College study hacks 101

You may have envisioned this scenario before: A red-eyed, sleep-crazed, coffee-hyped college student, hunched over a desk that’s covered with a mound of thick textbooks, desperately trying to pull an all-nighter in order to prepare for their final the following morning. While this scenario is not too far off from the truth, there are some proactive study hacks that you could make in order to better prepare for your college studies.        

1)     Get a planner

Whether it’s through your smart phone or an actual (paper) planner book, getting yourself organized is the most important study hack that you could make for your college studies. Don’t fret if you’re not a planner as it’s not too late to start. Organizing your life—especially if you’re participating in virtual learning classes—will get you on the right track to avoid those late-night cram sessions.

Start with inputting the time frame of your classes in your planner. You already know the days and when your classes start and end, yes, but having it in your planner will seal that time frame off as occupied and will give you a better idea of when you have free time to study or take a break.

Next, input every due date of your upcoming assignments. Your professor’s syllabus should have upcoming due dates already scheduled such as your midterm or final, and papers or reading assignments that need to be done by a certain date. Getting these dates in your calendar will help you see a bigger picture of how much time you have to prepare.

Finally, input mini study tasks such as “outline draft paper” or “read 10 pages” in order to adhere to a bigger study goal or project that’s coming up. Time will fly away from you if you don’t learn how to harness it. The good news is that you have all the tools necessary to make these proactive choices.   

2)    Invest in noise canceling headphones

Distractions are a given when it comes to studying nowadays. You have endless amounts information about the universe at your fingertips including countless streaming options that will forbid you to ever say “I’m bored” again. As the stay-at-home orders have morphed your study space to also coexist with your entire household’s work and play station, you’ll need a good pair of headphones or ear buds to silence out the noise from the outside world. Even if you think the sound of the washing machine in the next room isn’t bothering you, or that the local evening news report isn’t a distraction, you’d be surprised what complete zoned-out studying could help you accomplish.       

3)     Create a study group

If the saying goes that “two heads are better than one,” then a study group is a no-brainer when it comes to perfecting your study skills. The majority of the time, most of the questions you have in class are also being thought of by someone else. What could be more perfect than the two, three or four of you to gather together to figure out the same problem? What you lack in understanding about a problem, your study buddies could fill you in on and vice versa. Soon, you’ll be bouncing ideas off each other and able to fully decipher the study topic enough to teach the class yourself! Start a Google classroom forum or a weekly Zoom chat of your own so that you and other interested classmates can study virtually together.

4)     Find your local resource

Take advantage of the fact that your admittance into a two- or four-year college grants you access to many of your campus’ resources. Usually there’s a library or writing center available, one-on-one tutoring opportunities, and access to your school counselor or advisor. Whatever your concern is, research and use your school’s local resources. These resources will help guide and customize your academic pathway that’s most conducive to your pace, and perhaps give you some pointers on what you could do differently in order to make it better.     

5)     Do what’s best for you

There are going to be many articles such as this and people from your inner circle who will give you advice on what you could do differently or better in order to thrive in your college education venture. While filled with the best intentions, the only person who will be putting in the work and hours is you. Whether you only need those noise-canceling headphones to get your college studies done or a study buddy from every course you’re taking, customize your study and time management habits to work best for you and you alone. Maybe changing up highlight colors within notes worked for your cousins who just graduated from college or your classmate insists the best time frame to study is in morning, but that doesn’t mean those study habits will work for you. Just be and work on you, including giving yourself a break once in a while. Your diligence in reading this article for advice is work in itself. Pat yourself on the back for already being one step ahead of the pack and taking responsibility for your education.