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Hi, I’m Aanya, a first-year medical student and in today’s blog I will be sharing my advice on study techniques and tips to ace your upcoming exams! Exam season feels like a storm, once it’s over the atmosphere is calm again but before you know it, the next exam season will be here. It can be so hectic but as someone who has been giving out study advice on the internet for almost 5years now, here are some secrets which will boost your productivity and get you through this turbulence!
1. Plan before you start.
Before you start studying, it’s a good idea to have a plan of what you’re going to do. Personally, I find it so hard to start if I don’t have a to do list made. In fact, I even put things like ‘lunch’ or ‘relax for an hour after studying’ or ‘go on a walk’ on my to do list because it makes sure I don’t skip meals or skip breaks and therefore burn out. Plus, it feels nice to tick off boxes and overall, makes you feel so accomplished.
2. Break down your to-do list.
I would say to break down your to-do list as much as you can, for example instead of saying ‘Revise topic 1’ -break this down into subtopics or lectures or pages of textbooks. This might mean you have a longer to do list but in the long run when you start studying, it makes everything so much easier because you’re able to tick off boxes more frequently. The more tick boxes you see completed, the happier you might feel with your progress and the more productive you would feel at the end of the day too.
3. Pomodoro method or timed studying
You may or may not have heard of the pomodoro method, which is essentially where you do 25 minutes ofstudying and then have a 5-minute break. In my opinion, if you feeldemotivated, this method can definitely make you start studying. 25 minutes ofstudying doesn’t seem like too long, and you even get a 5-minute break after.Therefore, repeating this method can help you do 100 minutes of studying in 2hours with 20 minutes of break time. Plus, having study timing plans like thisensures you take a break too!
4. How to get off your phone
If you find it hard to get off your phone, then I would recommend downloading study timer apps like ‘Flora’(my personal favourite!) or ‘Forest’. This helps you time your study and break sessions as however you want these timings to be – for instance you could double up on the pomodoro timings so study for 50 minutes and then take a 10-minute break. With both Flora and Forest, it grows a plant or tree of your choice on the app (in Flora, you unlock more as you do more study sessions) and this makes me feel super motivated especially at the end of the week if I see a big garden! The best part is these apps will kill the tree you’re growing if you go on any other apps on your phone which means you stay off your phone for that allocated study session.
5. Break time activities.
It might be extremely tempting to go on your phone after a focused study session – but do you also find that when you go on your phone, you end up staying for way longer than your break was? If this is the case, then I would say to stay off your phone even in your5/10-minute breaks. You could walk around your room or the rest of your accommodation, perhaps going to the kitchen to make a drink! Sometimes if I don’t feel as awake, I end up dancing in my room for a bit just to shake myself up and make myself more active. You could even just colour or doodle on some paper for this time too.
6. Focus on high yield techniques.
You may have heard the phrase ‘study smarter, not harder’ but what does this mean? Basically, it’s the principle that it isn’t about the time you spend on studying but how you study and whether this is efficient or not. You could spend hours sitting at your desk and studying but if you’re making notes or highlighting textbook pages for example, then the information you’re studying is less likely to stay in your brain. To actively take in information, make flashcards or use blurting where you try and write on a piece of paper everything you know about a topic/concept and see what you missed after. You repeat this until you don’t miss anything and then repeat the next day or regularly enough for it to stay!
7. Study snacks.
Elevate your study session by having snacks on the side! I think it’s so nice to be doing some work while also eating some fruit (even dried fruit!) or nuts. My go-to is almonds or a trail mix, but there’s so many options to choose from. Bonus points if they are healthy snacks because you’re getting your 5 a day while also studying. Cereal bars, rice cakes, yoghurt pots and crackers are some non-fruit options to treat yourself!
8. Reward yourself.
I can’t stress how important rewarding yourself is! I feel like once I start rewarding myself for doing tasks on my to do list, I’m more likely to get them done. It gives you something to look forward to whether it be some time to playa game or eat a sweet treat. Think of some creative rewards which would genuinely help motivate you.
I hope you find these tips helpful and have great, productive study sessions during this busy time of exam season. Remember to take care of yourself!
I wish you all the best for your assessments, good luck!