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Introduction
In the quest for academic excellence, there’s one secret weapon that stands out above all others: the habit of regular and effective studying. Yet, developing this habit isn’t always easy. It takes dedication, time, and a bit of strategy. That’s why we introduced a complete guide to your first study schedule. With it, you can tackle the challenge of studying even easier.
But, there was still something missing. That one thing is an actual, complete guide for beginners that want to get into the habit of studying starting from ground 0. Here, that’s exactly the problem we solve.
The Goal
By the end of this challenge, the goal is for you to transform into a student with potentially garbage study habits into a student that is capable of regularly studying without struggle. Adapting to these new study habits will change your performance as a student, which as a result, will give you back the grades you have always been hoping for.
More simply, you will have developed excellent study habits that will transform the way that you prepare for exams, quizzes, job interviews, and anything really. Studying now may seem like the enemy, but in 30 days, it will be your best friend.
So, let’s get started.
The Full 30-Day Challenge
Day 1: What do you wish to achieve? What does your workspace look like? Are you well organized?
The journey to successful studying starts with clarity. Set specific, achievable goals for what you want to accomplish during this challenge. Whether it’s improving grades, mastering a challenging subject, or gaining a deeper understanding of your coursework, have clear objectives that will keep you focused, on track, and organized.
On this same day, I also want you to dedicate a workspace to learning. As was mentioned in an earlier post, if you’re attempting to study from a couch, you are seriously just begging for distractions. But, if you were to work maybe at that desk of yours or at a local library, working is going to be so much easier. Set up yourself for success with the right environment.
Lastly, set aside dedicated periods for learning, so you can better manage your time and ensure you’re making steady progress.
Day 2: Mindset
On this day, I want you to focus on your mindset specifically. Are you willing to dedicate your time exploring, seeing what works and what doesn’t, and failing. So what if you wasted an hour trying a study technique? As long as you tried it in the first place. Begin to think positively of this process. Don’t just work for the results, but also appreciate the process of learning. That’s actually what’ll get you the results in no time.
Day 3: Start Implementing & Digital Detox
Let’s say you have the big task of studying for a test as you go about this challenge. So, as a tip, don’t just set that large goal to be completed. Instead, break it down into smaller tasks like “study this section” or “study this other section and memorize its vocabulary”.
- The idea isn’t to ‘speedrun’ your studies in just a day. Even it out over the course of a few days to ease the workload and take some unneeded stress of your back.
Why Not all Study Techniques will work
Next, I want you to learn how you learn and explore learning techniques that work for you. A large problem that many people make when they’re attempting to master the skill of studying is that they blindly choose a studying technique without taking a deep look into it. Just because someone online says that mind mapping is a good studying technique (in which it is) doesn’t mean that it’ll work for everyone.
- Take for example the Leitner Technique, it will probably work well for reading and visual learners. But for auditory and kinesthetic learners, it may not work at all.
- At the end of the day, you should be willing to do some research on what study methods work well for you. And if nothing comes up, I suggest leveraging Artificial Intelligence to answer the question for you, but in much more depth (e.g. ChatGPT, JasperAI, etc.)
Lastly, I want you to digital detox during your study sessions. You can do this by:
- Completely turning off your phone/tablet/any other distracting device
- You can search a tutorial online for your device if you don’t know how to do this.
The purpose of digital detoxing is so that you can stay focused, maintain concentration, and stay in your flow state. Expect a post on digital detoxing to be released soon.
Day 4: Pomodoro, Feynman, & Mind Mapping Techniques
There are six widely popular techniques that I want you to research in as much depth as necessary. They are the Pomodoro, Feynman, Mind Mapping, Leitner System, Spaced Repetition, Distributed Practice, and Recording techniques.
Since there are so many of them, I want you to take a look into each of them over the course of two days.
These study techniques are some of the most well-known in the book. So, they work. Of course, your job is to dig deeper and find if they apply to you, and are worth attempting. Remember, although wasting time attempting these methods is not at all a bad waste of time, we still should aim to avoid it. Our #1 asset as humans is time. So, be mindful of it, and do not waste it.
Day 5: Spaced Repetition, Leitner System, Distributed Practice, & Recording
Similar to yesterday’s schedule, I want you to look into these methods, see if they apply to you or not. If they do, give ’em a shot. If they don’t, do not bother.
Day 6: Taking Breaks
Take this day as sort of a catch-up day. Otherwise, take time to learn how to effectively lay out breaks across your days. How much time should your prioritize relaxing relative to the time you spend working? What’s a fair ratio according to how you learn? Is it too much, or too little?
Considering that you may just be starting out with this “study habit” thing, I suggest following the Pomodoro Technique, which suggests 25 minute work sessions followed by 5 minutes breaks. Of course, the method doesn’t apply to everyone, but if you’re just starting out, I request giving it a shot.
Day 7: Reflect, Learn, and Prioritize
Take a moment to reflect on your progress during the first week. What’s working well? What needs adjustment? Use this feedback to fine-tune your study routine, and enhance your productivity.
Next, what mistakes did you make? Did you mistakenly try a study method for a couple hours, and it turns out that it doesn’t work? Did you stick a specific study method for a test, and you ended up completely failing that test as a result? What can you do next time that will change the way that you study efficiently?
Days 8-14: Continue Exploring
Lastly, there’s your continuing exploration. I could have just titled this page as a “get significantly better at studying in just 7 days!”, but I found that it would be completely wrong of me to do that. Every person needs their own quantity of time to dedicate towards this goal of becoming an excellent student.
So, over the course of this next week, I want you to take a look at your mistakes, and see how you can avoid them. As well, I want you to completely get rid of the methods that failed, but hold on to the methods that worked. Without a doubt, I wish that you continue exploring other study methods too, but I don’t want you to let go of the study methods that worked for you.
Instead, I prefer that you analyze why the methods that worked for you actually worked. Was it because it tackled the way you learn perfectly? Was it because it was simple to follow? Could it have been because it involved taking notes? Why did it work?
Once you answer this question of “why it worked”, you know exactly what details to look for in a study technique, and know which ones are worth your time, and which ones aren’t. By then, and by the 14-day mark, after implementing all these tips, tricks, and suggestions, you will have transformed into an unorganized, messed up student, to an organized, laid out, and determined student to his goals. At that point, you should be proud of yourself.
What’s Next
Come back to this section once you have finished the challenge, and only once you have completed the challenge. If you are still asking what’s next, I want you to ask that to yourself instead? What is next? Should you keep on exploring new study methods? Maybe learn how to study more in less time? Or how about learn how to study more efficiently for your exams, quizzes, or job interviews? What really is next?
Endnotes
I hope you have learned quite much on your 14-day journey. By now, I hope that you know more about how you learn than ever. Studying is hard, but with enough care, dedication, determination, and curiosity, it doesn’t have to be so intensely difficult as everyone says it is.
