Know Yourself
and Improve Your Studying Habits
Regardless of your level of education it is always important to be aware of your studying habits. You can improve the way you learn by understanding more about yourself.
You need to find the most effective ways of getting information into your brain. Giving consideration to how you function will help you get the most out of your education.
What time of day do you work best?
One of the first things you need to consider is what time of day is your concentration at its peak? Basically are you a morning, afternoon or evening person?
You can then arrange your workload to suit your peak concentration time. For example as a dyslexic person you may find that reading uses up lots of your mental energy. Therefore if your concentration is best during the afternoon you should spend that time reading. You can then use the rest of the day for less strenuous work.
Get the right amount of sleep:
If you are a full time student you may enjoy staying up late and sleeping in the next day. However does this hinder your studying? Try to avoid the temptation to over sleep. This can leave you feeling groggy all day. You need to work out, what is the right amount of sleep for you?
Emotions:
If you find yourself getting into a bad mood, what can you do to sort it out? For example try taking a ten minute walk outside. Likewise if you find yourself getting stressed what can you do to relax? Something as simple as a nice cup of tea can help.
Your perfect conditions:
What conditions suit your studying habits? For example do you need complete peace and quiet? Or maybe you find it easier to concentrate with a background noise, like a radio?
Do you prefer to take short breaks every hour, or do you like to get loads done in one go? Modern research suggests for prolonged concentration it’s better to take short breaks every hour. However you are the best judge of what works for you.
Rest and relaxation:
Try to get the most out of your rest periods? This will help to maximize the effectiveness of your studying. For example if you do a small amount of exercise at the weekend does it improve your mood and help you sleep better? If so this will improve the quality of your work.
Conclusion:
You can always find new ways to get more out of yourself. Try to manipulate your studying habits to your advantage. At the end of the day it's simply about finding out what works for you.