Unusual Study Tips
By Sarah on September 25, 2021 |Tagged with:Exams, learning, studying
With the experience of being a student at UBC for four years comes a lot of somewhat unusual study tips. They are still somehow backed up by science… or enough positive manifestation that it feels like science. Over the years I have picked up a lot of different study tips from peers, high school teachers, professors, and a random very lovely lady who I think could smell my desperation and was trying to cheer me up. Some of these tips are kind of fun to do and some of them give you an excuse to go to bed early and/or eat some chocolate while you’re at it. Overall I hope you enjoy the following tips, and check out the links provided if you want to fact-check me.
Food related tips:
Photo by Lisa on Pexels
- Chocolate. Eating chocolate with at least 75% cocoa raises your endorphin levels and helps mental productivity. If you don’t like the taste of dark chocolate try getting some made with sea salt! The salt actually makes the chocolate taste sweeter – one brand that makes such chocolate is Lindt. I have definitely used this as the self-reasoning for why I ate three chocolate bars in one day while studying for a midterm. (Read the science here: Nehlig 2013; Jackson, et al. 2019)
- Kiwis. If you are dealing with insomnia or issues sleeping around midterm and final exam seasons try eating a kiwi! Research has suggested that eating two kiwis can help raise serotonin levels which can lead to better sleep. A full eight hours of sleep has been proven to improve memory retention and recall, and also makes sure that your problem solving skills are in tip-top shape. I have also included a link down below in case you have never seen, touched, smelled, or eaten a kiwi before and you have no idea what to even do with one. I recommend the cut and scoop method, though I am aware that some psychopaths out there bite them like apples, peel and all – if you’re unsure what your preferred method is, learn how to prepare kiwis, here. (Read the science: Lin et al. 2011; Suni 2020)
- Almonds. Not particularly feeling the idea of eating a kiwi? Try almonds instead. Almonds not only have magnesium but are also a natural source of melatonin, which some find help their ability to fall asleep faster and stay asleep for longer. Almonds are also a source of magnesium and calcium, which can help the body relax. Some studies have linked magnesium deficiencies and low blood sugar, so if you have a hard time staying asleep due to your blood sugars dropping, try having some almonds. Try setting a small bowl of almonds by your bedside to munch on if you find yourself waking up at two a.m. and are just not feeling it. It will not only help your glucose levels but also help your body recognize that it needs to go back to bed. (Read the science: Suni 2020; Ghafarzadeh et al. 2019; Meng et al. 2017; Barbagallo & Dominguez 2015)
- Apples. If coffee or other forms of caffeine give you stress, try eating an apple! Studies have found that a single apple has enough natural sugars you can feel the same effect as having caffeine. (Read the science: Reichardt 2015; Harvard School of Public Health)
Want the quadruple effect just to see what your body will do? Cut everything up into small pieces and throw it all together in a bowl with some coconut water, chuck in some ice cubes, and call it ‘nature’s cereal’.
Power stance:
If you are feeling nervous about a presentation or an exam, try elevating your hands above your head. I learnt at a leadership academy that similarly to a ‘power pose’, this can make you feel more confident, which can help you remember your key points and talk at a normal and natural pace. It might be a placebo or it might be real, I’ve found that it helps me.
Re-energize yourself
If you find yourself burning out after three hours of studying or so, try studying for a set period of time with a set break time. Research has found that studying for fifty minutes, and then allowing your brain to rest and digest the information it has received for ten minutes, causes students to maintain focus and be more efficient for longer periods of time. You might also find that studying for forty minutes and then resting for twenty could be more effective for you. Don’t be scared to take study breaks, it might actually help you get further ahead in the material rather than making you fall behind schedule! (Read more: Ellett 2016; MIT; Science Daily; Jabr 2013)
If you are feeling tired and want to wake up feeling energized, try drinking some caffeine (whether it be through a yerba maté or taking a shot of espresso) and then take a nap for twenty minutes. You will find yourself waking up and feeling rested. (Read the science: Healthline; Hayashi, Masuda, & Hori 2003)
Sleep
Say you have an early morning exam and you want to wake up feeling alert and ready to go. Use an online sleep calculator to determine when you should be going to sleep in order to ensure that you wake up at the end of a sleep cycle rather than in the middle of one; doing so will prevent you from waking up with a foggy mind. Keep in mind that sleep calculators work with the general idea that you will fall asleep in the regular average time it takes adults to do so – fourteen minutes. If you know that you will have insomnia or trouble sleeping, input the time that you need to wake up and aim for one of the recommended sleeping times. This is something that I started doing in high school and have continued to do throughout university as I find it effective. (Read more: Sleep.org; Ricky 2019)
Also make sure that you study outside of your bed! It is incredibly tempting to just open your laptop two minutes before class and half-watch the class while laying in bed but try moving to a different spot. If your mind starts to associate your bed with work from either studying or online lectures, you will have a harder time falling asleep as you associate it as a space to get work done instead of resting. Try moving to the couch or a desk with a chair. In the past I’ve made a make-shift desk out of cardboard boxes on my floor and found that it helped me to not only maintain focus but also to sleep better at night. (Read the science: Gifford & Sommer 1968; Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Lina 2020)
Memorization
Instead of simply trying to memorize all the information from your online lectures and your notes, try using memory recall instead. Use your exam guideline in order to make yourself a list of questions drawing from different sections that you feel are going to be on the test, and see if you can answer them freely. If you can’t, then you know what you need to study, and through using your notes in order to answer the question you might find that you better understand the subject by doing so.
https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2016/06/learning-memory
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743993/
Some people find chewing gum while studying and then chewing the same gum during an exam helps them remember the material. However, if the idea of gum grosses you out or you prefer not to chew it in one of our study rooms in consideration of others, try substituting music instead. Pick a single song instead of a particular gum flavour. Choose a song that blends into the background, for example, a classical such as Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” or something like “Achilles Come Down” slowed and with reverb: A song that can easily blend into the background and that you won’t come to hate after hearing it more than four times on repeat. (Read more: Harvey 2020; Rugg & Andrews 2010)
Writing in red ink has been proven to make information more easily memorable to the brain and will help you to memorize pieces of information more efficiently and accurately. This is particularly good when thinking about language courses and the extensive vocabulary that you need to learn. However, if you want to better remember or memorize abstract concepts or ‘big brain’ knowledge then it would be better for you to use blue ink! Basically what I’m telling you is that yes, you treat yourself and buy that whole pack of pens from Muji. (Mahta & Zhu 2009; New York Times)
I hope these tips help you, and if not I hope you at least eat some chocolate. Make sure to remember to eat as healthy as possible, get as much sleep as possible, and try new study methods. You never know whether or not something works for you unless you try.
Please check some of the sources listed below:
I just wanted to say thank you to the author for sharing these unique and creative study tips. As someone who has struggled with traditional study methods in the past, I found it refreshing to see new approaches that I can try. I particularly enjoyed the suggestion to switch up study locations and even try studying in unconventional places, as I think this could be a great way to keep myself engaged and focused.
Overall, I think this blog post is a great resource for anyone looking to shake up their study habits and try something new. Thank you to the author for sharing their insights and ideas with us.
Thank you for putting this out there. I agree with your opinion and I hope more people would come to agree with this as well.
Thank you for your comment Scott! I’m glad you enjoyed this blog post.