There is probably one of two reasons why you are reading this article:
(1) you are a stressed out student who cannot figure out how to study; or
(2) you are a stressed out parent who just cannot get your child to study.
Here are some steps that will remove that stress and help you not just to study, but how to study well. You will be surprised at how simple these steps are!
Step 1: All fears begin in the mind. Just remove that mental block that you just cannot concentrate on studying. Keep telling yourself: I can and I will.
Step 2: Fix a study time. You probably have a favourite TV soap at a fixed hour and nothing will stop you from watching it. If you can get your time fixed that way, then why not discipline your study time too? On a daily basis, fix your hours of study. Some students find it convenient to study early morning, others post-lunch, and yet others late evening or late night. Decide when you would prefer to keep your study hours. Let other family members know, too, of your study time. Make it clear that the doorbell and telephone should be answered by them. Even if your best friend calls, you are not to be disturbed. Request them to cooperate and not put on blaring music or the TV.
Step 3: Find your sweet spot. A baseball bat has a sweet spot, which is the spot where you try to thwack the baseball. Similarly, find your sweet spot to launch your studies. This does not mean choosing your bed- that is definitely one place that you should avoid. Once you sit on the bed, you slowly tend to go into a reclining position and before you know it you are asleep! Instead, select a part of a room which faces the wall so that you are not distracted by anything.
Step 4: Be seated at a table. This is one step that will immensely help you to concentrate on your studies. Sit on a comfortable chair with your study book on the table in front of you. Avoid cluttering your table with various books - take only the one which you currently need to tackle.
Step 5: Switch off distractions. Everything today is technologically wired. Get 'un-wired' pronto when you sit to study. Switch off your mobile, Blackberry, television, iPod, computer, and music system. Yes, even the music. Some students say that they study better with music in the background. Nonsense! Once you start listening to tunes, you will soon be humming away and that will be the end of your studies.
Step 6: Prepare yourself. Switch off from the moments that occurred just prior to your sitting at your study table. Forget that quarrel with your brother, that phone conversation with your friend, that nice meal you had....whatever. You are now going to concentrate solely on your studies.
Step 7: Relax. Close your eyes, take slow, deep breadths and count slowly to ten. Feel your mind and limbs loosening up.
Step 8: Concentrate. Focus solely on the study book in front of you. If your study table is by the window, draw the curtain. Do not look here and there.
Step 9: Make short notes. Keep a writing pad near you. As you study, note down short points. By noting down relevant facts in your own way you tend to remember those points at the time of giving the exams.
Step 10: Revise. This is very important. Do not think that once you finish studying, that is the end of it. On the contrary, you need to confirm whether you actually were able to understand what you studied. So take a sheet of paper and write in full sentences (not in points as earlier) what you studied. In fact, it is a good idea to buy a small rolled-up blackboard and write with chalk, so that you can erase it later. You can thus save paper (and trees!).
Remember, too, not to sit continuously at your study table for hours. After about 1 hour, take a ten-minute break. Stretch and take a quick walk around the room - but do not reach for your mobile or video game! Drink a glass of water. Have a fruit - not junk food. Get back to your studies. Take a break again after another hour.
As you can see, it is really very simple to get yourself (or your child) to study for an exam.
All the best!
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Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education.
(Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, On Philosophy of Education)
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