With all of the study guides on the internet, how do you decide which one is the best? Sure, you can go through each and every one of them, but you’ll probably get some bad grades and stress along the way.
Why not use an easy one that always works? That’s why in this guide, I’m going to show you a simple, yet effective study guide that will lead you to success.
Let’s talk about how to use this study guide shall we?
What this guide accomplishes
With this study guide, you will never have to study for endless amounts of hours and memorize everything you read.
So what will this study guide accomplish? Well, it will allow you to:
- Keep your focus on the most important material
- Understand the information you read instead of just memorizing it
- Come prepared and feel confident for any test or exam
I hope I encouraged you to read through the entire guide. I wouldn’t want you to miss something that could tarnish the results of your studying efforts.
Now, let’s go through the steps to this study guide:
- Use the most simple and effective note-taking method
- Make a study schedule
- Isolate yourself in the right type of environment
- Highlight the study chapters
- Start with the first chapter and only review the keywords
- Do a chapter review
- Take a 5-minute break
- Move on to the next chapter
- Do a full review and close your books
- The morning review
I want to mention that this study guide is more geared towards studying for exams. This method still works for smaller assessments, you just need to change up the wording to fit your situation. For example, if I say you need to give yourself 2 weeks to study, you probably only need to give yourself a couple of days.
Brief Overview
Here is a quick overview of all of the steps if you decide to bookmark this page to look back at it later.
1. Use the most simple and effective note-taking method
If you really want to be successful using this study guide, you need to take the best kind of notes. And how do you take the best kind of notes? By using my One Shot note-taking method. This method focuses on taking down the best kinds of notes in a short amount of time.
Using this note-taking method will make studying a lot easier. I can’t stress how important it is.
2. Make a study schedule
If you have many courses, you need to create a study schedule so that you aren’t studying everything for one course in one day. It’s simply too overwhelming to handle. You’re also going to forget most of the things you studied.
Ideally, you want to give yourself at least 2 weeks to study. If you’re a busy person, you may want to consider giving yourself even more time. Again, this all depends on your schedule and workload.
You can use an app like Calendar on your computer or phone to schedule out your study sessions for each course. Here’s an example of what you could do:
This photo is also in my Deal with stress guide!
Create a schedule that works for you. If you finish studying specific courses early on, you can revise your schedule to give yourself more time to study other courses. From now on, you just need to follow and repeat the remaining steps for each course.
3. Isolate yourself in the right type of environment
To have great study sessions, you need to put yourself in the right type of environment. Again, this all depends on your personal preferences.
Using myself as an example, I like to study in an environment where there is some noise. When it’s completely quiet, my mind tends to wander off. A cafe, Starbucks, or my bedroom with some music is my ideal study place.
I like having friends around who are also studying or working on school work. It motivates me to keep on studying when I feel like giving up. Lastly, I like to wear comfortable clothing, such as a t-shirt and sweats. It makes me feel relaxed, and of course, comfortable.
Think about these questions for your ideal studying environment:
- Do you want people around you?
- Does background noise distract you when you study?
- Will your bedroom be too distracting for you to study?
- What type of environment can’t you study in?
When you finally have all of your answers, think of a place to study that’s right for you.
4. Highlight the study chapters
This step is plain and simple. When you have a test or exam coming up, you should’ve been given a list of chapters or at least topics to study. If not, ask your professor! Hopefully, they don’t give you the “You need to study everything” answer.
If they do, look over your course outline and see if there’s anything there. If you can’t find anything, you’ll want to go over everything that:
- Was discussed in class
- Is available online (PowerPoints, worksheets, and external links)
- Was done in your textbook
As unfair as this sounds, there’s nothing you can really do about it. I’ve been given the “Everything we did during the semester is fair game” answer many times.
5. Start with the first chapter and only review the keywords
Now that you’ve highlighted the study chapters, it’s time to start with the first one. It’ll be hard to do this step if you haven’t used my note-taking method. You’re just going to have more work for yourself.
With my note-taking method, you should have only taken down keywords for everything you’ve learned. You’re going to use the same concept for this study guide.
As you’re going through your notes, you should only focus on keywords. If you don’t understand what I mean by that, here’s an example:
The words in bold are the keywords. And yes, keywords can be longer than a single word, it all depends on the difficulty of the context. As you study, the keywords are the only words you should remember. The other words are there to help give you context.
If you were to study something, for example, the five steps to conflict resolution (the image above), you should study the steps until you can use the keywords to answer the entire question.
Eventually, you’ll be able to explain the steps by only remembering the keywords. If you can understand a definition or concept, or list a number of steps using keywords, it’s safe to say you really understand the material. That’s the primary goal of studying. It’s also a lot better than memorizing everything word for word.
6. Do a chapter review
After you’re done studying the material for the first chapter, quickly breeze through it again using the keyword method.
Add an “X” beside all of the material you don’t understand. You now need to focus your attention on the Xs. Once you think you’ve got the Xs down, go through all of your notes for the chapter again. It’s not as time-consuming as it sounds, if you do it right.
You’re not going through everything in-depth. You are quickly breezing through your notes using keywords. As you’re going through the material, try to speak out loud. Say the keywords first, and then answer or reiterate the question or concept you’re reviewing.
This may help you remember what you study a little better.
7. Take a 5-minute break
Taking a small break in between chapters is going to help put you at ease. It’s also going to help increase your productivity by improving your ability to focus and pay attention during a study session.
More focus and attention results in higher levels of retention. So grab a drink, take a walk, stretch, or just lay down for a few minutes. Avoid going on your phone or watching T.V. as it may demotivate you from studying.
8. Move on to the next chapter
You’re almost done! Now that you’ve completed the first chapter, it’s time to move on to the next. Repeat steps 5-8 but continue on with the remaining chapters. If you’re studying for an exam, remember that you’re not going through every chapter in one day. Follow the schedule you made in step two.
9. Do a full review and close your books
When you finally get to this point, you should still have a good number of days before your test or exam. Use the remaining days leading up to your assessment to do full reviews. You should aim to do one full review every remaining day.
This is just like step six, the only difference is you’re doing a full review for all of the chapters. This is going to engrave the information you’ve studied into your mental framework. Once you go through the chapters for the day, close your books and don’t look back. You don’t want to overwork your brain.
10. The morning review
This is the last and final step. On the day of your test or exam, do one final, full review in the morning – after you’ve fully awake. Don’t look back at any of your notes leading up to your assessment. Take the time to relax and let all of the information you’ve studied sink in.
By now, you should have practiced your keywords well enough to know the course material. You’re now ready to ace your test or exam!
I’m going to stress it again.
When I say review, remember that you are not reading the same words over and over again. You are simply going through your notes using keywords. You’ll say the keyword(s) for one question or concept, add your own context to show you understand it, and then move on to the next.
Conclusion
This study guide will make sure you’re ready to take on any test or exam coming your way. The best part is you’re not memorizing thousands and thousands of words. Instead, fully understand the material you read so that it stays in the back of your mind in the future.
I hope this study guide was easy to follow. If there’s something you don’t understand or have a suggestion, leave a comment down below to let me know!
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