A human can usually keep focused and actively studying for about 20-30 minutes in one sitting. Interestingly though, it just take a 5 minute break to regain the focus necessary.In a break, it's better to do something enjoyable, take to a friend, listen to music, etc.

Study intervals

Having a reward (even just a small one like having a bear) in mind to look forward to, for each study session, will help.

Reward Systems

Using a library, studying room, office,... will help the brain to focus. One of the most difficult things to do is to just start. Getting in a place that is meant only for studying will help a lot. Also avoid studying in the bedroom, being in the bed makes it harder to resist sleeping.Assign a lamp to be switched on whenever you want to study, this will help teach your brain to focus whenever the lamp is on (remember the lamp must be switched off at breaks, and never be used for something other than studying)

Dedicated study area (Behavior Reinforcement)

The more active you are in your learning, the more effective. The way to learn effectively is first you have to decide what you are learning: facts or concepts? Understanding the name of a bone is a fact, but understanding what it does in the body is a concept.Can you put the concept in your own words? If you can't; you don't really understand it. Either take the time to discover the meaning of it, or don't wast your time studying.

Memorization vs. Active learning

A. Study groups are powerful.B. Read the whole thing &amp; then reread and understand each paragraph, one by one.C. Sleep well, have a good rest for your memory.D. Write notes during the class, then relook at them right after the class to give it depth. It will not work if you do it 2 hours later.E. Active Recitation: The best way to learn is to teach somebody else. If there's no one, teach an empty chair, or write it out.

Tips to help You Learn Actively

The SQ3Rs MethodSQ3R = Survey, Question, Read, Recite, ReviewSurvey: a textbook is not a novel, so you can go through the entire chapter and survey it. Skim titles, look at pictures.Question: you raise questions as you go through the survey, ex: what is X here? what is Y?Doing this will keep you looking for information in the text book while reading.Read &amp; Recite: mentioned before.Review: give yourself enough time to review what you've studied. We usually make a mistake when we start studying shortly before the exams which leaves us with no time to review what we've studied.

How to Read Text Books

There is always the repeating method (e.g. flash cards), but a better way is to use Mnemonics which consists of:1. Acronyms﻿Acronyms help you remember and memorize facts, terms, and idioms.2. Coin Sayings3. Interactive ImagesInteracting images help you understand and also connect things together and memorize facts.

How to Remember Facts?

If you spend hours and hours of studying, without improving your grades, or information retention, then learn how to study smart by Marty Lobdell.  Lobdell taught Psychology at Pierce College in Washington State for 40 years.  During Lobdell's career, he has taught tens of thousands of students and he wants students to succeed.  After watching students cram for eight hours or more for a test without any improvement, Lobdell has developed a studying technique that helps the brain retain the information that you are studying in this video "Study Less, Study Smart"

Self Improvement

Marty Lobdell - Study Less Study Smart

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Productivity

Serra Branca on Oct 19

Studying smart can save hundred hours of studying hard.The question is,&nbsp;how do you study smart?

What are some life hacks for studying well?

apart from every other thing about studying. I would focus more on this one.&nbsp;To aim high&nbsp;works almost for everything not merely studying Task:&nbsp;Studying 100 pages of a book. Why don’t you aim for 500 pages of that book?Task:&nbsp;To memorize 50 words a day. Why don’t you aim for 200 words a day?

Aim high

back in 2014, I (the author) had university entry exam (Kankor), it was extremely solid and tough, but praise to God, I scored 325 out of 350 marks.How I did it?&nbsp;I used to study 8 to 10 hours in library not home, not my room or anywhere else&nbsp;because&nbsp;we are controlled by the environment we surround ourselves with. I choose to study in library because:- I was spending like 5$ to get to there.- Everyone was watching me.- I wasn’t able to watch videos on YouTube, use social medias stuff out there.- I couldn’t go outdoor and take 1 or 2 hours of break.

Create a dedicated study area

from all worry provoking thoughts. Particularly messages and notifications of Facebook, Quora, … Turn your phone on silent and put it out of your eyesight. As a result you will be less distracted.

Clear your mind

Now I am (the author) learning programming with myself and believe me I teach the air how to code. Teaching others is the easiest way to figure out what you don’t know.

Teach others what you have learned

and … if you have to memorize it. The weirder you make them, the more likely you will be able to recall them.

Use mnemonic, acronyms, image association

If you are studying a book, focus on concepts not facts and remember to think about the concepts.

Concepts Not Facts

Uploaded

Ahmad Adli Nawwar on Oct 15

<ul><li>Note making takes up a lot of time.</li><li>It is a passive way of revising as your brain does not put much effort in.</li><li>It makes you feel productive when it helps very little.</li></ul>

Notes Might Be A Waste Of Time

<ul><li>Making your brain more Active.</li><li>Time spent on making notes can be used for making questions. After going through your topic of study answer those questions.</li><li>The harder your brain works the more it remembers.</li><li>This method can be faster and Much More Effective than note making or highlighting.</li></ul>

Study Less But Better With Active Recall

<ol><li>Read the study topic while making questions</li><li>Answer the questions on the day of reading the topic</li><li>Answer the question 3 days later</li><li>Answer them 1 week later</li><li>Answer them 1 month later</li></ol>

Space Reptition: Manage Your Study While Improving It

🎬 Check out my FREE 36-video online class on how to study for exams - https://skl.sh/2UOx68x Today we're learning how to study for exams with scientifically-proven techniques. We start by talking about why rereading, highlighting and summarising are pretty inefficient, and then talk about the evidence behind Active Recall as the most efficient revision technique. We end with a few suggestions as to how to incorporate Active Recall into your study routine. Enjoy xx TIMESTAMPS: 1. 01:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #1 - Rereading 2. 03:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #2 - Highlighting 3. 04:51 - Popular but inefficient technique #3 - Summarising 4. 06:42 - Active Recall, and the evidence behind why it's the most effective revision strategy. 5. 09:18 - Study #1 - Spitzer 1939 6. 10:22 - Study #2 - Butler 2010 7. 11:16 - Study #3 - Karpicke & Blunt 2011 8. 13:41 - Specific, practical strategies for incorporating Active Recall into your revision / study routine. 9. 14:19 - Strategy #1 - Anki flashcards 10. 16:07 - Strategy #2 - Closed-book spider diagrams 11. 17:33 - Strategy #3 - Questions instead of notes, the Cornell note-taking system 12. 19:18 - Summary and closing remarks LINKS: If you’re actually interested in looking up these studies, the Dunlosky review paper (Link #1 below) is probably the best place to start. The references section there is full of useful links, all of which i cba to include in this video description :) 1. Dunlosky et al 2013 - [Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. - PubMed - NCBI](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26173288) 2. Karpicke 2016 - [A powerful way to improve learning and memory](http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2016/06/learning-memory.aspx) 3. Spitzer 1939 - http://www.gwern.net/docs/spacedrepetition/1939-spitzer.pdf 4. Butler 2010 - http://sites.utexas.edu/mdl/files/2016/06/Butler2010.pdf 5. Karpicke & Blunt 2011 - [Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping | Science](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/331/6018/772.full) 6. Anki - [Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards](https://apps.ankiweb.net) 7. Make it Stick - http://geni.us/MakeItStickBook 8. Podcast episode with the author of 'Make it Stick' - https://www.artofmanliness.com/2018/03/06/podcast-385-make-stick/ -------- MY FREE ONLINE COURSES: 🚀 Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity 🎬 Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/video-editing 🎓 How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying 😃 How to be Happier - Stoicism Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/stoicism TOOLS OF THE TRADE: 🎥 My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal ⌨️ My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 📝 My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk 📚 How I remember what I read - Readwise - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 🎵 Where I get my Music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound 🌐 My website platform (Ghost) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ghost OTHER RECOMMENDED COURSES 📔 Effortless Output with Roam Research - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/roam 📓 Building a Second Brain - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/basb 🎙My weekly podcast - https://www.youtube.com/c/notoverthinking My brother and I host a weekly podcast where we discuss happiness, creativity and the human condition. You can find it by searching “Not Overthinking” on any podcast app (eg: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts etc). BE MY FRIEND: 💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://aliabdaal.com/friendzone 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal 🎮 Twitch - https://twitch.tv/aliabdaal WHO AM I: I'm Ali, a junior doctor working in Cambridge, UK. I make videos about medicine, technology, productivity and lifestyle design. I also have a weekly podcast with my brother (https://www.youtube.com/c/notoverthinking), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://aliabdaal.com/friendzone). 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com GET IN TOUCH: If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Tweeting @AliAbdaal directly will be the quickest way to get a response, but if your question is very long, feel free to email me at hi@aliabdaal.com. I try my best to reply to things but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭 PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

Study is easy

How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips

A lot of students including my past self practice some of the worst study techniques that waste a lot of time and also gives you a false sense of achievement. They keep wailing and looking for time managing strategies and increasing the number of hours they study. These Bad techniques are often used by their peers and even suggested by their teachers and many students never ever realise that the way they are studying is not very competent.

How not to study

1. Going to a lecture coldlearn the concepts, formulas and structure of the material before the class, now without having any train to run after, you can be relaxed and get the most outta it.2. Rewatching lectures and PPTsIts a sin. Learn everything at once with full concentration. Atleast try your best to3. Rereading Booksread it once make flashcards and burn the shit.4. HighlightingIt just gives you a false sense of having extracted the important info from the text. When revisit the book you actually recognise the stuff. Its different from recalling.

List of the worst techniques (A)

5. Taking notes in non-quiz formatAlways take notes as if you are testing your future self. Keep it QnA style for easy active recall. Anki and Remnote are Godsent for you. 6. Reading theory and not practicing questionsjustjump into the pool. You learn to swim on ur own, stop revising theory again and again. Jump straight to mock exams and practice questions7. Sticking to syllabus a lotgettingout of the syllabus keeps stuff interesting and most importantly keeps learning active. Its you who researching for your knowledge, no teacher is smashing content on you, thats the best approach.

List of the worst techniques (B)

Learn the stuff from books yourself. You dont need everything being spoonfed by a teacher. That way you'll the grow the most. Go to lectures later or run a step ahead of your Teacher

studytips

Study intervals

Marty Lobdell - Study Less Study Smart

Clean and Minimal To- Do list Chrome Extension

Serra Branca on Oct 19