studying methods
 

Does anyone have any particular techniques that work well for them? Share!

Adderall


Just kidding... sort of.

I am a textbook and fiddling with doo-dads kind of girl. With the occasional talk-through. As long as I can identify a process at work, I'm usually fine and can figure things out for myself and run it through a few times to make it clear. Mindless fact storing bores me so much unless there is something which inspires or interests me.. (thus I SUCKED at history class, but loved math, science weather in geo, art, etc) I need to keep my hands busy when I am reading or listening (if it is not activity based already). I'll be drawing either what I'm reading about or just even random mess, depending on the topic I suppose. I've never really looked at it too much because it is just something that 'is' with me..

My commerce teacher used to understand this and let me build card towers or doodle in class because of it. It was actually pretty funny, sometimes it would draw too much attention though.. there would be some people talking and not listening and he would pull them up on it, and they would bring my card tower into it. "No, she is listening, you are not." heh...

I can't have music playing because I get too distracted, my mind starts to count beats or tune in too much to that, rather than what I am reading or working on. As long as I am in the 'mood' to study I actually pretty much zone out on everything else around me.

Also, if I'm not yet in the mood to sit down and do the work, I find taking ten minutes or so to prep myself into it really helpful. Whatever works for you.. making sure your desk is tidy or has inspiring things around, making a coffee/getting some nice oil or incense smell to wake you up, getting the light just right.. etc

The moments I have of really intensive reading/learning usually come after I have been inspired somewhat, so I'm a big believer of getting into that state as much as possible before you force yourself to sit down and just do it. For me anyway, I just blank out and it is wasted hours staring at paper..

i have none

I have none, I fail at studying.

Straighten up and fly right?

Fuck all. Sorry.

I figure..

If I study high..

take the test high..

I'll get high scores!

Write on mah hand.

rest 10-15 minutes out of every hour.

cramming for endless hours just makes you stupid

The best way to study is to stare at !@#$%!'s signature for a while.

ha!

This is really, really good advice. Surprisingly, given how simple it is. If it's good enough for aeroplane control towers...

I like to have a plan. I don't have enough time to waste on bits I don't need. Of course, it depends on the subject area. So if I'm having a history day, you can scan through to get dates, names, places, times and those fiddly details that aren't very interesting but are necessary. Once you're warmed up you can get into the historiographical bits.

Literature is generally easiest, just because you can get away with skimming a bit (but if you've not taken anything in for a while, it's worth making a cup of tea)

Philosophy/ science-y stuff I find needs concentration; I find that summarising episodically really helps - especially with really dense stuff like Adorno or Derrida. Also, it's important to know what is and what isn't useful information - I know someone who lost 4 months of his PhD to one article in Wittgenstein's Tractatus... when it would've been more beneficial to move on and come back to it later (it was, of course, explained better 50 or so pages on).

... and go watch a movie or something the night before the exam.

A lot of this is actually really useful, thanks!