Effective study skills boil down to one key: understanding how you learn best. Every learner is unique, just like fingerprints are unique. As you progress through your education, you will learn more and more about yourself as a learner, and you can start that process right away by paying attention to yourself.
There are several categories of things to learn about yourself, you may discover others, but starting here will give you a big boost in unlocking your learning capacity.
Time:
Time is one of the essential factors in learning, and if you are to excel in the learning process you need to learn to work with time, and not against it. Begin by asking yourself these questions:
How quickly do you read? Is your reading speed strongly dependent on the subject matter, or is it fairly consistent from one subject to another? What time of day or night are you at your peak reading speed?
How long is your attention span? How long can you stick with one subject before your mind wanders to the point where you are wasting your time?
What time of day do you have the best environment for reading and studying? This question, more related to your environment than your personal thinking patterns, is important to understand in terms of your alignment with your environment. In other words, if you read best just after dinner, but your household is the noisiest just after dinner, then there's a conflict that needs to be resolved.
How many times during the day and week can you regularly expect to schedule a time for studying?
All of these factors have to be considered when trying to give yourself the most effective and efficient potential for learning. It is not uncommon, for example for people to spend twice as much time studying than they need to, just because they have an inappropriate environment, or make the wrong choices about when they try to study. It does precious little good to try to read for four hours at a time if your attention span is only half an hour. This misalignment does little more than create a sense of foreboding every time you try to study.
Learning Style:
What is your preferred learning style? There are many questionnaires available to help you determine your preferred modes of learning, and even different theories on the matter. Most agree that learners can be categorizes as visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. When you are using methods that play to your strengths, you can make the most effective use of your time. That said, it would be a terrible mistake to attempt to only use the method that is your strongest. Ideally, just like any other kind of work out, you should give yourself a variety so that you can strengthen your weaknesses rather than reinforcing them. Try to do something in each of the learning types- try drawing diagrams (visual), talking to a study-buddy about what you both are learning (auditory), review notes while walking (kinesthetic), and making study aids you can hold in your hands (tactile)
Understanding how information is organized, and how to organize information.
Do you read your textbooks like they are novels? Stop it! Textbooks are not novels, and if you try to read them simply by going word-for-word, you are not making the best use of your time or energy. Get to know the textbook. How is it organized? How are things categorized? How are the headlines designed? You should understand that textbooks are designed by people who spend a great deal of time trying to give you the best learning experience. Try to learn its patterns. Use a variety of tactics as you use the text: skim, thumb through the pages, use highlighters in a smart way, read, reflect, review.
Make use of the tools the book gives you. Don't just do the items that your instructor assigns; do them all. They are designed to help you digest the information. Review the key words, and try to connect them in a story. Take any and all practice quizzes. Learn to think about how the author and your instructor think about the information.
Similarly, how you take notes will greatly influence the value you get from them. Think of your memory as being like your closet- if you just pile everything in there with no rhyme or reason, you'll never be able to find anything. Categorize your note-taking so you can access the information in an intentional way.
Memory works because of connections. If you file a fact away and it doesn't connect to anything, your chances of recall are very low. So, as you approach your text, and your notes, the more ways you can connect the new information to things you already know, the better the chances are that the information will assimilate into knowledge. This is why rote memorization is a poor form of study.
How you work with the information can, in itself, become part of what connects you to this information- if you'll pay attention to yourself. What color did you highlight it? Was it at the top of a page? Middle? Bottom? Was it near a photo? Did you learn it before or after something else? Where were you when you read it? What day was it? What did your note say about it?
In summary- the most important thing to know about studying is yourself! If you don't know yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, preferences and tolerances, you have no chance of reaching your peak performance. If you study yourself every time you study, you'll increase your capacity and enjoyment. Understanding your time needs, peak times, learning strengths and weaknesses takes time and attention. If you pay attention to yourself in the process, you can improve your skills, maximize your investment, and enjoy the process.