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How to study -  A few tips and tricks to make studying easier

Would we be a study association if we would not give you some tips and tricks about how to study? We all know it: Sometimes it is hard to keep focused or to keep motivated. But, how can you overcome these obstacles? We’ve got you covered! This blog post will give you some great tips to be the master of studying so you never have to worry again about your tests!

Organization

When you plan your schedule in advance you know exactly when you will have time to study, meet with friends, and go to university. By having a schedule you make sure that all these activities do not interfere with each other and you will have enough time to do all the things you want to do. When you design your planning, make sure to include some free time. Not only to meet friends, do sports, or eat, but most importantly some time for yourself. Make sure that if an emergency appears or a change in your plans is necessary, that you still have enough time to finish studying on time. 

Making a to-do list also helps with getting organized in your school work, it helps clarify your goal of the day and it prevents time from getting wasted because you need to think of what you need to do (you do that before the day starts). For this, it is additionally helpful to start with noting down your priorities of the day (and overall): What is most important to you today? Do you have to finish reading a chapter? Do you have to work? Are you going to meet friends in the evening? - Make sure that your priorities of the day are in line with your overall goals and to-do’s. 

But organization is not only having a schedule or planning, it is also about having an organized desk, file folders, and environment. When your desk is a complete mess it will distract you when you are studying. This could be because you cannot find the right papers or because you get distracted by old food that smells. So, make sure that your room is clean before you start studying.

Pay attention in class

This sounds like an obvious one, but it will surprise you how little it is being done. If you look around you during a lecture you will see many people not being focused: Doing some online shopping or playing games on their phones. But when you are involved in the class, take notes and ask questions you already learn the information you need for your test. By taking an active part in the class you also do not have time to be distracted during the class.

Become a teacher

Study better when studying together with your friends! This sounds like a dream for many students, but how does it exactly work? If you explain the theory you studied to your friends, project group, or other study mates, you will understand the theory better. You will recognize which parts of the theory you do not yet understand and which parts you understand really well. Together with your friends you can clarify the topics you do not yet totally understand. If you like this and are good at it, also check out whether there are opportunities of becoming a tutor!

If you prefer studying alone you can also become a teacher for yourself. When going through the theory you need to study you can come up with some questions to test yourself. After you studied all the theory for the test you can make the questions you made for yourself and see which parts of the theory is not yet clear and you can study them again.

We can unfortunately not take studying away (which would be amazing though) but we can make it more fun or easier. From now on we are offering summaries from JoHo, which is an organization that makes summaries. For €1.5 you have unlimited access to all the online summaries on their website and you can have 10 free printed summaries.