How to Study

This is a very broad topic, huge in fact. I have read a few books on how to study, some of them helped me some of them were a waste of paper. I have collected here the study techniques that have genuinely helped me learn information and organize my thoughts, this is not from any one guide it is a mix'n match of techniques that helped me.

So I'll jump right to it:

1.Get into a stress free, distraction free environment.

I cannot say enough about this. I didn't believe it until I tried it. I was a big fan of loud music to study too, until I tried for a few weeks without, and noticed a difference.

2.Study SMART not hard.

What do I mean by that? Well, I used to read the same paragraphs over and over and over in a book but it didn't help me learn any better, I would stay up all night cramming, only to be exhausted for the exams. While I did OK, I feel I could have done much better if I had focused my studies better.

Do not study for more than 45 min to an hour at a time without at least a small break. It will help you concentrate better. If you find you are drifting off to lala land... stop! Take a break, do some chores, go for a run but relax your mind a bit so it can come back focused..

How to study from a text-book:

After trying this I can say the level of retention is significantly higher by using a layered approach to study.

1. Study the book it self, who wrote it, when, what qualifies them to write a book? I know this sounds lame, but if you are reading a 8 year old book on computer programming, odds are it is significantly out of date. Get a feel for the book. Don't take too long just skim the cover, the copyright page, and the back cover, make sure It has what you are trying to study.
2. You do not have to read every chapter in the book to get to the last page! This is important, I being the rational person always started at Chapter 1, and went all the way... until I got board and fell asleep never getting to the chapters that were really relative to what I needed. If you are studying a topic and find that you do not understand something that the author is referring to Look up those specific topic relating to your field of interest.
3. After note 2, you are going to read this and do a double take. Skim the entire book. Get a feel for the authors layout. Are there glossaries at the end of every chapter, is there a summary, additional reading material? How is information presented in the book, are there charts, and figures? Do not READ much, only spend about 1-2 seconds per page, skim through the chapters, the idea here is to get to understand the format of the book and the resources it has. (Remember the author/publisher wants you to have the information in it, so some thought had to go into how to present it and what resources you need)
4. Find the Information you are looking to study (could be the entire book, or just a paragraph or two). Skim the chapter/section that you need. Only look at the headlines, bold texts, key phrases, outlines, and figures. You only need to skim so a rough rule of thumb 5-10 seconds per page. The purpose of this exercise is to form a mental outline of the topic you are about to study, the proverbial skeleton to work with.
5. Now for the hard part. Read it! Read word for word the chapter/sections that you need. The purpose of this section is to grasp the terms, concepts, and ideas that you need to learn. Before you jump off the deep end... here is some advice: (I recommend speed reading... it can really help depending on the topics, but that is an issue for another how to)
   1. If it is a large block or group of text you have to read... break it into distinct chunks that are manageable.
   2. Do hylite all over the text! Remember it while you read it. Make a decision to remember it there, spend about 20-30 seconds on a term or concept and try to find a way to remember it then.. If it is an important topic or term just mark along the edge of the page with a check or a star to note where important information is. Because if you mark it to come back to it later... later doesn't usually happen.
   3. Do not make your notes while reading! Focus on the reading, the ideas, the terms and the concepts. If you start to get lost or lose concentration, take a break and come back with a fresh mind.
   4. If you are genuinely lost, ask for help, don't read the same paragraph 50 times if you don't understand it, get help, look on line, call a friend, find a tutor, but don't get your self to the point of frustration that you think that you cannot learn a topic. Most likely it is just a term or concept that you either missed or need better explained.
6. Wait a few minutes after reading but not too long (give your mind a chance to process all that data and you a chance to relax). Close the book, and start to make your own out line. You can do this after every “chunk” of text or at the end of chapters take your pick and try to use manageable amounts of information. Anytime you get stuck... go back to the book and skim over the sections you have trouble with. Then close it and go back to your outline. The out line should not be remarkably in depth, it should cover the core concepts and important terms. The goal is not to memorize word for word the author, but to make sure that you can present the concepts and terms in your own mind in a way that makes sense to you.
7. Take a break. No more than a few hours. But completely step away from your studies.
8. Compare. Now, look at your outline and with the book open, and compare your outline to the book. Is there anything you missed, just skim the chapters again, look at the key points and terms, thinking of your outline. Make sure that you have the important pieces (this should not take long if you had a good outline... if it takes a long time, that is ok that means you are catching data you would have missed before) If the author has an outline in the book, how does your outline compare?
9. Review. Now that you have a good outline and you have compared it with the book, you should have fairly good retention of what was presented and be able to explain the core of what you learned to a friend.
10. Repeat. If you want this information to get to your long term memory, what you need to do is every few days, possibly even just once a week, go back to your outline and study it, try to fill in the “skeleton” you created. If you get stuck at a point, look it up. The goal here is just to go over the information often enough to keep it in long term memory.

If you are reading this and saying, “whoa this is a lot of work... I am not going to do that”, well that is up to you. It is a lot of work. However this is the best way I have found for me to retain information, I found this combine with various speed reading techniques are far more effective and time saving than my traditional pickup the book and slog through until I was done techniques. I find I can explain terms and concepts much better, and the information has much more meaning than just terms for an exam.