If you read my article from last week, you’re prepared to continue reading this one! (If you decided to purchase anything listed in last week’s article—go you! Now you can start putting your new pens and notebooks to use. Yay!) If you decided to stick with the pens, pencils, notebooks and other various supplies you already have, don’t worry. This week’s article will still be helpful to you.

Now that you have all of the necessary supplies to take notes and study, it’s time to learn a few tricks and hints to take good notes and study well.

What to do before class

Before any class you should print out available lecture notes posted online by your professor. Don’t just print them out—read them, too. Don’t just scan over them—mark them up. You should be familiar with lecture notes and assigned readings before class begins.

If you’re like me, you prefer to read physical copies of things and highlight information. Here’s a quick tip: Create a key. At the top of anything you’re reading (lecture notes, textbook chapters, assigned readings, etc.) create a color-coded key that tells you information highlighted in yellow is important, information highlighted in blue is interesting and/or information highlighted in purple is confusing and could lead to potential questions. You can get creative with your keys and use symbols, too.

If you prefer to jot down notes on what you read, do that. On a separate sheet of paper copy down important information, names, dates, etc. that you read. Or, if you don’t want to copy the information, just utilize margins. Write key notes in the margins of whatever you’re reading. Put stars next to important facts and arrows next to topic changes. Draw diagrams next to information that seems confusing in words. This makes it easy for you to refer back to your reading and find exactly what you’re looking for when you need to access it.

This may seem like a lot of work, but you’ll be glad you prepared when you’re sitting in class and know what your professor is talking about. You’ll also feel more obligated to speak up in class, and when your professor calls on you to answer a question you’ll be able to answer it with confidence. Being prepared is the best thing you can do as a student!

What to do during class

Make sure you have your marked-up notes and readings with you in class. You may have already written down and took note of the important things your professor may discuss in class. Keep them handy and refer to them regularly. If your professor mentions something in class that you remember reading, make note of that (because if the information is in the book and discussed in class—it’s going to be on an exam).

If you like to listen during lectures, bring a laptop or iPad/tablet to class. Information travels from your ears to a keyboard much faster than it does to a pen in your hand. Listen closely to your professor and type anything that sounds important into a document. If your professor repeats anything more than once, you better make note of it. Evernote, Microsoft OneNote and Simplenote are all excellent, free note-taking Apps.

If you like to write during lectures do not—I repeat—do NOT use one notebook for every class! Assign two notebooks to each of your classes. Use one of these notebooks for taking notes during class. Always make sure to date your notes and include a title, typically the lecture, chapter or topic title, at the top of the page. These notes should be unorganized and messily scribbled. Most professors guide their lectures with some form of visual presentation, such as PowerPoint slides. It is more important to write down the information said by your professor than it is to write down information on the PowerPoint slides. (Chances are you’ve already read and took notes on the PP slides before class).

Whether you’re a typist or a writer, it is crucial to your note-taking and studying success to never worry about making your lecture notes neat. You should try taking notes in bullet form; never try to write paragraph-long notes. These are notes, not novels. It is impossible to copy down important information and make your notes aesthetically pleasing at once. Just remember to focus on what’s important: your professor’s words, any given examples and questions you may have.

What to do after class

Remember how I told you to keep two notebooks for each class? The second notebook comes in handy after class. In this second notebook you should re-write your lecture notes. It doesn’t matter if you typed or wrote the original lecture notes—you should always re-write them. Re-writing anything is the best way to remember information. If you typed the original notes, now is the time to write them in a notebook. If you wrote the original notes, now is the time to re-write them. The most fun thing about this second notebook: you can make it pretty and focus on nothing but aesthetics. The notes written in this second notebook should be 1,000 times neater than the ones scribbled down in the first notebook during class. Write these notes carefully. Utilize those color-coded keys and symbol keys I suggested to you before. Draw diagrams and make connections between examples and information. Take your time with these notes and cater them to you. These will be the notes you study at the end of the semester for exams, so make them understandable. Don’t be afraid to make them colorful. Doodle on them. Make them unique and fun to study.

As always, you should complete any given homework assignments. Your professor wouldn’t assign homework if they thought it wouldn’t help you succeed.

Once you complete your homework refer back to #1, and prepare for your next class’s lecture.

This way of note-taking may seem odd to you at first, but once you do it a few times and get the hang of it I promise it will make exam week the most organized exam week of your life.