by Matt Bird

Created on: June 17, 2009

Ew, study time has rolled around again? No good, that. Stress levels rise, veins pop out on foreheads and everybody scrambles to jam as much information into their brains as possible.

Relax, y'all. Studying isn't as difficult or annoying as it seems, as long as you follow a few general guidelines. And while some may seem irritating at first, trust me, you'll be much better off when you finally sit down for that test.

- Start studying well in advance. The purpose for this is two-fold. First, you want to avoid cramming everything in at the last minute. You won't get very far studying for seven or eight hours at a time. Study for an hour or two each night a week before the test and you'll be much less stressed. Second, if you look over your notes once a week or so over the course of the entire semester, you'll recall the information much more readily. Repetition may be boring, but it works.

- Study in the appropriate environment. You need to recreate the test area as closely as possible to aid recall. Ideally you'll want an upright chair that's not too comfortable but not too stiff, a desk, your pens, pencils and notebook and no distractions whatsoever. Libraries are ideal for this. Don't use your room, on your bed, with the TV blaring. It won't work nearly as well.

- Organize your notes. Separate topics into little piles and go through topics one at a time. If you're constantly hopping from topic to topic you won't maintain as much of the information, and, worse, you may confuse yourself.

- Re-write your notes. This may not work for everybody, but I find taking information into the brain isn't quite as effective as taking it in and then regurgitating it. If you loathe re-writing everything then find somebody willing to listen and essentially teach them the material, for if you can explain it out loud you can answer a test question.

- Take regular breaks. Your brain gets saturated after a while. Stop for ten minutes every hour rather than studying for ages and ages on end.

- Get lots of sleep before you study. A semi-conscious brain won't take in as much as a conscious one.

- Study with friends, if possible. Make sure they're friends who can stay on topic, mind you - those who constantly get distracted are no good. Having other people around serves two purposes: first, you can bounce ideas and questions off one another, and second, you can discover if your notes have any gaps.

Effective studying is a combination of time management and attentiveness. So long as you have both - not to mention good notes - you'll do just fine on pretty much every exam.

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