Three Bad Studying Habits You Need to Break Right Now
People are creatures of habits, be they good or bad ones. We get up around the same time every morning, do the typical morning ritual, go about our days in the usual motions, and then we perform our nightly, bedtime rituals to get ready for sleep.
Our habits affect most every part of our lives, too. They define how what we eat, what sleep position we get into, and — most importantly for students — how we study.
While there are certainly good study habits to have, like doing a bit of college test prep review a night for example, there are also some bad habits. These, if continued, could likely thwart a student’s best efforts, and should be stopped immediately.
If you have any of these bad habits, stop them right away.
Over-Highlighting Your Notes or Books.
The whole point of highlighting your notes or your text books when you do test prep review is to make a certain word, definition, or concept visually distinct, so you can find it and study it again easier. If you highlight everything, you’re defeating the purpose. So try not to go too crazy when you’re reading your GRE, SAT, or ACT test prep books.
Rewriting Exactly as Is.
Rewriting your notes is a great way to do test prep review, but you can’t simply copy them word for word, or else you’re only going to cramp your hand and get bored. If you want to internalize the information in a new way, you’re going to need put it into your own words as you do test prep review.
Trying to Get Everything Your Teacher or Tutor Is Saying.
Yes, you need to pay attention and remember what your tutor is saying, but if you try to write down everything that’s said in your test prep tutoring sessions, you’re going to miss out on more than you take in. Instead, just listen. They’re not just spitting facts you need to memorize at you. They’re explaining and breaking down concepts you’ll need to understand. The only notes you should take are the facts that you’ll need to memorize later when you’re doing test prep review. As for the class, just listen.
Test prep review doesn’t have to be hard. You just can’t make it hard for yourself. Quitting these habits as soon as you realize you do them will allow you to do test prep review a lot more efficiently. If you have any other studying tips for exams, feel free to ask in the comments.