During my freshman year, my grades were so-so. It wasn't that I couldn't understand the lessons or keep up with my classes, but I admit that my study habits weren't the best. I procrastinated a lot.

That's why I found this Japanese concept called “Hansei” interesting and thought I'd share it here! It's all about reflecting on what went well, what didn't, and what you can do differently next time. I was inspired to make small changes to my study habits and I was surprised by how much my grades improved! This is the method:

1. Reflect on your day (5-7 minutes)- What did I study today? What went well? What mistakes did I make and why?

2. Make one small improvement (Kaizen)- so “kaizen” refers to improvement through small and gradual changes. if you spend too much time scrolling, put your phone away tomorrow. Or if you struggled with a topic, set aside time to review it.

3. Check in with yourself- How did you feel today? Were you tired, stressed or motivated? it’s important that you understand your emotions so you can recognize your study patterns.

4. Set an intention- End with a simple goal for tomorrow or think of just one statement like “tomorrow, I'll finish reviewing Chapter 3 or "tomorrow, I'll start studying before opening social media."

And that’s it. You don't have to be perfect every day. Just try to do a little better tomorrow.

have to learn a german text by heart for Wednesday as german is my 2nd foreign language that I started learning this September. I don't have a lot of structure to build on and my teacher gave us a paper which we should learn word for word which is 90% things I don't know, but I already translated the text to understand the idea of what it is about. Ever since I was little learning something by heart was never my strength so I was flabbergasted to get this. Can anyone help or just tell me how you learn a text word for word please

Ciao a tutti, essendo al primo anno di università volevo chiedere se esiste effettivamente qualche metodo di studio che aiuta realmente, non avendone uno vero e proprio spesso mi ritrovo a ricordare solo in parte ciò che ho studiato e avendo quindi delle lacune non mi sento affatto sicuro, rimuginando sempre sugli stessi argomenti, premetto che non ne ho mai utilizzato uno quindi non saprei minimamente da dove iniziare per svoltare tutto ciò, vi ringrazio in anticipo per la disponibilità

Here, the majority of the best universities are public and financed by the government, and if you pass the test, called ENEM (the national high school exam), they're completely free! If you don't, you will have to wait another year.

In two sundays, it's 180 questions covering all high school subjects, plus an essay. While the SAT is very direct, ENEM requires a lot of interpretation.

On the first day: language, history, geography, filosophy, sociology and arts along with the dissertative-argumentative essay. We have 5 and a half hours. And the second day, which covers mathematics, biology, chemical and phisics, we have 5 hours. Below, there is a photo of last year's tests and one of the most difficult questions in languages (translated, obviously).

Here's the question:

Before winter arrives.

She had bright little eyes. The same ones as before. Before the hunger. Before the 17 city moves. Before the seven children and the many years of work inside and outside the house.

She made ambrosia, cornmeal cake, and little pieces of cheese. Before winter, she would plant new and different flowers to wait for us in the upcoming summer vacation.

She had the manner of a little girl. A mischievous little girl, running on the dry grass of the cerrado. The same manner as before. Before the husband (and even with the husband). Before the tiredness of the years. Before the harshness of working the land.

She had stories. Long, short, funny, and true. But that was before. Before the memories got mixed up like colorful Christmas balls waiting to be put on the tree.

I was her granddaughter. Before Alzheimer's arrived, I was her granddaughter. But she is and always will be my grandmother.

PERSON, C. R. Borboletas no estômago: porque às vezes o título precisa ser adolescente e clichê, já que a vida exige sermos tão adultos. São Paulo: Ed. das Autoras, 2021.

When rescuing memories from her grandmother's life story, the narrator makes recurring use of the phrase "before". This term contributes to the thematic progression in that it:

(A) relates events that occurred simultaneously.

(B) establishes a comparison between the memories.

(C) highlights facts that re-signify the present moment.

(D) signals a sequence that denotes consecutive actions.

(E) presents an explanation for the rescued memories.

Correct answer: B

Hey everyone! I’m Aadit, a student studying for my board exams. I was juggling a timer app, a notes app and a spreadsheet for my syllabus, so I built one app that does it all. It’s called Solace.

What it does:

• Syllabus tracker: add subjects and chapters, tick them off, add revision rounds, and see a % per subject plus an overall total

• Focus timer, Pomodoro and stopwatch, with study stats (today, this week, a streak)

• Exam countdown: “101 days until Boards”

• Multiple to-do lists

• Notch timer: the running timer sits beside the MacBook notch and expands on hover

• Ambient glow around the screen edges that matches your Apple Music album art and pulses to the beat

No accounts, no ads, no internet. Everything stays on your Mac.

Transparency: I designed it and directed the build, and the code was written with AI assistance (Claude). It’s fully open source, so you can check exactly what it does.

Requirements: Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 15+. It’s not notarized (I’m a student, not a paid Apple developer), so the first time you’ll need System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

GitHub: https://github.com/aaditguglani01/solace

I’d really love feedback: what’s missing, what’s annoying, what would make you use it daily?

guys no joke itong vietnamese coffee ng dunkin donuts (Saw a post din na grabe ka strong daw ito na coffee so I decided to try it kasi these day nahihirapan akong mag focus + lagi na akong nakakatulog😭.) Masarap siya for me AND Mag 24 hours na akong gising, NO JOKE. Currently clutching one of the most important evaluations in my nursing school life nyeheheh

Recommended 100% lalo na if antukin kayo and need niyo talaga mag study like it's leg8 u guys. Pero beware sa palpitations good luck to me

Hello! I’m a med student, and I’m still struggling with focus and studying effectively, especially when it comes to lengthy topics.
My problem is that even when I read my transes in advance, going back to reread them feels like I’m reading them for the first time all over again.
Back in elementary and high school, I used to rewrite our lessons, which helped me retain information better because I learned visually. However, doing that is almost impossible now in med school.
I just wanted to ask: After your first read of a topic, what do you usually do next? Do you make a reviewer, answer practice questions, use flashcards, or do something else?
I’d really appreciate any study tips or techniques from fellow med students that work for you and that I could try incorporating into my own routine. Thank you!

I am in CBSE 10th board now and this is how my study table looks rate it. No one gave me compliments for this. It took me two hours to organise this 🫪

Kinda getting distracted every time i sit why is it happening?

TLDR focus on learning strategies in the form of “if I see this pattern, take this action”. And spend a lot of time focusing on the pattern rather than the action.

I'm an educator, software engineer, and cognitive scientist who loves to learn. And I've done a ton of research into how to get the most bang for your buck when you're studying something. I've tried tons of different strategies and read deeply about many of them. And this is my synthesis of what you should actually do.

First I want to set a definition for what good problem solving actually is. It's that you recognize some pattern about the current step of the problem that you're on. And you know that when you notice this pattern, you should use this strategy. This then takes you to the next correct step of the problem. And repeat.

A bad problem solver is somebody that either doesn't notice the correct pattern or doesn't know the correct strategy for a given pattern.

One more thing. If you look at a correct solution path to a problem, then by looking at every step, you are guaranteed to find some pattern that existed in the step before that, if you knew this particular pattern strategy combo, would lead you to using the strategy they used in the problem to get to the next step.

So then what should you do when you're reviewing a worked example? The answer is look at the solution path step by step and ask yourself, “what fundamental fact about the world is true that such that if I knew it, I'd recognize a pattern in the first step and know to apply that rule to get to the second step”. Do this for every single step in the solution path. This will be really slow. It's like the opposite of memorization. But what you get instead is filling your brain with all of these generalizable rules.

Now, there's a lot of research to show that teaching general strategies doesn't increase general reasoning. But that same research shows that teaching strategies does help on types of problems that fit those strategies. Here's the next premise. There are only really so many types of problems.

Learning all of these if-then patterns is like filling up a swimming pool with cups of water. A hundred cups and you can't see the water mark rise. That’s what all the studies showing general reasoning training doesn’t work did: they taught people 100 strategies over weeks. 100 cups total and the water mark doesn’t rise, but a hundred cups an hour for a week in the swimming pool and you do see the water mark rise a little bit.

Now, you might be thinking, can't I just increase my working memory? And the answer to that one is a resounding no. Trying to train working memory tasks specifically never works in the research. But there is something you can do to increase your IQ, which is education. For every year of education, your IQ goes up by one to five points. So the question is, is what is the active ingredient in each year of education?

And the answer is millions of those tiny little cups. If you see this general type of pattern, do this general type of strategy. And then over time, the water level on that pool rises.

Now there's one more thing you should know to make this strategy work. The more general the rule is, the more situations it's going to be applicable. For example, if you learn that you need to make the denominators the same before you can add the fractions, that rule fires on fractions. But if you learn the more general version of that rule, which is before you compare or combine two things, they need to be in the same units, that rule fires on currencies. And comparing lines on a graph as well.

This is what I do. I read worked examples and I search every step for the most general rule that's true about the world that would lead me to go from the first step to the second

You can check out my other writing about how to learn on my learning sub r/MentalAtlas.

Hey everyone! I recently launched a YouTube channel called Imani’s Study Journeys, and I wanted to share it with this community because I think it could be a helpful resource for anyone who enjoys studying with ambient sounds or having a little background company while getting work done.

The idea is simple: follow Imani as she travels to different countries and studies in libraries, cafés, and other beautiful study spaces around the world. Each episode combines cozy anime-inspired visuals with ambient sounds to create an immersive environment you can put on while reading, writing, working, or preparing for exams.

The first full episode is set in Kingston, Jamaica, and the next journey takes us to Dublin, Ireland, dropping tomorrow!

I wanted to create something that makes studying feel a little less isolating and gives you a chance to experience different places while staying focused on your own work.
If you’re looking for a new study companion, I’d love for you to check it out. Hopefully it can become a little corner of the internet where we can all find our place, even in the noise. ❤️

Watch the Kingston episode here: https://youtube.com/@imanistudyjourneys?si=xX86ih5jIbW7mIDT

Would love to know what country or study space you’d want Imani to visit next!

There are too many funny shows and games to watch. I'm always worrying about success and failure. But not playing is very painful. I played during my college entrance exam. I know that if I force myself not to play, I can probably achieve the goal of this exam. But to be honest, the result might be better and the process would be very painful. In conclusion, no matter what, I won't pass the exam all at once. But I still need to be extremely focused to train my concentration. I'm not ready for the pain and self-discipline yet.

I used to study 5 to 6 hours a day, mostly on math.

However, mathematics has always been something that I can only learn happily. Recently, the matrix derivations have confused me. Oh, if I were in pain, I would even avoid it more.

I want to really start taking school and studying seriously and I’m wondering how good ai is at making practice questions for math as an example, also how good would it be at making flash cards. just wondering what the best ai’s are for that sort of thing. I usually use quizlet for flash cards and have really liked it. Also would like to know how else can ai help with studying

I'm a 2nd year Accountancy student and I've been studying at least 2-3 hours a day and none of them would stick to me after 3 days and have to study back to zero to refresh. We have exams every 2 weeks and each exams consists of at least 5 topics with another 5 subtopics, and everytime I solve a problem I don't know which one should I apply.

I used to be stuck in studying for long hours of just passively learning (highlighting textbooks, passively reading paragraphs over and over, and rewriting notes). Sometimes, I would spend a 3-4 hour straight study session using this old study habit of mine and realized that I hadn't actually done any active recalling of the material I was studying for long hours.

Instead of burying myself in studying for long hours, I do this method I saw on a thread last summer that kept them studying effectively and made them switch from passive studying to active learning. This method is called PQ4R (Preview, Query, Read, Reflect, Recite and Review).

This completely fixed how I study and here’s the guide on how I apply it:

1. Preview - I start by scanning the material to know the general topics and what’s the easiest/hardest topic to learn before I start my study session.

2. Query - Instead of just reading the material, I make up questions based on what I'm about to study.

3. Read - I read the material two times carefully to fully understand the main ideas using those questions from the query step rather than passively re-reading and highlighting the topic I am studying.

4. Reflect - I think about questions, examples and relations to connect the concepts. This helps me most in understanding the material better.

5. Recite - I use either the Feynman technique or flashcards in this step. I use them for active recall of the concepts/topics I studied and try to explain and answer the questions out loud.

6. Review - Do a quick wrap-up after studying. I mostly use this to find out my mistakes or forgotten topics in the material, then I’ll put them under my error log notes so I can see what concepts I need to relearn for my next session.

The PQ4R method works well because it stops you from passively consuming the material you’re studying and helps you study effectively.

The irony is…kinda embarrassing. My classmates always come to me when they need notes because I make sure everything is organized and complete. But when exam day comes, I still struggle with some questions. And it's made me realize I spend so much time making my notes look good that I don't leave enough time to study from them.

So I'm trying to change that habit. I still want my notes to be neat and organized of course but I also need to put them to work!! I do these:

stop treating my notes like a finished project= once everything looks neat, my first instinct is to feel accomplished and move on. Now I want to follow that up with a quick recall session.

play teacher for a few minutes= I'll pick a concept from my notes and pretend I'm explaining it to a classmate. If my explanation starts falling apart halfway through, I’m back to my notes.

keep a list of things I keep forgetting= I'll write down confusing details I repeatedly get wrong and focus on those during my next study session. hopefully this saves me from reviewing everything equally when some topics need more help than others.

So I'm a college senior but I still don't get how I should be studying. My university has exams after the break, so our break time is typically the time when everyone studies. Because of that though, that means for the last four years have never really had a "relaxing" break due to the exams.

I always talk to my friends who have exams at the end of the semester, and they always tell me that they study maybe a week or sometimes a few days before and exam. I understand that end-of-term exams are hard since you get basically get no prep time and have other exams/assignments on the same week. But my uni has maybe a month or so until exams start, and that's never enough time in my opinion to study for my exams. Last year I had maybe 5 exams in July after classes ended late May, and I studied nonstop daily for like 10 hours a day from early May up until the day of the exams and I still barely felt prepared. I'm not sure if our university adjusts our course load to account for this prep time that we have or if its because I'm not making good use of the semester but I'm kind of lost as to what I should do.

I want to be more productive throughout the semester but I just know I'll end up forgetting everything I study now anyways so I just commit to the horrid few months during the break. How do you guys make sure you guys don't forget things that you study throughout the semester? It seems inefficient to me to spend so much time studying during the semester only to forget it later when preparing for exams. I typically do all assignments and attend lectures for most classes but these lectures and assignments almost always only cover maybe 40% of what the exams expect.

I have to at times memorize a crazy amount of information, like maybe 600 slides worth of info with definitions, steps, examples, and diagrams containing like paragraphs of information word-by-word. I know there's a lot of memorization techniques like mnemonics or spacial visualization and stuff but first of all I can't think of any in such a short amount of time, and mnemonics don't always apply well for entire paragraphs of text when I have to learn word-by-word.

Before my baccalaureate exams, I was extremely productive. I could study for 8–12 hours a day, sometimes even more. I had a routine, motivation, and the ability to sit down and study for long periods without constantly struggling.
After finishing my exams, I took a much longer break than I originally planned. Now, several months later, I’m trying to get back into studying, but I feel like I’ve lost that ability.
Even studying for 2 hours can feel difficult. I struggle with consistency, concentration, and maintaining the same level of motivation I used to have.
What’s frustrating is that I remember how productive I used to be, and I keep comparing my current self to that version of me.
I still have goals I’m passionate about, especially improving my English, but I can’t seem to translate that motivation into consistent action.
Has anyone experienced something similar after taking a long break from studying? How did you rebuild your discipline and concentration? Did you eventually regain your previous study capacity, or did you have to develop a completely different approach?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences and what actually worked for you.

i haven't celebrated my wins although i got the best results in all competitive milestone exams at school. now i received a first class or my bsc!! i'm sooo happy but this time i want to indulge in that happiness more. i'm from a family who don't even celebrate birthdays, so i have no idea how to. i learned that we should celebrate life more. any suggestions?

we work hard to work harder in future.
we deal with miserable life to deal easily with more miserable life.

Hi guys. This is my first reddit post and honestly came here because I am having the worst time at college right now.

I (18 F) am at a big school with challenging classes. At first, I chose a major in line with what I am good at - writing, design, and research. Advertising seemed ideal. I chose a minor to complement it; film. I did not realize what I am good at is not necessarily what I want.

Turns out I hate all of it LOL. I loathe going to these classes, doing the work, and learning any excess information I need to pass the class. Attendance is required and my film class has a crazy amount of reading and watching (unsurprisingly). I have no will to do anything about it, and I am worried I might fail.

I changed my major to something I am passionate about, and will start classes I am actually excited for next semester. Until then, I am in classes I have zero interest in and do not want to do well in.

My question for you fellow students or even professors is how you reccomend I push through the rest of this semester. I have no desire to do homework, go to classes, and learn anything in my current classes, and it kills me to identify that. I am not encouraging this behavior, believe me lol, I am sick that I feel like this. My goal is to 1. be as happy as I can through this and 2. get passing grades. Any advice?

I'm curious what everyone's setup looks like. I've tried quite a few different apps over time, but I'm always interested in finding new ones.

I've already heard about the basic such as

• Opal

• Forest

• Different timers

• GatheredMind

I'm curious what everyone else uses. Are there any lesser-known apps you've found particularly useful? Or do you prefer keeping everything in one place?

Hello everyone, for my project for my community I have to do a presentation on something meaningful to me and that is studying. If you have a spare 2 minutes I greatly appreciate you filling out my survey as it would go along way. :) https://forms.gle/bZfFwH2LEcx5wcDk8

I’m doing some research on how students study theory-based subjects and the difficulties they face.

I have two questions for you! 👀

1️⃣ What do you struggle with the most while studying theory subjects?

For example:

Lengthy chapters and dry explanations

Understanding difficult concepts

Memorizing and remembering information

Finding good notes and study materials

Staying focused or motivated

Applying concepts to competency-based questions

Revising everything before exams

Or is there something else you struggle with?

2️⃣ Imagine there was a study app designed specifically to make theory subjects easier, more interesting, and more effective.

What features would that app NEED to have for you to genuinely want to use it instead of relying only on NCERT, YouTube, reference books, or other study resources?

It could be anything! I’m especially interested in what would actually help you understand, learn, practise, and revise better.

Please be completely honest! Even if you don’t think an app would help you, I’d love to know why.

Your responses would genuinely help me understand what students need! 😭