Academic Excellence is the need for every student. Having effective study habits is paramount for academic success. When we study the routines and habits of high-grade students, we find some similarities in their habits. This post will comprehensively cover those habits that contribute to academic excellence and how you can cultivate them in your study routine—covering aspects beyond the basics that would elevate your grades and academic performance.
Plan your Study Session
Planning your study session is important. It does not include planning it from miles ahead. A simple study plan can include fulfilling your everyday responsibilities, such as assignments, projects, and homework along with studying for your examinations. Below are some tips on how you can move ahead in planning your study sessions.
Don’t Cram
Don’t cram for those final tests or quizzes at the 11th hour. Instead, make moves ahead and plan your effective study sessions before such deadlines to avoid cramming. Relying on last-minute cramming won’t give you an exponential grade-changing performance. It’s wise to study such things consistently. Keep the course’s content covered, and keep your marks high so there’s less pressure on you toward your final examinations. Avoid procrastinating on petty tasks such as the “two-minute rule” that acts as a barrier ahead of your study hours.
Consistent Study Hours
Choosing a consistent timeframe to study during the day will have a profound effect on your academic performance. Choosing some hours during the day that you can allot to studying daily can help you stay consistent in your studies. For example, you will have a session from 7 PM to 10 PM, exclusively for studying.
Creating a study schedule
After deciding on those hours, a subsequent path toward academic glory is constructing a study schedule. Preferably a suitable one, tailored according to your needs. This should involve breaks, based on the Pomodoro technique and your routine. This can also involve deciding and planning for the next study session.
Setting Small Goals for each session
One should pursue every study session with the goal(s) in their head. There’s no point in studying for nothing. You at least study to gain knowledge or learn, if it’s not associated with any assignment, exam, etc. Before reaching out for those notebooks, be sure that you have some aims in your mind to achieve. And by the time you close those books, make sure they are achieved. Those goals can be as small as completing a due assignment to big ones like consistently studying for exams and tests.
Tackling the most difficult part first
Students often procrastinate doing the hardest part first. It usually keeps us away from sitting for a study session. Concentrating fully on the most difficult part first with a fresh mind without being tired would help you complete those tasks effectively without frowning at them. This will potentially save you some extra time, frustration, and effort you were to put in if you pursue it later in your study session.
Pro tip: If you find it uneasy tackling the hard part of your academic work first, consider completing some small easy tasks relevant to it as “warmups.”
Organization and Preparation
Staying organized is the key to having sound preparation for your academic success. Organizing your notes and keeping your books tidy in one place can help you overcome barriers. These are some tips that can help you stay organized and prepared for the entire term.
Keeping Assignments Organized
Keeping the material you’re going to need in one place, either physically or digitally can help you get those assignments done. Not only would you just get rid of those assignments but ace them! Organization of things around you can instill study habits in you and elevate your academic performance.
Effective note-taking in class.
Taking notes that explain the entire topic themselves is another crucial aspect of preparing better for your exams. Actively listening to lectures and noting down every single relevant and important detail that your instructor or teacher delivers during the class. This would assist you in better understanding the course content and later for better preparation and revision for exam sessions.
Allotting a study space
Another fine way to instill study habits in you is to set up a visual cue to trigger that particular behavior. Atomic Habits explains this concept along with other many techniques to cultivate habits. In this case, setting up a study table and a comfortable chair near you can allow you to set up a visual cue to study. This would allow you to instill habits to study at times when you’re free and think of getting things done.
Avoiding Procrastination
Beating procrastination has been a problem for ages for humankind. In every aspect of life, procrastination has been a barrier for everyone to reach success. Researchers and experts have tried to find ways to beat such problems.
The Dangers of Procrastination
Procrastination is a big problem, especially in the academic domain. If you skip a lecture just to stay in your comfort zone, you’ll again be allured to skip another one because of the savory and luxury an off day brings to you. This keeps dragging students into an inescapable hole where they drive further from excellence.
Solutions to procrastination
Although there has been much research on this matter of human psychology, some effective techniques help you minimize the dangers of procrastination in academics and help you develop study habits. One of the techniques is the “Two Minute Rule.” This technique emphasizes pursuing a task immediately that takes two minutes or less. As humans, we can at least spare a couple of minutes and get some things done. This somehow sounds good to master procrastinators like me, doesn’t it?
Another possible solution that I use is “Aiming low enough.” If I need to get a thing done but it is way too overwhelming for me, it’s always a great idea to set a small parameter to achieve first. For instance, if I want to get started with reading a book, targeting reading 10 pages won’t help. I will aim as low as just reading a sentence. The Two-Minute Rule comes into play here too. Although a sentence won’t contribute anything. But done consistently, it can yield results. Such is the power of consistency.
Also, staying committed to a personalized study session plan, which I mentioned earlier, is important. Dedication and the will to stick to it will help you cultivate effective study habits for academic excellence.
Minimizing Distractions
Deep working zone
Creating a disturbance-free zone is pivotal to enhanced focus and sharpness. Allotting space for oneself where there are little to no distractions can exponentially improve your academic performance and help you possess the most effective study sessions. A book called Deep Work emphasizes such techniques for effective work sessions. As a student, this book can be of great help in creating such a place and understanding the importance of it.
Appropriate use of technology
Also, using technology mindfully is another way of minimizing distractions and fostering habits of studying effectively. Putting your phone away is a good technique to avoid mindless scrolling on social apps. Don’t we just randomly open social apps in the middle of our tasks and start scrolling randomly? (I’m afraid it’s just me). Only using the technology that is required, such as a laptop or a digital notebook such as an iPad, etc. should be present and must be used appropriately within the boundaries of your study area at the time of “deep work.”
Collaborative Learning
Striving for academic excellence is a lonely road. But if this journey is accompanied by some peers and like-minded people, it can turn into an interesting and exciting ride. Studying using a collaborative approach makes the learning process much more fun and interactive.
There always remains a barrier between us as students and our teachers. Those barriers can be overcome by getting our doubts cleared through peers and friends. Sometimes, our peers can explain complex questions and answer our queries more lucidly than our teachers.
Reviewing and Revising Knowledge
For better academic performance, it’s necessary to review and revise the course content over and over again to have an infallible grip on it. Develop a regular habit of revising the course content through notes and assignments so you can revise the areas that were taught at that time. Moreover, reviewing your marked assignments can give you an overview and a check on where you need to improve and what areas of course you already possess a firm grip on. It’s a difficult thing to cultivate this study habit, but consider the exponentially increasing benefits it can bring you! An A grade isn’t easily sought after, after all!
Seeking help when needed
This is important to understand. As students, we are learners. We are still in the early stages of a field. We are still in the pursuit of gaining more exposure in a domain. It’s perfectly normal to reach out to someone where you feel like you have unaddressed doubts. Reach out where you need help. There must be no shame or embarrassment associated with asking for assistance. Make sure to ask questions during class where you get stuck, consult your peers over a query, and perhaps collectively or individually research avenues that interest you.
Seeking tutoring services or remedial is also a great choice to consider. Since academic practices might get a bit tiring and overwhelming, some assistance along the way can ease things out for you. Never be ashamed of asking for help because at last, it’s for the sake of your transcript and mental health.
Some help can also be acquired by visiting your instructor or professors during their office hours at the institution. They are the best source for assistance, and reaching out would help you get your concerns answered directly and more lucidly. Be sure to alert them before visiting either in class or through email or message instead of barging into their offices.
Self Care for Academics
In pursuit of excellence no matter the domain, we tend to forgo our mental and physical health along the way. Taking care of oneself allows for a balanced lifestyle to be maintained. The well-being of oneself can be prioritized through regular exercise, proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and meditation. Recognize each one of their impacts on yourself and see how studying gets far easier for you.
Just an example, if you’re sleep-deprived, there is a highly impossible chance of you focusing keenly on a task at hand such as an assignment or a project you need to work on. This can abrupt your study sessions and can result in breaking or losing the habit of studying (which is already really difficult to cultivate for some lads like me).
Cultivating the right mindset
Everything begins with the right mindset and intentions. If you have an intent of winning, after some failures, you’ll eventually be triumphant. Cultivating such a mindset where you know you can win, you will win. Adopt an optimistic mindset toward approaching studying. Believe right from the start that you can ace the course with a perfect transcript and work for it throughout the term. Know that you got it and have the ability to pull it off.
Moreover, it’s important to have realistic expectations. Being aware of the fact that you can’t study every single concept in a day for an exam. Understand what the course expects from you and how you should perform accordingly. Your performance after your mindset depends upon the effective study strategies you choose to adopt.
Conclusion
To conclude, this is a comprehensive guide about how you can master effective study habits and find a route toward academic glory. A consideration of the above-mentioned aspects can ensure the cultivation of study habits. You will not just meet but exceed your academic goals and expectations by consistently implementing these study habits and techniques. Adopt them and witness an exponential change in your academic performance!