"Study Less, Study Smart": The Best Ways to Retain More in Less Time
When you're learning new material, it can be overwhelming when you think about how much time you need to truly understand it all. This studying technique can help you stay focused and take on more information with shorter study sessions.
The lecture "Study Less, Study Smart"—featured in the video above—is from psychology professor Dr. Marty Lobdell from Pierce College. In it, Lobdell shares his best tips for studying so you don't ever have to attempt those dreaded cram sessions. The video itself is fairly old, and a few of you have probably seen it before, but it's something every student should watch. The lecture is about an hour in length—and definitely worth watching in its entirety—but here are some of the best tips:
- Study in chunked sessions: Your ability to retain information diminishes after about 25-30 minutes, so break it up into multiple, smaller sessions. Reward yourself with fun activities during your breaks
- Have a dedicated study area: Don't study where you do anything else. Don't study in your bed, where you play games (even if it's your computer), or in front of the TV.
- Know the difference between recognition and recollection: Recognition requires a trigger for you to remember something and you may not get that on a test. Study actively with focus on recollection. Quiz yourself and don't just glance over highlighted notes.
- Take good notes: Find a note-taking method that works for you and expand on themafter your class lecture to increase retention and understanding.
- Be ready to teach what you've learned: If you can teach it to someone else, you have a solid grasp on the material.
- Read textbooks effectively: Use the SQ3R Method—survey, question, read, recite, review—to actively retain information. Just reading it is not enough.
Lastly, divide everything you learn into two categories: facts and concepts. Facts are things that can fall out of your brain and you may need to come up with a mnemonic device in order to study them. Concepts are the glue that hold entire big picture together, making them the most important part to study. Concepts are why you're studying something to begin with and, once you learn them, they stick with you. Stop wasting hours studying at only a third of the pace you could be going and study smart.
Marty Lobdell - Study Less Study Smart | YouTube
I went from a C student to an A student in college by making these simple changes:
1. I stopped taking notes. I realized I never looked at them again. Instead I made a strong effort to really pay attention to the professors no matter how otherwise distracted I wanted to be.
2. I stopped studying altogether. Instead, I really focused on my homework and trying to make it as perfect as possible. If there was extra homework in a book not assigned to me I'd do the extra work anyways.
Between the two things I switched from note taking and cramming into actively learning. It made a huge and immediate difference.
This is how I went through almost all of college the first time, but I think it depends on what you're studying—and honestly what school you go to. When I went back to school the second time for computer science, I HAD to take notes for stuff like Calculus and certain programming courses. There was just no way you could memorize all that just by paying attention. Homework helps with that a lot, for sure, but I found homework took me less time if I took good notes, and I hate doing homework.
For me I stopped taking notes and started doing extra homework (particularly in math). That extra practice was more valuable than anything, I believe.
I can totally see that. I sort of stopped going to one of my upper-level math classes and just forced myself to do extra homework and it worked for me fairly well. I also just enjoy taking notes for some reason. I have a disease!
I don't care if this makes me weird... this post and the discussion is making me miss school. I had the whole studying thing DOWN. The real world.... still figuring that shit out. I've hit a ceiling on how much school I can go to though. I guess I could get a PhD, but those are damn near useless anymore. Well, off to work.
I miss school with the passion of a thousand suns. I like to learn and the real world sucks! :P
I think chunking works for a lot of different subjects. As a singer, I only do 10 mins of warm-up then 20 minutes of learning repertoire - concentrating on the more difficult passages first. It makes practicing a lot less tedious and I learn faster. I also do 20 minutes of ear training, sight singing, etc.
It also works in the real world. I do this when I get a new client at work. I go through each section of their website/services/history for a few minutes at a time. It also helps to learn in the field - sitting next to someone who KNOWS EVERYTHING about that organization while tabling at a festival or expo is invaluable to learning intricacies.
Absolutely! Chunking can be effective for a lot of things.
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