Do you wish you could
study more effectively?
In this video we’re going to…
"Hi Mum. Yes, just filming a video.
Can I call you in an hour?
OK. Sorry. Bye!"
Where were we?
Yes, studying effectively.
Dealing with distractions is
just one thing
we need to do.
Ah, yes.
If you want to study well
you need to manage your time.
How to do that?
First, you need to ask yourself
three questions:
what your commitments are,
what your study goals are,
and how you work best.
Let’s start with the easy one.
What are your commitments
outside study?
What about work,
family events,
childcare or travel?
Write down when these are –
and how long they take.
You can do this for the whole year
or a shorter period.
Now you know how much time is
left for studying.
But is it enough?
That depends on your goals,
which is point two.
Do you want to pass the course
or get a specific grade?
How much will you need to do
in order to achieve that?
Take a good look at the syllabus,
exam and assignment timetables,
and old exam papers
to find out how much
you need to do.
Sometimes, you need to
look at short-term goals.
For example:
this week,
today,
and in the next hour.
Take a good look at your commitments:
you might need to change some
if you don’t have enough time.
Which brings us to question three:
how do you work best?
In the morning?
At night?
And where?
In a library?
At home?
With music?
In silence?
With lots of coffee?
Or lots of chocolate?
Psst.
Try to do your most difficult tasks
when your concentration is strongest.
Ah. With all this information,
you can make the perfect
master plan that suits you.
But there’s a problem:
distractions.
Sorry Mum.
Maybe time to switch off your phone.
And the difficult one:
procrastination.
Why is it that whenever you have
a task, everything
else appears more interesting?
Maybe you need to need to take
a desperate measure:
switch off your internet connection.
And if you need the internet for research,
you can load pages
you need – before turning it off.
And if you still find it hard,
try working in short bursts.
For example, 40 minutes at a time.
You can also do a deal with yourself.
How about:
I can eat this lovely chocolate, but
only after I finish reading this paper.
Hopefully, by now,
everything’s going great.
Now remember,
even if you make the best plan
in the universe
you still need to be flexible.
And try to enjoy your study.
Hi Mum.
Yeah, just finished filming now, actually. Hang on,
let me switch off the camera.