STUDY TIPS AND TACTICS

Having problems with your study schedule?

Clueless regarding where to start and how to start?

Puzzled on how to get in the studios/nerdy mode efficiently without risking much of your sanity?

Looking for a few tips every now and then that might help you through this gauntlet of studies?

If

No?? then this is not for you. You just wasted a not-so-significant click of yours.

And if

Yes??? Then you are in the right place! Good for you ^_^

So getting started with the business, here we go:

To whom it may concern,

Especially my dear junior, who I may or may not have met yet... not that I want to sound like a granny or brag about being one level higher on the seniority ladder but over time with great deal of experience  and even greater deal of blunders I have been able to gather a few tips and tactics for studying. So here they are:

1.    Priority pyramid

You know there is a reason why the word “priority” exists; my guess is because some things are more important than others and they deserve to be treated that way. The same goes for studies. There is an established order and there is a reason why it exists. Don’t believe me??

Then believe these research and survey results.

 

There is a way in which our tinny tiny brain tends to retain things. So why not crack the code and get double the result? Rather than to sit for hours in front of book hoping the saturation point will pass. Know what counts and make it count!
 

2.    Time management

Opened a book and sat for some time staring at it blankly? Took a pen or highlighter, underlined and highlighted stuff just for the heck of it? Looked at the clock, jaw-dropped, an hour had already passed and you are still on the same freaking page!!!

Relax.... You are not alone. It happens…and know what the problem is?

 

 

Problem: You just happen to suck at time management!  

 

Solution: nip the evil in the bud. Stop avoiding the clock, sit in front of it. Consider it a duel with time, the old fashioned style, mano-a-mano. Note down how many pages you finish in how much time. Determine the rate and see what you can do to improve it. Where are you slacking and where can you enhance your output in shorter amounts of time.

 

3. Setting your focus

 Know how annoying friends can get while beating around the bush, and not getting to the main point, and you are like ah, come on!! Just spare me the crappy details of where and how and why you happened to buy the damn dress!

At times we do the exact same thing with our studies… we hover over every non-sense and quite successfully avoid that which we were actually supposed to do. Call it modified procrastination or being a dim wit at doing the right things at the right time, the bottom line is:

“You need to get your focus straight. Know what you are aiming for. Stop wasting bullets on shadows, before you find yourself out of bullets as well as out of luck, in front of the actual opponent.”

Know what you are aiming for simply because:         

3.    The basic know-how

 

Before you dig deep into the books, get all squirmy with notes, lectures, guides and what not like a true book worm with all  your zeal and zest... pause… recollect… start with gathering info regarding what is the important topic, what is the paper pattern, how you should prepare and from where you should do it.

It’s a question of

Studying hard or studying smart?

The choice is yours. And FYI, a little bit of smartness never hurts, so why take risk?

 

4.    Be wise learn from their mistakes

 

You do not have to make your own blunders, go through the same torture, to learn the same lesson. If you are even remotely wise then you can learn it before hand form your predecessors, the ones who have run the gauntlet before you. They can surely give you a clue, one or two (hey ! that rhymes :P )

 So stay assured there is a good reason behind this:

 

 

 

5.    Unlock the Sherlock within _ Go 007

 

 

There is always a pattern in examination papers, let it be MCQs, Long questions or a viva. So unlock the Sherlock within, initiate your 007 mode and hack that trend! Check out all the past papers you can get your hands on to see what is important , what not, what is repeated often and what is seldom asked. It really gives you and edge regarding what to prepare and how to set your focus on the important stuff first. In the end, you do have to finish the entire course, but it helps when you know the important topic by heart than a superficial cram.
 

 

6.    Cash in with the seniors

Remember all those nice evil fellows that ragged you on your first day to institute? Made you do some crazy stuff and supposedly did your pockets a favor by making them lighter…?

Well it’s time to cash in, go out there and ring the bell. Cash in like a nice kid, be polite, be humble and get what is required at the moment and the requirements being, their experience, their guidelines, their tips and recommendations. It never proves futile!

7.    Be your own boss

Everyone has a style. Some dress urban, some dress desi. Some like fast food; some would prefer “saag and makai ki roti”. Does it mean any one’s taste is poorer than the other?

No, it doesn’t unless you are a hard-core discriminator with mind set of “what-I-do-is-the-best-to-hell-with-the-rest.”

Similarly studying styles also differ, some know the topic by heart with just one read, while some highlight and underline the topic to condemnation and some actually make notes before letting the knowledge sink in.. its their style. Be proud of your style. Don’t let anyone else make you feel lesser about your way. There always is room for improvement. Keep the door open but also keep the self confidence stable. Be your own man.

 

8.    Defeat the depressors… “the dheet technique”

 

How much other has completed or studied overnight is none of your business! How much of useless or useful stuff the other knows also should not concern you… not at least when it comes to exam preparation. Stop eating depressors. There is bigger drama out there to worry your poor soul over and their preparation is not one of it!

Be adamant, be stubborn, be dheet. Whatever you do, DO NOT budge in to peer pressure.

 

It is all about how you tackle this beast of study. So add a few chemicals together, make a boom!

Don’t depend on complete cramming and burning the midnight oil. Add a little bit of creativity, a little bit of edge and a little bit of brains to you way of study. Prettier colors of the chemical mixture guaranteed ;)