Build Positive Study Habits – Valuable Tips from a UBC Elite
Thank Giraffe Learning’s instructor Boris who summarized these valuable study tips that he has been following throughout his academic journey.
As students, we are expected to learn – we are taught to study but not necessarily how to study. While the quality of instruction may vary from class to class, our performance should not depend on such nor the hours of the day.
Since the number of hours is limited each day, the amount of time each student chooses to dedicate to education or any other pursuits is in turn limited. Nevertheless, the emphasis is that they should not convince themselves that they must accept any suboptimal result in their endeavour as simply as a lack of ability or time.
Being organized is a critical factor that could determine the learning outcome and school-life balance of any student.
Tip1 – Keeping an Agenda
Keeping an agenda could be a simple yet powerful tool to tackle the workload that students may find daunting to face. Firstly, it could be used to process projects and assignments into manageable tasks. Next, it could serve as a visual reminder of the progress the student has made while simultaneously offering an overview of gaps left to complete before any deadline. Even using a simple Post-it note for daily tasks is useful for helping any individual with time management. Going one step further, students should identify what is important versus what is urgent which could be organized into an urgency matrix. They should understand what is their priority rather than blindly completing tasks. Regardless of which tools – whether it be traditional methods involving calendars or more contemporary alternatives involving software applications – it is important for the student to recognize and understand the net benefits they have to gain from using each.
Tip 2 – Time Management is a Key
When it comes to last-minute cramming, students often recognize this as a pitfall that many find themselves in. As alluded above, time management is once again a key. Procrastination is an issue that many students may find themselves facing. Although this may come across as counterintuitive, taking structured breaks could yield more productive results.
Students can benefit potentially in a few ways. First, this could help mitigate wasting time sitting in front of learning materials without any meaningful gain from their diminishing productivity. The students are able to refresh themselves as a means to accomplish more rather than less. Second, this allows students to have a more accurate accounting of the time they have and be more realistic when planning out their study plan, thus addressing some key issues of procrastination.
Tip 3 – Review Your Notes After Each Class
When it comes to studying, students should promptly review their own notes as soon as conveniently possible after each class. They should not hesitate to reorganize the notes to help them better comprehend the material if need be. It could also not be emphasized enough that learning materials should be reviewed regularly. Overtime, the interval of any specific learning material could be extended.
