How to Study. No Success Guaranteed.

Few days ago I read a post on studying tips. I commented, agreeing with some, disagreeing with some while had no clue on the rest. So after my Pension test, I watched House while eating mushroom fried rice and got the idea of posting my own studying tips.

Yes.

Tip One
Clear the table/floor/bed/the surface of your choice from any clutter other than your books, pencil case/calculator/laptop/music player. Trust me, you'll concentrate more.

Tip Two
Feel clean. Presentable. Somehow, I'm more in a mood to study after a nice shower compared to studying when I just woke up with drool drying on the corners of my lips. No one will judge you if you spray a bit of perfume or put on baby powder.

Tip Three
Sweets, biscuits, cookies. That's all that you're allowed to eat while studying. Snacks. Not a meal replacement. Do not eat that BLT while reading Chemistry. Do not finish the whole package of cookies too. If you really want to eat, close the book and eat properly.

Eating while studying just serves to distract you. You won't fail from taking 30 minutes to cook and eat. Just don't eat while watching a whole movie.

Tip Four
Take breaks. Some people take 5 minutes breaks between every 30 minutes. I used to play Sudoku on my phone every one hour.

Walk around. No need to get your butt all numb. If you studied for 2 hours, nothing wrong with watching a 30 minute episode of Friends. Well, unless your test is tommorow.

Tip Five
Write down notes. If its a reading subject, start off with writing down notes. If its a math subject, write down the formulaes. Just write. Neatly, so you can refer to it later.

The least is have a piece of paper you can doodle on bits of info on.

Tip Six
I know some people are insanely in love with their highlighters that their notes makes me think that unicorns that poop rainbows just took a dump on pieces of paper.

But god. Limit it. If you overboard the colours, you might find yourself more confused and not really absorbing the info.

Me? I use a blue pen, black pen and a pencil.

Tip Seven
Switch off your wireless detector. Hell, switch off your laptop. If you continue to be online while studying, you won't study effectively and you'll go:

"Oh god, I just wasted 2 hours being online doing God knows what."

One hour studying, ten minutes to check your facebook, email and read a blog update.

If you disagree and think you should be online to keep connected (Do not use Google as your excuse), just stop kidding yourself that you're studying.

Tip Eight
Never ever ask your friend:

"So, how much/long have you studied?"

It will just freak you out and ruin your momentum/make you feel overconfident and slag.

In the 2 weeks before my finals and during them, I've studied between 7-10 hours daily. I know. That's horrible/too little.

I do it in bouts of 2-3 hours so I never feel like I'm studying the day away.

I got friends studying at least 12 hours a day.

Just know that sometimes, you need to study smart. Studying hard all the time will just make your brain take a sleeping pill.

Tip Nine
I can't do an all-nighter. Hell, I try to stop studying by midnight or I'll just be sleepy and lose concentration. I'm more of the wake up at 6-7am and study for 3 hours before going back to sleep.

Try to find out what suits you. Do not think that since your friends are studying till 4am then sleeping till 2pm, you have to do that.

I've been looked down on before because of this but while they're sleeping half the day away, I'm studying my ass off.

Tip Ten
Motivate yourself. Some people go all:

"I need to get at least 90% for this."

Or

"I can do it. I'm a smart person."

Me? I go:

"Hanis, if you don't get at least a B+ on this, your grades will suffer. You'll be a failure."

Fear helps me. Don't worry, I know I'm smart.