, metaphors or your fingers to represent the ideas.
• One of the greatest tools you can use is writing. Write your ideas down will help imprint them into your mind using vision and touch. For added learning read what you have written back to yourself.
You do not need to spend hours and hours studying once you master the techniques that bring about real learning. One last tip is to stand up and stretch every hour. Our minds can only focus for so long before they start to blank out, take a break every hour to keep your mind sharp and your muscles from getting sore.
