Best Exam Study Tips if you are Pressed for Time

I am sure we all agree that studying is important and should rank high on your priority list. Yet, life often sets up roadblocks that may sideline that much important task. Family issues, extra work hours, errands, and emergencies can all take precedence leaving little time to get your studying done. So, how do you get back on track and what tactics can you use to study more efficiently? This article will give you a few tips for studying effectively when your time has been compromised.

Embrace Technology

Nearly everyone relies on their cell phones nowadays. Our lives are kept on them and if you actively took the time to count how often you popped onto it for a peek, you would realize you are on it more often than you think.

Your phone is convenient and it is almost always on you ready for your push commands. Instead of popping on to play a few rounds of your favorite game, scour your social media page, or peruse your email box, why not set it up so that you can get a few minutes of studying done?

More than likely, you can load your textbooks into your e-book reader or pull up some study pages online. Set your phone up with the necessary materials so that when you find a few minutes’ time while waiting in line, on the bus, or while your child is playing solo, you can get in some reading or practice. Some helpful materials to include are:

• E-books of your textbooks
• Scans of your notes
• Videos of instructors going over the material
• Audio recordings of class lectures or of yourself reading notes
• Apps that incorporate flashcards to help teach terminology

Participate Actively

The key here is to study smarter which in turn will make your study sessions more valuable taking up a shorter amount of time. Reading the text over and over trying to get it to sink in is not effective studying that will stick with you. Though it is an important aspect of studying, without actively engaging in the material you will find it hard to recall the information.

There are tasks people do while reading such as highlighting, memorizing, and re-reading, but these activities only help keep you on task and do not really actively engage you. Active engagement gets you more involved and helps you make meaningful connections to the material you are studying making it much more effective. Try the following tasks to stay actively engaged in your material:

• Create and take practice quizzes – Online resources make it simple to create randomly ordered quizzes using the questions you input. When you find a few minutes, take one. Have the answers available to review so you can go over what you got incorrect.

• Pretend you are the teacher – Lecture your imaginary class. Go over the material and explain it like you were lecturing a group of students new to the material.

• Make connections – Think of examples that correlate to personal experiences.

• Get artsy – Make charts, diagrams, symbols, and pictures that help you visualize and help you remember concepts.

• Study pages – For classes like math; create a stack of study pages with a few problems on them. Then when you find a few moments of free time work through the problems aloud explaining each step you go through in the process.

Other Quick Tips

Stay engaged through the process- being attentive in class can cut down on studying because it will already give you an understanding f the material.

Work in shorter spurts using more effective study practices instead of long, grueling sessions that can overwhelm, stress, and fatigue you.

Use more of your senses- Engaging more senses tends to lead to better recall. Read and explain material aloud to utilize your sense of hearing, speaking, and sight.