With increasing class hours and the pressure to get top grades, it’s no wonder students feel like they’re drowning. The latest National College Health Assessment survey reveals that 78% of college students felt very or quite stressed in the past month. Many cite academic projects as their primary stressor, which is why it’s common for them to seek out paper writing services to lighten their load and get some free time or focus on other academic projects.
But there’s good news: you can learn how to get better at studying. It’s not about studying longer but making your study time more productive. To do this, you need to understand how your brain works.
Effective Study Tips That Really Work
Our brains are highly adaptable and can absorb tons of information, but they have limits. When overstimulated, they reach saturation. When overloaded, they become soaked. At this point, studying becomes futile, leading only to unnecessary stress and minimal learning. Instead of fighting your brain, learn how to work with it to study better.
- Switch to “Study Mode”
Imagine your brain as a cup. Fill it too much, and it will overflow. It’s not just academic pressure that fills it up—constant phone notifications, endless social media scrolling, and other distractions all contribute. That’s why setting up a “filter” to protect one of your most crucial yet underrated cognitive functions—attention—is key. If you let your attention run on “default,” it will get sidetracked by various stimuli, making it hard to concentrate and study.
To get into “study mode,” minimize distractions. Find a quiet, secluded spot, silence your phone, and set a focused study period with short breaks. This approach helps you maintain focus for longer, allowing you to make better progress and learn more effectively.
- Clear Your Mental “Bandwidth”
Your mind doesn’t have unlimited bandwidth, so if you want to study better, you need to ensure you have as much space as possible. If you’re anxious or distracted, you won’t have enough bandwidth to focus on studying. This makes it tough to concentrate, understand what you’re reading, or organize your ideas for writing.
Before you start studying, try clearing your mind. Everyone is different—some people find a walk helps, while others might benefit from listening to music to stay focused and prevent their minds from wandering. Find an activity that relaxes you and relieves stress so you can study more effectively.
This tip is especially important when you’re stuck on a problem. If that happens, switch to something else—preferably something enjoyable or relaxing that clears your mind. When you return to your studies, you might see the problem from a new perspective, having given your brain the necessary psychological distance to spark new neural connections.
- Connect the Dots
Memory isn’t like a storage bin where you can just dump information. Instead, it organizes data into large, interconnected “chunks.” That’s why it’s difficult to remember isolated pieces of information.
When you connect concepts and theories, it becomes easier to recall them. Aim for meaningful learning where new information naturally fits with what you already know, making sense and expanding your understanding.
By linking information, you not only learn faster but also reinforce it in your long-term memory, making it easier to access later. Engaging with the material—through note-taking, writing essays by hand, or creating concept maps—helps you grasp and retain the content better.
- Divide and Conquer
Procrastination is never a good idea, especially since it leads to a lot of stress. While stress might initially help with memorization, it can impair memory retrieval over time, as shown in a study published in Nature, which could negatively affect your exam performance.
A more effective approach is to break tasks into smaller, manageable chunks. Your brain retains information better when you have shorter, focused study sessions rather than cramming everything at once. Why? Because of consolidation, a process that strengthens information when you’re not actively thinking about it.
Regular review forces your brain to recall information, improving retention and making it easier to retrieve when needed. So, skip the long study marathons and opt for three one-hour sessions instead of one three-hour block.
- Mix It Up: Rotate Subjects
Extending study periods isn’t always practical, especially when assignments and exams pile up at the end of a semester. In such cases, mixing subjects helps prevent mental overload.
This technique involves “interleaving” different subjects during a study session. For instance, instead of spending two hours on Psychology, allocate one hour to Statistics. Ideally, choose subjects that are distinct to give your brain a break.
Researchers from the University of Texas warn that if two subjects are too similar, they might overlap and interfere with learning, so pick ones that are different. This also aids consolidation.
Finally, everyone has a time of day when their brain is most efficient. Use this time for the most challenging subjects and projects. If your mind is clearest in the morning, don’t waste it on other tasks—use it for studying. You’ll be more productive and make the most of your mental capacity.
References:
Vogel, S. & Schwabe, L. (2016) Learning and memory under stress: implications for the classroom. Nature Science Learn; 1: 16011.
Yan, V. X. et. Al. (2017). How should exemplars be sequenced in inductive learning? Empirical evidence versus learners’ opinions. Journal of Experimental Psychology; 23(4): 403–416.
