Becoming efficient at studying takes time and practice. The important thing is to make connections with your textbook, your class notes, your own experiences, and your instructor. At home it is important to create a space that you return to each time you study.

When you sit at this space it should speak to you, "Okay, I see it is time to study! Your bed is probably not that place since you're most likely to associate it with sleep. LSC-University Park Departments and Services Student Learning Resource Center Academic Coaching.

Study Habits. Good study habits are time savers. Study Tips Study in chunks: minute intervals followed by a minute break. Do something different, and then back to your studies. Realize that every hour of study during the day is worth two at night.

Students with families often find it especially hard to schedule time to study. Try to find daylight hours when you can spend time alone. Review before you go to sleep at night - let your subconscious do its job.

Rank your classes. Label each pile with the topic and study by topics. For more information on the principle behind active studying, check out our tipsheet on metacognition. The Study Cycle , developed by Frank Christ, breaks down the different parts of studying: previewing, attending class, reviewing, studying, and checking your understanding.

Although each step may seem obvious at a glance, all too often students try to take shortcuts and miss opportunities for good learning. The most effective practice is to work a short time on each class every day. The total amount of time spent studying will be the same or less than one or two marathon library sessions, but you will learn the information more deeply and retain much more for the long term—which will help get you an A on the final.

The important thing is how you use your study time, not how long you study. Long study sessions lead to a lack of concentration and thus a lack of learning and retention. In order to spread out studying over short periods of time across several days and weeks, you need control over your schedule.

Keeping a list of tasks to complete on a daily basis will help you to include regular active studying sessions for each class. Try to do something for each class each day.

Be specific and realistic regarding how long you plan to spend on each task—you should not have more tasks on your list than you can reasonably complete during the day. For example, you may do a few problems per day in math rather than all of them the hour before class.

In history, you can spend minutes each day actively studying your class notes. Thus, your studying time may still be the same length, but rather than only preparing for one class, you will be preparing for all of your classes in short stretches.

This will help focus, stay on top of your work, and retain information. In addition to learning the material more deeply, spacing out your work helps stave off procrastination. Rather than having to face the dreaded project for four hours on Monday, you can face the dreaded project for 30 minutes each day.

The shorter, more consistent time to work on a dreaded project is likely to be more acceptable and less likely to be delayed to the last minute. Finally, if you have to memorize material for class names, dates, formulas , it is best to make flashcards for this material and review periodically throughout the day rather than one long, memorization session Wissman and Rawson, See our handout on memorization strategies to learn more.

Not all studying is equal. You will accomplish more if you study intensively. Intensive study sessions are short and will allow you to get work done with minimal wasted effort. Shorter, intensive study times are more effective than drawn out studying.

In fact, one of the most impactful study strategies is distributing studying over multiple sessions Newport, Intensive study sessions can last 30 or minute sessions and include active studying strategies. For example, self-testing is an active study strategy that improves the intensity of studying and efficiency of learning.

However, planning to spend hours on end self-testing is likely to cause you to become distracted and lose your attention. On the other hand, if you plan to quiz yourself on the course material for 45 minutes and then take a break, you are much more likely to maintain your attention and retain the information.

Furthermore, the shorter, more intense sessions will likely put the pressure on that is needed to prevent procrastination. Know where you study best. The silence of a library may not be the best place for you. You might find that you concentrate better with some background noise.

Some people find that listening to classical music while studying helps them concentrate, while others find this highly distracting. The point is that the silence of the library may be just as distracting or more than the noise of a gymnasium. Keep in mind that active studying is rarely silent as it often requires saying the material aloud.

Working and re-working problems is important for technical courses e. Be able to explain the steps of the problems and why they work. In technical courses, it is usually more important to work problems than read the text Newport, In class, write down in detail the practice problems demonstrated by the professor.

Annotate each step and ask questions if you are confused. At the very least, record the question and the answer even if you miss the steps.

When preparing for tests, put together a large list of problems from the course materials and lectures. Work the problems and explain the steps and why they work Carrier, A significant amount of research indicates that multi-tasking does not improve efficiency and actually negatively affects results Junco, In order to study smarter, not harder, you will need to eliminate distractions during your study sessions.

Social media, web browsing, game playing, texting, etc. will severely affect the intensity of your study sessions if you allow them! Research is clear that multi-tasking e. Eliminating the distractions will allow you to fully engage during your study sessions.

Use apps to help you set limits on the amount of time you can spend at certain sites during the day. Turn your phone off. Reward intensive studying with a social-media break but make sure you time your break! See our handout on managing technology for more tips and strategies.

Find several places to study in and around campus and change up your space if you find that it is no longer a working space for you. Know when and where you study best.

It may be that your focus at PM. is not as sharp as at AM. Perhaps you are more productive at a coffee shop with background noise, or in the study lounge in your residence hall. Perhaps when you study on your bed, you fall asleep. Have a variety of places in and around campus that are good study environments for you.

That way wherever you are, you can find your perfect study spot. Try to explain the material in your own words, as if you are the teacher.

You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you are explaining the material, use examples and make connections between concepts just as a teacher does.

It is okay even encouraged to do this with your notes in your hands. Creating a quiz for yourself will help you to think like your professor.