Family & Parenting » Teenager’s Guide to Effective Study Habits

Mar 15 2007

Teenager’s Guide to Effective Study Habits

Published by Jennifer at 12:05 am under Study Tips, Teens

Effective is the key word when thinking about how to study. There’s a way that works for just about everyone, and finding out how time proven methods will help you get good grades makes high school a breeze if you apply them. Of course, everyone is different, and you can adapt some of these tips to suit your own style. Remember the goal is to get great grades, so you’ll be prepared for college and life.

The first thing that should do is to decide where your study area will be. If you’re the type that needs a lot of room to spread out stuff and study, then take that into account when choosing. It’s true that some people study well with a lot of quiet, but don’t think that you’ve got to cut yourself off from all activity if it doesn’t bother you. Choosing where to study depends on your personality, and needs. You’ll need to figure out what are your goals for school, if you want to be a top student, or if you want to make passing grades. Hopefully, you’ll choose the former, and be the best that you can be while you’re in high school.

Next, look at the idea of setting up a schedule that you can stick with. Follow it as closely as possible, that you’ll get your work done, and you’ll have more time for other things - like friends and family. Don’t think that long study stretches will help you learn the material any quicker, it won’t. Set up break periods of 15 minutes, after studying for 45 minutes to an hour. Trying to cram all of the information in will put your brain on overload, and you’ll forget it all by the next day at school. It’s good to read over the topic highlights in your textbook, so you’ll get the general important information in the text. It’s the same way with your notes from class, highlight them and read the corresponding information from your text.

A handy dandy planner is a good idea to invest in for keeping up with your class work. It can be taken with you anywhere, and the best thing is that they don’t cost that much. Add assignment information though in pencil to your planner, that way you can add and erase information as needed. There’s no danger either a dark pen mark will blacken out other notes in your planner. Purchasing an erasable calendar is a good idea, that way you can put long-term projects on them, and mark them as you complete each step toward finishing it.

Eating is a part of studying, but don’t gorge yourself on high calorie sweets. The brain works best on a well balanced diet. After you’ve eaten a nutritious meal at dinner, munch down on some high protein treats like peanut butter, eggs, and cheese on crackers. Sweets give you a high for only a little while, and you’ll crash when your blood sugar goes low, so eat wise and well. Drinking high calorie sweet drinks like coke isn’t good either, if you need a coke drink for a little caffeine, drink them only in moderation while studying too.

Also, consider that during the week you’ll be limited on when you can study, so you’ll have to get yourself ready each day for school. However, on the weekend you can arrange a schedule to fit your needs. Science has proved that everyone has peak times for concentration, and it’s usually during the daylight hours. On the weekend you can use this valuable time to get to your assignments, and get them out of the way. Don’t delay and wait until night, you’ll have less concentration and more irritable. Anything can happen too, such as illness or accident, and the last thing you need is to get behind, and let your grades suffer.

You can get good grades if you just make up your mind to do it. By prioritizing and purchasing a few needed supplies such as a planner and erasable calendar, you’ll be on top of the academic game. All of these factors will give you great study habits that you can use to succeed.

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