Strategies to help you maximize your study time

As finals week continues to approach, many students find themselves overwhelmed with projects and assignments. Feeling overwhelmed can lead to haphazard study time, with some assignments procrastinated until the night before they’re due and jumping around assignments without making much progress on any of them. There are many ways that you can tailor your study time to your preferences and maximize the time that you have. 

The SQ3R Method

The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences lists the SQ3R (or SQRRR) method as one of the best studying techniques for increased reading comprehension. The acronym stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. You start by skimming, or surveying, the first chapter and take notes on standout features like headings, subheadings, images and graphs. Then create a list of questions based on the content you just read, such as: What is this chapter about? What do I already know about this topic? Then you can go back and read the chapter and find the answers to questions you came up with. After you read a section, you then paraphrase in your own words what you just read. You can also answer the questions you came up with earlier. After you complete the chapter, you then review the material to solidify what you just learned. Then you can move on to the next section of reading.

The Leitner System

The Leitner System is a flashcard-based study technique. For this, you would ideally have several boxes to keep track of your cards, but you could also use rubber bands to keep them together and then label each stack with a sticky note. If you have three boxes, all your cards will start in box one. When you study them, if you get the card correct, move it to box two. If you get a card wrong, keep it in box one, or move it down a number from where it was if you had previously gotten it correct. The box number determines how often you will study those cards. In this example, you could study the box one cards daily, the box two cards every other day and the box three cards every four days. The Leitner System ensures consistency and helps you focus on the material you are least comfortable with.

Find Your Ideal Study Time

Figuring out the time of day that you can most effectively study can be extremely helpful for increasing productivity during your study sessions. For example, many people study best after working out. This is because exercise fights fatigue and can increase energy levels. Even just a 20-minute walk before you study can help stimulate brain function and increase retention rates and cognitive performance. Exercise also releases endorphins, which can improve your mood and decrease stress, which can help you focus on studying. Another good time to study is a few hours before you go to sleep. This is because while you are asleep, your brain refines the information you learned while awake. This makes it easier for you to retrieve and apply this information when you need it. However, studying before bed can lead to all-nighters, so make sure that you still prioritize getting at least seven hours of sleep. 

The Study Crawl

This technique is good for days when you don’t have many classes and can devote most of your time to studying. The way the study crawl works is that you map out a list of places you know you can productively study. This can be different buildings on campus or different coffee shops in the area, or a combination of both. You can also build in a few places just for fun so you can give your brain breaks in between studying. Then you start at the first place and study for an hour or two. Then you pack up and head to your second stop, and study there for a while. This technique allows you to take breaks in between studying and change your environment to help keep your brain engaged. 

Finding the best study technique for you can be a bit of trial and error, but once you find the one that works for you it can dramatically improve your retention rates and your productivity. 

The Academic Resource Center at Concordia University, Nebraska is available to provide on-campus assistance for students from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The ARC specializes in providing help with planning, studying, note-taking, problem-solving and more. Learn more about the ARC and its services here.