My tips for studying

Hey loves!

My first term in LPC has passed super fast and I can't believe that the end of term two is coming soon. Time is passing very fast in LPC and since our first year exams are coming, I thought I would share some of my study hacks with you!

KEEPING IT TOGETHER I believe that the first step to successful studying is the preparation for it. So keep all the notes from your subjects organised and together! I keep a huge folder for all my subjects and all notes are ordered by the subject they belong to. It is really helpful to establish a good organisation system so that you do not need to call all your friends to get the notes to study from. Also make sure that you actually take notes during class so that you have notes to study from. Paying attention in class is half of the work because through it, you already learn something about the topics and so studying will turn into a detailed revision and therefore be less stressful.

GET RID OF DISTRACTIONS

Are you one of the people who can easily get distracted by Facebook, Instragram, WhatsApp or something else? If so, shut these distractions out. What I like to do is to use the app "Forest" to motivate me not to use any social media. "Forest" is an app which gives you the opportunity to grow a little virtual tree and depending on the time you give the tree to grow, it will get bigger. If you leave the app while the tree is growing, the tree dies. It might not sound super motivating when describing it, but it really works. And you can also use the app with your friends and study with them - this makes the motivation bigger for everyone in the group.

FLASHCARDS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS

Taking notes in class alone is not enough - take notes from your notes and put them on flashcards. It really helps to go over your notes from class again and to write down the most important points from them. Writing flashcards has another advantage: When you study for your final exams, you will not have to go over all your notes from class again (believe me, there will be many) and instead you can use your precise flashcards to study from. This will make your life a lot easier.

POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE

If you lack the motivation to start studying, try studying with others! It really helps to study with others because when everyone around you is studying, you feel kind of pressured to also start studying. And when you study the same subjects as the people who you are studying with, you guys can help each other. However, make sure that you all are actually studying and not just chatting. When I study with others, I like to use "Forest" and when the time for our tree is over, we take a little break ("Forest" has a function to set time for a break and can then remind you to go back to studying). During the breaks you can chat and have fun and then you go back to studying. It is important to take a break every one to two hours to give your brain a little time to process all the information and to stay relaxed.

WUNDERLIST

This app made me be so much more organised! Wunderlist gives you the opportunity to create numerous lists and whenever you add a to do you can add a deadline and a reminder. It is very useful because it is super easy to use, works very fast and if you keep it on your laptop and phone, you can always have access to it. I love "Wunderlist" because it gives you a quick overview of all your tasks and so you do not lose track of any homework or meeting.

STUDY PLANS

Very often, we lack the time to study and then we start studying at 3am, but that is not really effective and we all know it - so plan in some time to study. Write down every test date that your teachers give you and make sure to go over the list every week. I have a plan for my week which I fill in every Sunday evening to see where I have time to study and for what I need to study. It is important to keep a weekly overview so that you know what is coming for you this week and whether you can go out with friends or if your week if super busy with school work. I like to my weekly plan as my desktop picture so that I can always see it and do not forget any of my tasks. In case you guys are not sure how to exactly make a study plan, I have attached mine for you - feel free to use it.

I hope that some of these tips will be helpful for some of you! When keeping your studying organised, it gets less stressful and you will see you will have a lot more time!

Lots of Love,

Elena