Study habits are a must for anyone who wishes to achieve great success in their courses. Improving your study skills can be the great educational equalizer. Effective studying is the one element guaranteed to produce good grades in school. The following points will help you learn faster and secure better results

• Create an appropriate study environment: You will need limited noise, a lot of sunlight, a tidy surface, and comfortable furniture. Find a quiet place to study where you won’t be bothered. This is very important and should be given great care in doing.
• Get everything you need before you sit down to study: Pencils, pens, notebooks, ruled paper, textbooks etc
• Fix up your schedule: All students should keep a schedule of classes, assignments and other key dates. As part of that schedule, they should set aside specific time for studying and project work. That way, they’re less likely to find themselves scrambling to complete a project at the last minute or cramming the night before a big test. The schedule should also set aside time for non-school activities like sports. In fact, the more comprehensive the schedule, the more efficient most students will be in completing their schoolwork.
• Develop a calm attitude: Be calm and patient with yourself. Nobody learns anything straight away or overnight.
• Take notes in any classes that you have: You can even take notes at work. It may be easier to use abbreviations for common words, only record important information (and/or key words), use clear headers to organize information and use pictures/diagrams to demonstrate. Highlight or underline key points in your material.
• Start with the homework that is hardest to you: For example, if you’re taking Science, Math, English, and Social Science. Start with Science and end with English. If you start with the hardest subject, your brain will be fresh.
• Avoid distractions If you have family members or companions that distract you, politely ask them to leave so you can continue with your assignments. Make sure the TV and Cell phone are off. If you need background noise, classical music might be of interest.
• Take frequent breaks: Go for a walk or be with family. When you take frequent breaks, you find that you aren’t boggled with the stress of homework and you can’t wait to get back to your assignments later. During these breaks, concentrate on your breathing in and breathing out. Sometimes take deep breaths which will make your brain more active.
• Develop critical reading skills.As students move into higher grades, they’re assigned larger and more complex reading assignments. Poor reading skills or an inability to read for important information will make these assignments a burden and undermine overall academic success. Students need to deliberately learn to read for key information.If reading skills are weak, it’s important for the student to seek help improving them; otherwise performance in many subjects would be impacted. Read with a purpose. Instead of just starting at the beginning and reading through to the end, you will complete the assignment much faster and remember much more if you first take the time to follow the following method (O K R1 R2 R3 R4) devised by Dr. Walter Pauk:

Overview: Read the title, the introductory and summarizing paragraphs and all the headings included in the reading material. Then you will have a general idea of what topics will be discussed

K – Key Ideas: Go back and scan the text for the key ideas (usually found in the first sentence of each paragraph). Also read the italics and bold type, bulleted sections, itemizations, pictures and tables.

R1: Read – your assignment from beginning to end. You will able to do it quickly, because you already know where the author is going and what he/she is trying to prove.

R2: Recall – Put aside the text and say or write, in a few key words or sentences, the major points of what you have read. It has been proven that most forgetting takes place immediately after initial learning. Dr. Pauk says, “One minute spent in immediate recall nearly doubles retention of that piece of data!”

R3: Reflect – The previous step helps to fix the material in your mind. To cement it there forever, relate it to other knowledge; find relationships and significance for what you have read. (Memorizing Technique)

R4: Review – This step does not take place right away. It should be done for the next short quiz, and then again for later tests throughout the term. Several reviews will make that knowledge indelibly yours.

• Focus on the areas that require the most attention: Study things more if you have a hard time doing them.
• Develop effective memorization techniques: You can use lists when having to memorize several things e.g. formulae, poems, definitions etc. Flash cards, funny words, familiar signs, colors are good for memorizing large amounts of grouped information. In your notebook, underline, star or boxes or otherwise mark the ideas which your teacher tells you, are important: thoughts to which you are told you will be coming back later, items which you are warned to be common mistakes. For your text, the following markings could be done: Red for main ideas, Blue for dates and numbers, Yellow for supporting facts etc. Make your own glossary of the words and concepts you do not know.
• Improve test-taking strategies: A poor test result doesn’t always mean that the student doesn’t have a good grasp of the academic material or skill gaps. It’s possible that the student understands the material, but doesn’t take tests well. An effective test-taking strategy includes: learning how to prioritize material when studying for a test; preparing for a test over a number of days and not just the night before; coping with stress during the test; and managing time during a test so that all sections or areas are completed.
• Develop a study group: This way you can quiz each other and learn things from each other.
• Ask questions to yourself: Asking questions should lead to emphasis on the what, why, how, when, who and where of study content. Ask yourself questions while you read or study. Answering them will help to make sense of the material, and aid you in remembering it, because the process will make an impression on you. Those things that make impressions are more meaningful, and therefore more easily remembered.
• Eat healthy and make sure you get enough sleep: Have a balanced diet and avoid junk food. Staying up late to study is not a good idea. Lack of sleep prevents you from concentrating and reduces your ability to remember what you have learnt.