Study Skills
Proven techniques to study smarter, focus longer and learn more in less time.
41 articles
Essential guides
How to Concentrate: Five Ways to Stay Focused While Studying
Struggling to focus? Learn how to concentrate with the "5 more" rule, small rewards, fewer distractions, a task list, and an end to procrastination.
ReadHow to Study Effectively With the SQRW Method
Learn how to study effectively with the SQRW method: survey each chapter, ask questions, read to find the answers, and write the answers down.
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Learn Like a Baby: Five Lessons in Natural Learning
Babies learn new things every day without effort. Five lessons we can take from them: watch, listen, ask, try new things and follow your passion.
ReadBad Grades? How to Improve Your Grades
Improving bad grades isn't as hard as it seems. Learn four ways to turn things around: take your studies seriously, make a plan, retake exams and enjoy it.
ReadBe a Generalist, Even If You're a Specialist: Lessons From Guy Heyden
Why students should think like generalists: lessons from professor Guy Heyden and from polymaths such as Newton, Strindberg, Al-Khwarizmi and Ibn al-Haytham.
ReadThe Best Way to Learn and Study
Find the best way to study for you with five tips: accept that everyone is different, stay organized, find your sweet spot, start now and evaluate often.
ReadHow to Be More Efficient (and Effective) When You Study
Learn the difference between efficiency and effectiveness, and how spotting your own time-wasting patterns helps you study more efficiently.
ReadGoing Online to Complement Classroom Lessons
Three ways teachers can use the internet to win back classroom attention: take a virtual field trip, prompt a debate with a talk, and join other classrooms.
ReadHow to Find the Best Study Room
What makes the best study room? Learn the basic conditions every study space must meet, and the extra criteria that help you find a place that's truly yours.
ReadShortcuts to Study Success: Why Hard Work and Patience Win
There are no magic study secrets, but there are shortcuts. Learn why patience, a consistent approach and studying a little each day lead to study success.
ReadMethods That Help Improve Your Memory
Practical methods to improve memory at any age: manage stress and sleep, read every day, try memory exercises, stay physically active and use your senses.
ReadTech Tools for Study Habits and Organization
How flashcard apps, cloud storage, study guide apps and online lectures can help you organize your schoolwork and build better study habits.
ReadStudying Art and Design: Turning Creativity Into a Career
How studying graphic and game design helps creative students build practical skills, a portfolio and a career, and why theory and practice go together.
ReadWeekend Studies: How to Study on the Weekend Without Ruining Your Plans
How to avoid common mistakes when studying on the weekend: plan ahead, fit study time around your activities and cancel early if you really have to.
Read3 Ways to Boost Your Study Results: E-Learning Courses, Tutors and Study Guides
Compare three ways to improve your study results—an e-learning course, a personal tutor or a good study guide—with the pros and cons of each.
ReadPareto's Study Method: Focus on What Works for You
Apply the Pareto principle to studying: find the study method that produces most of your results and give it most of your time, instead of spreading thin.
ReadWhy the "Recommended" Way of Learning Is Not Recommended
There is no single right way to learn. See why your study methods should fit you, and how visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles are described.
ReadWhat's a Good Study Habit?
Who decides which study habits are good? Learn three traits every good study habit shares: it is efficient, it fits a sensible time frame and it is healthy.
ReadStudy Smarter, Not Harder
What it really means to study smarter, not harder: measure how effective your study weeks are, then find the methods that give the best return on your effort.
ReadWhen to Quit a Course: How to Decide
Should you quit a course or keep going? Learn the two main reasons students quit, and how seeking advice and listing pros and cons can help you decide.
ReadThe Learning Process: How to Find the Way You Learn Best
The learning process lasts your whole life. Learn why everyone learns differently and how trying different strategies helps you find what works for you.
ReadDon't Let You Stop You: Getting Out of Your Own Way When Studying
You may be the biggest obstacle to your own study success. Learn how choosing the right subject, keeping your goals in view and self-discipline can help.
ReadAmericans, Wake Up: Why the Metric System Beats Inches and Pounds
Why the metric system (SI units) is more logical than inches, pounds and Fahrenheit, with simple examples from measuring distance and temperature.
ReadHow to Have Fun Studying: Rediscover Why You Chose Your Subject
Studying doesn't have to be boring. Learn simple ways to have fun studying by reconnecting with your subject and putting your knowledge into practice.
ReadIs Multitasking More Harmful Than Marijuana?
A London study suggested constant multitasking can dent your focus more than marijuana. Learn why doing one thing at a time leads to better study results.
ReadHow to Keep Track of Your Studies
Learn how to keep track of your studies by knowing why you study, mapping out the work needed to succeed and measuring your progress along the way.
ReadHow to Study Multiple Sources in 3 Easy Steps
Learn how to study and compare multiple sources for an assignment in three steps: brainstorm while skimming, organize ideas in a mind map, then evaluate.
ReadStudy Habit Lessons From a Chinese Proverb
Education is a long journey. Learn three ways to build a lasting study habit: set personal goals, think positively and surround yourself with motivation.
ReadDo External Memory Aids Really Help?
To-do lists, calendars and alarms keep us organized, but do they weaken our memory in the long run? A short reflection on relying on external aids.
ReadStudying During the Day vs. Night
Is studying at night really worse than studying during the day? Why the answer depends on the person, and why your own study pattern matters most.
ReadHow to Fail a Class: 2 Common Mistakes to Avoid
Learn the two most common reasons students fail a class, bad study habits and poor organization, and what you can do to avoid both.
ReadSummer Studies: How to Study During the Summer Break
Planning summer studies? Learn how to balance rest and learning over the summer break, and why light reading keeps you sharp for the new semester.
ReadPrivate Speech: Don't Just Think It, Say It!
Learn how private speech, or thinking out loud, can help you study: saying information aloud gives your memory a real voice to recall, not just a thought.
Read2 Ways to Use Your Phone or Audio Player as a Study Tool
Two simple ways to turn your phone or audio player into a study tool: record your lessons to review later, and record your notes to listen to them.
ReadComputer vs. Paper: Why Paper Wins for Planning Your Work
Computers make it easy to get distracted. Learn why starting assignments with pen and paper, then moving to the computer, can make you more productive.
ReadWhy Asking Questions in Class Is Underrated
Asking questions in class is underrated. Learn why a good "why" can make all the difference, and how to ask questions that are relevant and to the point.
ReadIs Food the Key to Study Success?
Breakfast and diet matter, but they won't pass an exam for you. Why hard work, patience and real knowledge are what actually lead to study success.
ReadThe Lazy Student, Part 3: Record Your Lessons and Listen on the Go
A lazy student's study tip: record your lessons, then listen to the recordings on the bus or on the walk to school to review with almost no extra effort.
ReadHow to Study: Lucy MacDonald's Model of the Study Process
Study skills expert Lucy MacDonald summed up the whole study process in a single illustration, a reminder that a few well-chosen words can say a lot.
ReadA Confession: Free Resources for the Lazy Student
An honest confession about laziness, and an introduction to The Lazy Student's Resources: free tools that make studying easier for busy students.
ReadDiscover How to Focus Before It Is Too Late
A short pointer to our guide on how to concentrate, with simple guidelines that help you improve your attention and focus while studying.
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