As a high school senior with a few AP classes under my belt, I’d say I’m pretty seasoned when it comes to studying. I’ve learned what to do as well as what not to do. To share this wisdom with you, I’ve created five essential tips I use every time I do my homework.
1. Time management
Procrastinators pay close attention because I know this is the hardest step for you. Those weeks where you have homework that is due later in the week, get what you need done as soon as possible. Try your hardest to not leave things to the last minute. It adds stress and reduces the quality of your work by too much. Plus the more work you push until the last minute, the further behind you will get. Use your off hours to your advantage - you don’t always have to be talking to your friends, get some work done while you have time.
2. Prioritize
Then there are those school days when you get a whole bunch of homework in every class and there is just too much to do in one night. It’s those days that you have to prioritize and choose which homework is more important. I’m not saying don’t do the other homework, but sleep is important too. Otherwise you won’t be able to function the next day. Do the homework in order of classes or in order of importance. If you have a test in a class the next day, make sure you get that homework done first. Then take advantage of your off hours and try to get whatever you missed done.
3. Take breaks
I know you might want to get everything done (or maybe you take too many breaks and get nothing done) but you need to take breaks sometimes. Working on a subject for too long has actually been proven to decrease how well you retain information. I also tend to start overthinking or just stop paying attention to what I I’m doing and it takes me twice as long to do it. When you get to that point just stop. Grab a snack, listen to a song, social media check, or even just switch subjects.
4. Underline vs. highlight
When taking notes from a textbook I have many different techniques. In regards to underlining versus highlighting, I suggest do both, but don’t overdo it. I always highlight vocab words and underline key concepts. If it’s a very important key concept I underline it in highlighter so it stands out more. I also box vocab words if I’m not in the mood to highlight.
5. Notes vs. notecards
Again, I utilize both. I take notes thoroughly but make the vocab words vague enough that I need to look at the notecards. I hate notecards but they are very helpful. If you don’t like physical notecards, use quizlet, it can actually be more efficient than actual notecards since you will have your phone with you wherever you go. Separating the concepts from the vocab is helpful so I can choose what I want to study and when.
I hope these tips help you, especially those seniors, like me, with senioritis. Good luck this year, you are going to do great.
