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How do you study?
posted in Off Topic
1
#1
0 Frags +

So, final exams are coming around. My first is tomorrow, and I'm sure a lot of you have them soon too.

How do you study? What helps you focus and stay on task? Are there any techniques you find help you learn concepts or memorize things reliably? Do you have any study habits you'd like to change?

Good luck in any exams you might have :)

So, final exams are coming around. My first is tomorrow, and I'm sure a lot of you have them soon too.

How do you study? What helps you focus and stay on task? Are there any techniques you find help you learn concepts or memorize things reliably? Do you have any study habits you'd like to change?

Good luck in any exams you might have :)
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#2
26 Frags +

turn off your internet
you must remove all temptation

turn off your internet
you must remove all temptation
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#3
2 Frags +

just put some classic music on repeat and you're ready. This helps me when I study, + taking short breakes of 5min to get a smoke. And best way is to do hard work for 2h then break ( 30min ) again 2h ( tf2, coffee, porns, etc...)

just put some classic music on repeat and you're ready. This helps me when I study, + taking short breakes of 5min to get a smoke. And best way is to do hard work for 2h then break ( 30min ) again 2h ( tf2, coffee, porns, etc...)
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#4
3 Frags +

I go to a library and just write notes over and over again if I have to memorize or do practice problems if it's math/chem/physics

I go to a library and just write notes over and over again if I have to memorize or do practice problems if it's math/chem/physics
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#5
9 Frags +

study at a library not at home.
just minimize distractions.

study at a library not at home.
just minimize distractions.
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#6
7 Frags +

I have a timer set to go off every ten minutes to remind me to work.

I have a timer set to go off every ten minutes to remind me to work.
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#7
1 Frags +

for me (and most people i know) going to somewhere with minimal distractions (library, campus center, lobby, etc.) helps immensely, i can't count how many times freshman year i tried to study in my room before people walked in and we just talked the rest of the night or i would get a steam message and start gaming, so yeah definitely go somewhere else if you can

for me (and most people i know) going to somewhere with minimal distractions (library, campus center, lobby, etc.) helps immensely, i can't count how many times freshman year i tried to study in my room before people walked in and we just talked the rest of the night or i would get a steam message and start gaming, so yeah definitely go somewhere else if you can
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#8
2 Frags +

If you have to use your computer for studying, skedaddle away from your normal "gaming" pc, and use another one without the possibility of you playing games. If not, just shut your computer down, tv off, and lights on.

I've found that if I'm in a dead silence I can't concentrate oddly, so a little noise for some people is okay.

Also, another really good resource that has helped given me straight A's for the past year: Quizlet.com
Amazing studying resource for any subject you may have.

If you have to use your computer for studying, skedaddle away from your normal "gaming" pc, and use another one without the possibility of you playing games. If not, just shut your computer down, tv off, and lights on.

I've found that if I'm in a dead silence I can't concentrate oddly, so a little noise for some people is okay.

Also, another really good resource that has helped given me straight A's for the past year: Quizlet.com
Amazing studying resource for any subject you may have.
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#9
2 Frags +

Read over my notes, go over topics I was unsure about, read my professors notes if they are online. Luckily I get a note sheet for 2 of my 3 finals.

Read over my notes, go over topics I was unsure about, read my professors notes if they are online. Luckily I get a note sheet for 2 of my 3 finals.
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#10
2 Frags +

I like to sip on a large drink while doing work, usually a coffee or smoothie or something. It's a "ritual" I have that I only do when I'm studying so each time I buy a large drink and sit down to work, my body knows that it's time to concentrate.

I like to sip on a large drink while doing work, usually a coffee or smoothie or something. It's a "ritual" I have that I only do when I'm studying so each time I buy a large drink and sit down to work, my body knows that it's time to concentrate.
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#11
2 Frags +

Turn off Phone, Lock yourself in the bathroom, read notes and listen to music on Ipod or anything that you can enjoy while being able to concentrate.

I tend to eat oatmeal and drink a nice cup of coffee when I want to study, it keeps me calm funny enough.

Turn off Phone, Lock yourself in the bathroom, read notes and listen to music on Ipod or anything that you can enjoy while being able to concentrate.

I tend to eat oatmeal and drink a nice cup of coffee when I want to study, it keeps me calm funny enough.
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#12
6 Frags +

I don't get how people study with music on, perhaps I haven't got the smartical particles but literally my brain has a freak out, even music without lyrics.

I don't get how people study with music on, perhaps I haven't got the smartical particles but literally my brain has a freak out, even music without lyrics.
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#13
2 Frags +

A huge thing for me is to wake up extremely early the day I'm planning on doing a lot of studying. I'm talkin 1-2 hours before the sun rises. When I wake up this early my mind becomes extremely sharp and makes it very easy to focus.

A huge thing for me is to wake up [i]extremely[/i] early the day I'm planning on doing a lot of studying. I'm talkin 1-2 hours before the sun rises. When I wake up this early my mind becomes extremely sharp and makes it very easy to focus.
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#14
6 Frags +

Personally, some low intensity instrumental music is fantastic for me when I'm studying. Also, the obvious removal of distractions like my phone really help when I'm in for a long study session. If your finals are in about 2 weeks like mine are, start studying now. It's so much better to have seemingly too much time to prepare than to end up pulling an all nighter and cramming the day before.

One exclusive thing that helps my mentality of doing the work is to establish a goal of things that I want to accomplish, and focus on that one thing. Be sure to get up every once in a while. Stand up, take a short walk, and possibly do some stretching if you feel like your productivity levels have dipped since you began studying.

As for the content itself, don't just re-read the content to try and memorize it. It doesn't work as well as you'd think. Instead, try and process the content you're studying and put it in your own words. If you can't put it in your own words, then you probably don't know the content well enough.

Personally, some low intensity instrumental music is fantastic for me when I'm studying. Also, the obvious removal of distractions like my phone really help when I'm in for a long study session. If your finals are in about 2 weeks like mine are, start studying now. It's so much better to have seemingly too much time to prepare than to end up pulling an all nighter and cramming the day before.

One exclusive thing that helps my mentality of doing the work is to establish a goal of things that I want to accomplish, and focus on that one thing. Be sure to get up every once in a while. Stand up, take a short walk, and possibly do some stretching if you feel like your productivity levels have dipped since you began studying.

As for the content itself, don't just re-read the content to try and memorize it. It doesn't work as well as you'd think. Instead, try and process the content you're studying and put it in your own words. If you can't put it in your own words, then you probably don't know the content well enough.
15
#15
1 Frags +

the only time i ever succeeded at studying was making cheat sheets for exams that allowed them, otherwise i never got the motivationn but i graduated and got a sweet gig anyways

tl;dr dont waste time studying

the only time i ever succeeded at studying was making cheat sheets for exams that allowed them, otherwise i never got the motivationn but i graduated and got a sweet gig anyways

tl;dr dont waste time studying
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#16
3 Frags +

How are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.

How are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.
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#17
12 Frags +
TsarbucksHow are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.

College

[quote=Tsarbucks]How are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.[/quote]
College
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#18
9 Frags +
TsarbucksHow are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.

I'm on a semester system. School started September 5th for me and my last Final is December 17th

Edit: This is in college

[quote=Tsarbucks]How are you people already having finals? My midterms aren't until January.[/quote]
I'm on a semester system. School started September 5th for me and my last Final is December 17th

Edit: This is in college
19
#19
-1 Frags +

I study downstairs in the living room with noise canceling headphones on so that I can't hear my family talk and I can't play tf2 because my computer is upstairs.

I study downstairs in the living room with noise canceling headphones on so that I can't hear my family talk and I can't play tf2 because my computer is upstairs.
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#20
1 Frags +

x

x
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#21
8 Frags +
toon-tpfjust put some classic music on

Do kaidus' streams count?

[quote=toon-tpf]just put some classic music on[/quote]

Do kaidus' streams count?
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#22
4 Frags +

I don't.
I also dropped out of college so learn from my mistakes
EDIT: also i was a music performance major so you should REALLY learn from my mistakes

I don't.
I also dropped out of college so learn from my mistakes
EDIT: also i was a music performance major so you should REALLY learn from my mistakes
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#23
8 Frags +

http://asoftmurmur.com/

http://asoftmurmur.com/
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#24
3 Frags +

Best method to retain information is to study for 20-25 minutes then take a 5 minute break. If your study session goes longer than 2 hours take a 15-30 minute break.You need to give your mind time to absorb the information. Playing chill instrumental music (like Koncept mentions) in the background helps a lot, studying in dead silence is actually hard for some. If you need a nice instrumental album check out "Blue Sky Black Death - Noir" It's beautiful music and my go-to album when studying when I was in college.

Best method to retain information is to study for 20-25 minutes then take a 5 minute break. If your study session goes longer than 2 hours take a 15-30 minute break.You need to give your mind time to absorb the information. Playing chill instrumental music (like Koncept mentions) in the background helps a lot, studying in dead silence is actually hard for some. If you need a nice instrumental album check out "Blue Sky Black Death - Noir" It's beautiful music and my go-to album when studying when I was in college.
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#25
3 Frags +

flash cards for days
go through revision books until you think about it in your dreams
sacrifice everything

flash cards for days
go through revision books until you think about it in your dreams
sacrifice everything
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#26
3 Frags +

i'm pretty lax about studying for finals.

i try to reconstruct most of my courses' materials from well-established sets of atomic facts to minimize the amount i have to memorize. during this process, i'll identify the most abstract concepts from each course and construct a memory palace (or, more trivially but less effectively, use mnemonics) to memorize sequential processes (i.e. mathematical algorithms, historical timelines, interactions between objects, etc.) that haven't already been ingrained &/or cannot be trivially decomposed (usually because they're pedagogically local in scope).

i'm pretty lax about studying for finals.

i try to reconstruct most of my courses' materials from well-established sets of atomic facts to minimize the amount i have to memorize. during this process, i'll identify the most abstract concepts from each course and construct a memory palace (or, more trivially but less effectively, use mnemonics) to memorize sequential processes (i.e. mathematical algorithms, historical timelines, interactions between objects, etc.) that haven't already been ingrained &/or cannot be trivially decomposed (usually because they're pedagogically local in scope).
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#27
-5 Frags +

i dont study much tbh

mostly just read the powerpoints from class and meet up with a friend the morning of to go over whatever we don't get

but bio major so its not like studying is particularly important

i dont study much tbh

mostly just read the powerpoints from class and meet up with a friend the morning of to go over whatever we don't get

but bio major so its not like studying is particularly important
28
#28
3 Frags +

I study a decent chunk of questions (like 20 or so) or a preview exam. I do each problem. Then I play a pug or something for about 1 hour. Then I do problems again. I repeat the process until I get all the questions right. Seems to work pretty well for me.

I study a decent chunk of questions (like 20 or so) or a preview exam. I do each problem. Then I play a pug or something for about 1 hour. Then I do problems again. I repeat the process until I get all the questions right. Seems to work pretty well for me.
29
#29
1 Frags +

Lots of studying at the library, and I do tons of exams from the past years and once I finished all the exercices check the corrected version to see which mistakes I made. It helps a lot.

Lots of studying at the library, and I do tons of exams from the past years and once I finished all the exercices check the corrected version to see which mistakes I made. It helps a lot.
30
#30
2 Frags +
yuiceI study a decent chunk of questions (like 20 or so) or a preview exam. I do each problem. Then I play a pug or something for about 1 hour. Then I do problems again. I repeat the process until I get all the questions right. Seems to work pretty well for me.

i work with people for studying habits and this is something a lot of people work well with. Studying properly in general is about not getting burned out, especially in college. A lot of teachers use learning objectives or something so it can be easy to make questions like these, but setting up something like 10-20 questions or a few concepts and making yourself write out a paragraph then taking a break works well ime. Generally following a strategy of 1:2 or 1:3 study : break time helps if you find yourself fucking around but in general the best way to succeed in college is try to work the course material into your daily routine. Whenever you're making dinner or waiting on a pug just look over that day's lesson and try to write down what you know or something helps drill shit in.

If you're gonna cram: always look over the material at least 2-3 nights before an exam since REM sleep is important in remembering things. Make day one about the entire test's materials and work on the small stuff on later days.

i have more study tips cause I had to go to a seminar about this shit its actually really neat

[quote=yuice]I study a decent chunk of questions (like 20 or so) or a preview exam. I do each problem. Then I play a pug or something for about 1 hour. Then I do problems again. I repeat the process until I get all the questions right. Seems to work pretty well for me.[/quote]
i work with people for studying habits and this is something a lot of people work well with. Studying properly in general is about not getting burned out, especially in college. A lot of teachers use learning objectives or something so it can be easy to make questions like these, but setting up something like 10-20 questions or a few concepts and making yourself write out a paragraph then taking a break works well ime. Generally following a strategy of 1:2 or 1:3 study : break time helps if you find yourself fucking around but in general the best way to succeed in college is try to work the course material into your daily routine. Whenever you're making dinner or waiting on a pug just look over that day's lesson and try to write down what you know or something helps drill shit in.

If you're gonna cram: always look over the material at least 2-3 nights before an exam since REM sleep is important in remembering things. Make day one about the entire test's materials and work on the small stuff on later days.

i have more study tips cause I had to go to a seminar about this shit its actually really neat
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