Those reading only think they are studying. Without meditation, reading is nothing but a waste of time.
Carlo DossiIn this article we see the 5 main mistakes we make when we are studying something.
Often these are not completely conscious mistakes, in fact when we are in a hurry to study quickly we fall into very trivial traps.
It is therefore a question of recognizing and stemming these errors in order to go back to studying well and get back into rhythm.
If you notice that your efficiency in memorizing and understanding is dropping, stop for a moment and consider if you are making any of these critical mistakes.
5 Study Mistakes That Are Slowing You Down
# 1 Don't plan your study time
Not planning your study sessions and studying everything in a single session without distributing the work to be done is a mistake that generally makes those who are beginners or those who no longer have time to be able to plan properly.
An effective strategy to combat this error at its root is to plan the work with the backward planning in this way:
- Get a calendar and mark the date of your exam or just a few days before
- Determine the total number of hours you want to dedicate to it
- Determine how many hours a day you want to study
- Divide the number of hours you want to dedicate to your exam by the number of hours per day you have established, so as to obtain the study days you need
- Start from the date of your exam and go back and mark the necessary days you need
With this system you have planned your study sessions quickly for your next exam.
# 2 Studying in the presence of distracting sources
Distractions go eliminate mercilessly, especially the technological ones such as persistent notifications from Facebook and from smartphones which, among other things, have the purpose of bringing you back into the platform in question.
If you are in the habit of studying with music, TV on or YouTube videos, give it a try by studying in complete silence, perhaps in the library.
You could increase yours study efficiency even a lot.
Also I recommend you try Forest, an application that can prove decisive: available for both iPhone and Android.
# 3 Let yourself be at the mercy of moods
Our emotions greatly affect ours ability to memorize: just think that several studies have shown that if a person has a strong confidence to be able to memorize correctly and remember what he has learned, he is really able to remember more information than others.
The same will is indispensable for remembering people's names.
Having understood this, avoid studying when you find yourself shaken or excessively stressed (if you want a remedy for stress read this article).
Taking into account what has been said, it could also be useful to increase self-confidence to improve one's ability to remember what has been studied.
In this regard, take a look at this article and this one on self-fulfilling prophecy.
# 4 Keep studying when the mind is exhausted or elsewhere
Surely you have happened to study or simply read a book thinking about something else, perhaps the holidays you will soon be taking or simply about your own business.
This problem arises when we suffer from poor concentration, perhaps also due to the fact that we are exhausted.
If your mind is elsewhere, stay wasting your time, you think you memorize and understand the subject you are studying but in reality you are not staring at any content in the memory.
In most cases, you will scroll down to the bottom of the page, only to realize you haven't read a single sentence.
In these cases it is best to stop to refresh the mind and resume later, also planning some pleasant breaks, in this sense the tomato technique is always very effective.
# 5 Studying too much alone or too much in company
Studying in company is useful for questioning each other e strengthen what has been memorized, but preliminary memorization occurs mainly when you are alone.
Therefore try to carefully calibrate your study sessions by alternating a first phase of memorization with a second phase of recall of concepts and solidification of what you have learned with the help of other people.
Question each other and ask questions without the aid of notes or books of text is very useful for recalling concepts already memorized in the form of questions and answers, crystallizing what has been learned.
Beware of the error
In summary, pay attention to these points.
- Plan with backward planning
- Eliminate your sources of distraction
- Check your mindfulness
- Find your rhythm alone and in company
- Take the right breaks
These are the 5 most common and harmful mistakes we make when we study, if the topic interests you, I strongly suggest you read the article where I explain how to study better.
