You need to stay focused, which will be harder for your brain when you
put yourself in a space reserved for relaxing and sleeping. Not only will this
lessen your focus, but trying to focus in bed will eventually also make it
harder for you to get properly sleepy when you go to bed. You’re basically conditioning your brain to get into the right mode in the right spot. [x]
2. Divide and conquer
Try to chunk the information into related bits you can repeat and
revise. Don’t try to focus on a whole chapter for 3 hours. Instead, focus on one
paragraph for 10 minutes, and go through it that way. At the end, go back to
the paragraphs you were struggling with during the 10 minute chunks, and give
those some extra time. Begin each large section – for example, 1 hour and a 15
minute break – with a short revision of the previous chunk. [x]
3. If you have lists, rearrange them in
a way that will help you.
Let’s say you have a list of important writers to learn, or important
concepts for a language test. You can order them chronologically (the writers),
or in alphabetical order (the language concepts. However, you can also order
them by genre, names that end with the same letter, or things that sound weird.
For a history test I once had to learn 8 different definitions of “Celtic” and
I divided them into language related, art related and ‘other’. It doesn’t
matter how you divide, as long as it helps you. [x]
4. Prepare a quiz for yourself
Not only will you have something to test yourself with later, but you
are already going through the material with a good mindset of ‘what would they
ask me?’ You’re picking out the important things, and already noticing where
you are struggling. [x]
5. Take short breaks to do a few
jumping jacks or similar
Perhaps every 20 minutes get off your chair and jump a bit, dance a
little, get your blood going. It will hopefully prevent the study-slump by keeping your heart-rate up and active. [x]
