If you are one of the many who find themselves staring at filled notebooks and study guides for hours ,only to wind up with a completely empty brain during exams, it’s probably about time to change your study habits.
Believe it or not, there is a wrong way to study, and in a week where summer is so close, time so limited, and capacity for learning so low, you’ve gotta take what you can get. Here are eight science-proven study tips to help you make the most of those limited study hours.
1. Hit up a few of your hardest study points before bed.
Some sleep experts claim that it may be easier to recall the most difficult material if it is reviewed just before going to sleep. Nothing like a bedtime story about inflation policies and forms of government intervention in foreign economies!
2. Treat yo self with actual food.
According to a study performed at the University of Oxford, students performed worse on attention-based tests after five days of high-fat eating in comparison to students who ate a balanced diet. So as much as you may want to hit up some Cheetos and chocolate at 2 AM, save it as a post-exam reward.
3. Take a lap (or two).
With a simple half hour of aerobic exercise, you can improve your brain’s processing speed and other cognitive functions that are important in the study process. With this exercise time, you can make the most of your study breaks.
4. Ditch the all-nighters.
No matter how much it may seem like studying all night is what will help get those extra concepts in your brain, a psychologist from St. Lawrence University found a relationship between staying up all night and receiving lower grades. Even if you’re calling it quits at 5 AM, those extra few hours of sleep (no matter how few they may be) will be better for your brain than a sleepless night.
5. Rock out with your docs out.
Music is multi-beneficial when it comes to studying. Music is a major way to help overcome stress that accompanies finals week. But if you’re feeling your fellow 18th century composers, researchers at Stanford claim that if you set your Pandora station to play classical music, you will engage the parts of your brain that help you pay attention and make predictions. In general, a good dance break never hurt anyone.
6. Don’t forget to take 5.
In an effort to avoid burning out, make sure you take periodic breaks throughout your study sessions. These breaks are said to improve productivity and our ability to focus on the task at hand. Plus, they can serve as a reward for hard work, which allows for more focus after the break.
7. Drink up!
To help keep you alert during those long study hours, grab a coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin (whatever floats your boat). Research suggests the caffeine, my most important study tool, from coffee and tea can help boost alertness when we need it the most.
8. Namaste, folks. Namaste.
Before you head into those long exam hours, take a few important minutes to close your eyes and meditate. Meditation is said to reduce anxiety and boost attention span. With all the anxiety of final exams, it’s definitely not a bad idea to throw this relaxation technique into your study routine.
So get the grind going, the time is near. Good luck on finals, you are all champs.
