8 Ways to Improve Your Studying

We here at The Daily Wit are invested in your academic well being. But before you get around to that, why not take a five minute break from cramming to find out what you're doing wrong? (Hint: Cramming) Some of the things on this list will certainly elicit a "No shit, Sherlock" but if you find at least one thing you didn't know beforehand, you'll be studying more efficiently than you started. And that's worth the break.


1. Change Your Environment 

Do it. NOW! According to research, students who study material in at least two different rooms are more likely to do well on the test. If you're in the library, walk over to the Student Union. If you're in the Union, find a quiet coffee shop. Not only will you get the benefits of a different environment, you'll also get the cognitive benefits of exercise.


2. Do Not Immerse Yourself

In other words, don't ONLY study one subject at a time. This may seem counterproductive, but according to research conducted by the New York Times, switching between a variety of different subjects is far more effective than trying cram as much information about one subject into your head as you can over the course of several hours. And speaking of cramming...

3. Don't Cram 

DON'T FUCKING DO IT! Seriously. Cramming is one of the worst things you can do before a large exam. The main problem isn't that you're stuffing a large amount of information into your head at once (though that's not exactly ideal either). Rather, it's that you're doing so and sacrificing sleep, a necessary component for doing well on your exam tomorrow morning. On the topic of sleep...

4. Sleep

DO fucking do it!! Next to adderall, sleep is the miracle drug of studying. Many neuroscientists believe that names, faces, numbers, and other detailed facts are only committed to memory during a deep and substantial bout of rest. Not to mention, sleep deprivation leads to an increase of the enzyme PDE4 which degrades cAMP signaling to the hippocampus.  In plain speak: it creates a memory deficit, making it much harder to recall information. However, if you'd like to have the opposite effect...

5. Study Right Before You Sleep

According to sleep expert Dan Taylor, studying the toughest material right before you go to sleep is beneficial to retaining it. This is due to, as mentioned earlier, your body's effect to lodge the information better during deep sleep. Just make sure you don't wake up early to cram the morning before the exam. This can, according to Taylor, disrupt the REM sleep cycle before your body has the chance to process the information.

6. Right Brain vs Left Brain is Bullshit 

Remember when some teacher made you take a test to figure out if you were a visual or auditory learner? A right brain or left brain thinker? Yeah, you can toss all that information out. There have been plenty of studies done in the field of thought. Scientists found out that most of it was bullshit. What's really important is finding a study strategy that works for you as an individual. 

7. Chunking 

Remember the Spongebob episode where Spongebob gets rid of everything in his brain that doesn't pertain to fine dining and breathing and then can't remember how to do anything else? It looks like the writers of Spongebob might have been on to something. You see, according to the cognitive load theory, your brain has a finite amount of space to store information. To get around this limitation, psychologist and professional space saver, George Miller, came up with the "rule of 7." Miller believed that the largest number of discrete pieces of information the brain could manage was 7. Long story short, breaking information into several meaningful chunks (there has to be come coherence, after all) will make it infinitely easier to remember the information. 

8. Take a Break

At the end of the day, just take a fucking break. Not only does research support the idea, but it's just common sense. Killing yourself with work to make that A just isn't worth it. You're in college for four or five years and you have exams for a couple weeks out of that. The exams are certainly worth studying hard for, but sacrificing your happiness and well being sort of misses the point entirely. Take some time for yourself to watch a couple episodes of a show on Netflix. Take a walk around the block to both stimulate your mind and clear your head. And if all else fails, just lie on the ground and stare at your ceiling. Just make sure you take a break. After all, you've earned it.