Building strong study habits is essential to building a strong foundation of knowledge to do well in all levels of education, from middle school all the way up to graduate degrees. However, motivating yourself to study and review your work can sometimes take more effort than actually studying the course material.
Sleep
Sleep is almost as important as actually reviewing your subject matter. Besides being well rested, and clearheaded after you get a good night`s sleep, when you are sleeping is the only time where you mind is biologically capable of creating connections between the information you have learned during the day, and reset your nerve connections so you can continue to learn the next day. While this is much more complicated if you know the biological process behind it, sleeping basically allows your brain to properly make connections with information and get ready to learn again.
Set a Schedule
Make a schedule in writing, not on your computer, and post it over your desk or near where you study. Writing down all of the course work and things that you have to get done for the next day allows you to properly motivate yourself, and makes it a lot easier to manage your time. If you see that you have a lot of things to finish for your Biology class the next day, then you can devote more time to studying and working on Biology instead of Calculus or English. Additionally, keeping it in writing makes it much more motivational, as a digital schedule can be edited too cleanly and easily and it is all too likely that you`ll end up on Facebook or browsing the Internet instead of actually checking what you have to do.
Write it Down
Writing your work down on a physical piece of paper can make a huge difference over typing it out on the computer. While many courses require a typed up assignment, try to write out your work whenever you have the chance to do so. Firstly, it is much easier to make connections with the information that you are working with when you write it compared to when you type it. Computers are designed to do many different things, which means that your attention will likely be somewhat divided while typing your work. Secondly, writing out a rough copy allows you catch spelling errors, improper use of words, or other things that need to be fixed in your work. Lastly, it makes the final exam much easier, because you are used to formatting and writing down your ideas on paper, and won`t be caught off guard when you have to write for an extended period of time.
Dylan Lamberti - I have been writing on-line for a period of just under two years, and have written for such sites as Demand Media Studios and Brighthub.
