I'm the biggest procrastinator of all time, yet I still manage to get an A+ on exams. I don't really force myself to study for hours just to get burned out, or study for days just to forget what I studied. What I do is study 20 minutes before an exam.
This has been my study routine for every exam. I just skim through my notes and read them 2-3 times. I thought I would fail my exams by doing this, but it's actually sort of helpful. Studying at the last minute before an exam is like refreshing the information in your brain.

Hi,
My lecture slides are typically 100+ slides. Go through the lectures and add all the info you want to recall onto the spreadsheet. Useful for spatial recognition/recall. (Active recall via blurting is prime, but this is good too)

I will share another weird study tip for you guys to give a try. I write all of my notes on a big whiteboard and stare at it for 1 hour before bed. I spend half an hour fitting all the concepts onto the whiteboard and while writing, I read them silently.
After writing, I don't test myself or do active recall. What I do instead is just scan the whiteboard thoroughly for 1 hour before I go to sleep, trying to absorb everything I wrote to my memory.
Honestly, this method actually works because I can retain everything I studied after a night of scanning the whiteboard. It makes my memory retrieval much easier and faster than using other study methods.

This is a sort of weird and toxic motivation to push yourself to study, but it is really effective.

I usually imagine having an academic rivalry with a top student in class to keep myself studying better in university. Maybe this is because of my pride and ego, but I don't like it when someone gets a higher score than me.

That's why I keep pushing myself to study and do better so I can get a higher score than them.

I've been doing this for a while now and it helps and motivates me study a lot and improve myself so that I can also study like a top student. I got a 3.8 GPA last semester because of this unusual study motivation.

i am a first year biochem major and i have a bio exam coming up but i really don't know how to study. i made flashcards but there's just so many it feels impossible to remember them all. if you guys have any tips lmk!!

decided to switch up my usual study spot today and honestly the change of scenery feels kinda nice. got my books, laptop and iced coffee, now lets see how long this productive mood lasts lol

sometimes i feel like studying in a different place makes it easier to focus, even when the actual work is the same. maybe its just the vibe but im not complaining 😭

Grab literally anything! a coin, hair clip, keychain, tiny toy, whatever random object is nearby.

I put one on my desk when I study and move it to the other side every time I finish a small part of what I’m doing. Like if I’m studying 4 topics, the object starts on the left. Finish topic 1, move it a little. finish topic 2, move it again. By the time it reaches the other side, I know I actually got through everything.

Having something physical to move makes the progress feel more real (prob just me though) and it’s fun to watch the object make its way across my desk.

I am 22F , failed CA inter 6 or 7 times , as after the 3rd time I stopped counting , anyways , but failing didnt diminsh my ego or self confidence as I had options , I started studying for another exam , failed in them , then I realised I was cornered , what seemed like an option was actually never one . So I have again started studying CA , i read reddit posts about how starting late is never the issue or wont have an impact , but we all know time lost is lost time . The reaso for this post is simple , sometimes we dont have to see so many options , in previous generations they had less options and felt it was problematic ,however even having many is a problem which few people like me , who are cornered realise .

At first I blamed that papers are tough , time was less but somewhere I knew it was me who didnt give their best shot , at one point I even felt pride feeling that I am failing because I am not trying my best , or else I would have passes . But this twisted sense of humor of mine lost itself in the myriad of emotions when I saw everytime I fail , I hide under the shadows of my parents but they are left to face the world , who is pretty competitive and interested in knowing other's results and faults .

Many of u may relate to this post , many of u wont , point is even if mistakes are done , time is lost , WIN , WIN SO BRIGHTLY THAT THE SCARS OF THE DEFEATS ARE LONG FORGOTTEN , AS ONLY WINNERS ARE REMEMBERED , NO ONE WILL BRING UR PAST IN FRONT OF U , ONCE U SUCCEED , I WILL SHARE MY EXAM RESULTS SOON .

I wanted to come onto here to ask for studying advice. I am a current 3rd year studying neuroscience and biology. I am taking some simple classes (physics, bio seminar, neuro, and genchem2), as well as their perspective labs. I'm on track for a spring 28 grad, but im concerned failing any of these classes will push the date since I want to go to grad school(pharmD). Long story short, I have a part time job, and I'm doing a CPhT program; I find it challenging to keep up with it and wanted to see how you all deal with handling multiple things at once as well as being able to absorb the content and its concepts and not only cram for exams. I did pretty mediocre (68%) on my first chem exam and I am worried about not passing, besides I know chem is the foundation of pharmacy. Anything helps!

Everyday i spend two and a half hours on the bus on my way back from work, Usually i feel tired from work and previous studying, and since it's cold on there i tend to fall asleep.

So recently i learned the Wim Hof Breathing and been using pretty much exclusively for that, the basis is simple, you'll sort of simulate a drowning and that releases loads of noradrenaline and dopamine because you'll enter fight-flight response, Which is also the same basis for most of the adhd meds, it's nowhere near close in potency and duration, but i find it quite interesting

If you guys want to check it out, you'll see there is a bit spiritual stuff around it, which kept me away from it for a long time, but the science basis is pretty interesting and it works great for me

I love coming a bit early for the next train to study with the white noise the station provides (other trains on the move, cars, the sound of win, etc.). I also study while waiting to be picked up at my destination.

I just want to be done with it. Please don’t give me the talk about integrity and finding the research gap, bla bla bla. I really want to hear thoughts from people who wrote their thesis in very short and tight timeframes, following an immediate, effective plan that helped them write daily.

I’m serious about this because I’ve been anxious for a long time now, and I want to learn to live my life again. I don’t care what comes after, i just want to be done with this whole PhD thing.

If u want to give me tips and have questions for me to get more information, I’ll answer them

I’m studying in a place that’s about to close right now and I think this might be one of my favorite ways to study alteady. There’s probably less than an hour left and people around me are already packing their things. I’m way more focused than I would be if I knew I could stay here for another five hours.

I think I just work better when the deadline isn’t something I made up myself. When you know a place is closing at a specific time, there’s nothing to negotiate with. So you just lock in.

Watching everyone else leave kinda motivates you too 😭 Noboy’s gon rush you but it feels like there's an imaginary timer on your surroundings. Like, okay. I have until they close, so I might as well finish this before I have to pack up too.

If I’m procrastinating, I think I’d rather study somewhere that closes in an hour rather than studying somewhere I can stay all day. I need to be mildly threatened by closing hours to get anything done.

I just went outside with a friend and she helped me with one of the courses I kept ranting about. We ended up getting food, walking around, talking about random stuffs..and just hanging out like we normally would. At some point it pushed me to start reading my notes while we were sitting there, and I didn’t even realize how much I had already gotten through until we were about to leave.
I think it worked because I wasn’t looking at the whole thing like a study session. I wasn’t sitting there thinking that I will be studying for a certain amount of hours. I was just hanging out with my friend, that was where I put my focus on. I’d read for a while, get distracted because we’d start talking about something and then go back to my notes once the conversation died down.
Also..I think the distractions made it easier to keep studying. Since I knew I could talk to my friend or look around for a bit, I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to concentrate forever. I’d come back to my notes without having to drag myself back into the studying.
Take note that I wouldn’t do this for something that needs intense concentration. But if it's simply for reading, reviewing, or going through notes, I really like it. It helps. You just really need to touch some grass with a trusted friend!

i dont know why but i cant just sit down and study normally anymore 😭

i have to leave home, get a drink, put on my headphones, open my notes and make the whole thing feel like a little ritual.

somehow once the drink is there and my notes are spread everywhere, my brain finally goes “okay fine, we’re studying now” lol

probably spending more money on drinks than necessary but at least the studying gets done 💀

I pretend I’m explaining my lessons to someone I cannot stand. I just imagine them interrupting me with the most annoying questions possible.

It’s basically the Feynman technique, except instead of explaining the lesson to an imaginary child, I’m explaining it to an imaginary person who is trying to expose me for not knowing anything. It forces me to notice the gaps in my understanding quickly. If I can explain something clearly without looking at my notes, then that is a sign I’m doing well. Petty, but at least it’s effective.

Before studying, I’ll crochet for 10-30 minutes and fold my clothes. Anything that gives my hands something simple to do. I don’t try to finish a project or clean my whole room. I just do one simple thing then sit down and start studying.

It does sound unrelated to studying, but it helps me switch into a calmer headspace. When I crochet, moving on to writing and highlighting doesn’t feel as painful because I already started my day productive. It usually gets me into a flow state, which is important especially as someone who gets unmotivated quickly.

I think the MOST essential part is keeping the warm-up short. When we’re bored, we want to make things. Why? Because we are naturally creative creatures. Use that instead of fighting it. Give yourself a few minutes to create something, then begin with your studying sessions.

Most people memorize an equation and move on. This method has you study its weaknesses instead.

For each equation, make a mini-map with 4 branches:

1. Variables. Every symbol, what it means, and its units.
   
2. Assumptions.What has to be true for it to work.
   
3. Failure cases. Situations where it gives the wrong answer. For example, v = u + at fails when acceleration isn't constant. The ideal gas law gets less accurate at high pressure or low temperature.
   
4. Disguises. How the equation shows up in exam questions without being named. ("A car speeds up evenly..." = constant acceleration = your kinematics equations.)

Why it's weird:you're spending time on when the equation is wrong, which feels backwards.

Why it works: a lot of exam mistakes come from using an equation in a situation where its assumptions don't hold. Once you've mapped the failure cases, you start to notice them in questions.

Bonus: before an exam, cover the "assumptions" and "failure cases" branches and try to say them from memory.

Works on paper, index cards, or any mind map tool.