5 Study Tips and Life-hacks for 2023

As we are approaching the middle of the school year, work and tests get harder and grades sometimes take a little dip in their average. Here are 5 study tips and hacks to make the middle of the year go smoother.

1. The Pomodoro Method

This method can help with staying focused and productive during homework/studying. All you need is a timer, and you can get that on your phone or even on your Chromebook! It involves setting a timer for 25 minutes, which is your focus time. When that time is up, set a five-minute timer as your break time. This method can help break up studying into easy and manageable chunks. I can personally say that this method helps me a lot when I do schoolwork!

2. Taking Neat & Organized Notes

Another study hack that some may overlook is taking good notes. When you spend time and effort to make your notes look good, you’re more likely to remember them than if you just scribbled them down quickly. The easiest way to make your notes look good (and work well) is to add headings and subheadings. At the top of the page, write in big letters the title of the specific topic that you’re taking notes on. Then, write subheadings whenever you want to section off your notes. I recommend getting good highlighters to add a pop of color to your notes!

3. Making a Quizlet

In the modern world, students have so many advantages that students back then didn’t have. One of them is Quizlet! This website (or app) is a digital flashcard-making platform. This website is better than making flashcards in so many ways. It saves paper, so it’s better for the environment. It also has other features besides flashcards, like games or mini-tests. In my opinion, the best subject to use Quizlet for is Languages. You can switch the language you’re answering in and if you don’t know the answer to something when you’re making the flashcards, Quizlet has auto-response for you.

4. Using as many resources as possible

This tip is sometimes overlooked, but it works no matter what subject and no matter what teacher! This works especially well for end-of-unit tests because it’s really easy to tell from past quizzes what you know and what you need to work on. If you aren’t very confident in something, try to find review sheets, notes, videos, and websites (I like Khan Academy) to try to get the topic to stick in your brain. Our brains have this system called the Curve of Forgetting, which means that if we don’t revisit a subject after a while we forget it. This strategy especially combats the Curve of Forgetting because you can space out your studying over the course of a week or two to completely absorb and retain the information!

5. Get a lot of sleep before a big test/quiz

Last but not least, calling all fellow lazy people! This is probably the easiest study tip you can ever do ever. Try to study a decent amount the night before, and get to bed at least half an hour before your usual bedtime. I like to drink chamomile tea before a test because it really helps to relax and take your mind off the next day. In the morning, you can do a bit of a refresher for 5-10 minutes. Just like how you don’t work out before a sports game, it’s best to give your brain a bit of rest.

I hope these tips helped your studying!