13 Essential, Science-Backed Study Tips 13 wichtige, wissenschaftlich fundierte Studientipps 13 consejos de estudio esenciales con base científica 13 conseils d'étude essentiels et scientifiquement fondés 13 dicas de estudo essenciais, apoiadas pela ciência 13 个基本的、有科学依据的学习技巧 13 个有科学依据的基本学习技巧 13 个基本的、有科学依据的学习技巧

- Hey what is up guys?

So in today's video, we're gonna be covering

13 effective study tips that are all backed by science

which you can find linked in description

down below later on if you are curious. 如果你好奇的话，稍后再往下看。

Now I'm doing this video right now

because we are just about into final exam season

but if you're coming into this video later on

and realize that these tips

aren't just useful for exam review,

they're general learning tips.

So if you wanna study less,

if you wanna spend less time reviewing,

if you wanna learn more effectively, then pay attention.

Tip number one: space out your review sessions. Astuce numéro un: espacez vos sessions de révision.

So in the field of cognitive science,

there is this phenomenon known as the spacing effect

which describes how we actually learn better

if we try to recall material close to the point

at which we are about to forget it.

Essentially forgetting is a crucial part

of the learning process,

much like rest is a crucial counterpart to strength training un peu comme le repos est une contrepartie cruciale à l'entraînement en force

if you wanna get physically stronger.

So to take advantage of the spacing effect, Entonces, para aprovechar el efecto de espaciado,

you wanna study with what's called a spaced repetition

which involves adding gaps of time lo que implica agregar brechas de tiempo

between your study or practice sessions

that get progressively longer. que se alargan progresivamente.

And for most types of information

that you're gonna find on a test

like question and answer pairs, vocab terms,

really anything that can fit on a flashcard,

you can actually get very specific about these gaps of time

by using spaced repetition apps

which include Anki, Quizlet and Duolingo's Tinycards.

You can even do this with paper flashcards

by using something called the Leitner system

which I detailed in a previous video

that I'll have linked in the description down below.

Now for everything else that doesn't fit on a flashcard,

just try to space out your practice sessions intelligently

instead of trying to practice all in one session

or following a very rigid timetable

and know that this principle works

for skill practice as well.

So if you practice one specific skill on Monday,

then maybe wait until Wednesday or Thursday

to practice that particular skill again

and in the meantime on Tuesday

practice something else that's related.

Tip number two is to use the Pomodoro Technique.

So researchers found that studying works best

when we do it in short hyper-focused bursts

rather than one long drawn-out session

because at a certain point your focus and your attention

really start to wane and you kinda start wasting your time. vraiment commencer à décliner et vous commencez un peu à perdre votre temps.

The problem with this approach though

is you'd probably know well

is that you have to motivate yourself

to start each and every one of these sessions

and after you do a few, well,

maybe that motivation has waned a bit peut-être que cette motivation a un peu diminué

so that is exactly where the Pomodoro Technique comes in,

it is a device that helps you to keep that motivation high

and actually helps you to get into each session.

So to use it you simply set a timer for 25 minutes

and pick one task to work on.

And it's very important to actually set a timer,

don't just set it in your head, use a real timer

because that creates an external motivator.

During that 25 minutes, work only on the task you've chosen,

don't switch to anything else

and if something distracts you,

quickly write it down so you can either

take care of it later on if you need to

or so you can figure out how to prevent it

from distracting you in the future

and then get back to work.

Now once that 25-minute timer goes off,

you are presented with a choice.

If you feel that you're in the zone,

if you feel like you're still productive,

then keep working until you feel

your motivation focus start to wane,

otherwise, take a five-minute break,

go for a walk, get some water, and then start a new session.

Now if you don't want to use

a physical timer for this process,

then there are plenty of websites and apps out there

that you can use as a substitute including TomatoTimer.com

and Tide which is my personal favorite Pomodoro app and Tide qui est mon application Pomodoro préférée

and is what I use whenever I do my own sessions.

Tip number three is to create your own quizzes

out of your study materials and then take them later on.

And this is called the quiz-and-recall method.

Essentially you want to take all of your study materials,

your study guide if you've been given one,

your notes, maybe the slides from the class,

or your textbook readings, specifically the subheadings

and the bolt lists, vocab terms and the review questions

at the end of the chapter if you have them

and create your own quizzes out of them.

Essentially act like you're your teacher,

then a couple of days later go and take those quizzes.

This practice testing method is an active method of learning

and it's a lot more effective

than just passively going over the material.

Tip number four which is pretty related

is to work lots and lots of problems.

The more you can practice,

the more mastery you're going to achieve

and the more difficult these problems are,

the better off as well.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi put it this way,

"The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind

"is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort

"to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."

Just like the muscles in your body grow stronger

after being exposed to a stressful challenge,

your mind becomes more capable

every single time you challenge it to solve a tough problem.

So the next time you're tempted to study

by just letting your eyes glaze over your notes

or a slide deck, remind yourself

that this is basically the mental equivalent

of showing up at the gym

and using nothing but five pound weights.

You have to stretch yourself a little bit further.

Counterpoint to that though and tip number five:

when you find yourself stuck on a tough problem,

try working a simple one that uses

only one of the concepts from the original.

This is because the difficulty in many tough problems

comes from the combination of several different concepts

or ideas that you haven't yet mastered.

So when you find yourself stuck for this reason,

then go and find or construct a similar problem

that only uses one of the concepts from the original.

Master that and then you can move back to that original

and you'll probably have a much easier time getting it done.

Tip number six is to use mnemonics.

And a mnemonic is basically a mental device

that binds two different pieces of information together

in a sort of roundabout way

that your brain more naturally latches on to.

This could include rhymes, acronyms,

visual devices, or even stories.

And a great example of that ladder device

is WaniKani which is a web app

that helps people learn Japanese kanji.

It does this by creating ridiculous stories

that bind the way each kanji is pronounced aloud

to the way that it's written.

And in addition to all those devices,

you can also try to find a way to turn the information

you're studying into a song

or find a way to make it rhythmically interesting.

For example, the main reason that I can remember

the date of the Pearl Harbor attacks

is the very specific way that Franklin D. Roosevelt

said it in his speech about the attacks.

- December 7th, 1941.

- I usually have a pretty difficult time

pulling it up directly but I can always remember it

if I first go to that speech in my memory

and that line in that speech

is actually the first line of the intro to Hardcore History

which is an incredibly entertaining podcast

that has gotten me very interested

in many different eras of history.

And speaking of interest, tip number seven on our list

is to find a way to get more interested in your topic

and this is because your emotional state,

your emotional attachment to a topic,

how much you care about it, these are all very important

in how well you're going to retain the information

when you're learning about it.

So you want to find a way to get more interested.

Now my favorite way to do this

is to find a way to immerse myself in the topic

that's a little bit more fun or interesting

than your standard textbook readings or lecture slides.

This could be a podcast, it could be a documentary,

it could be visiting a museum, it can even be a video game

as long as that video game ties back to your topic,

it makes you care more about it.

Tip number eight is to regularly switch

between different types of problems and concepts

while you're studying.

This is a concept called interleaving.

It helps combat a problem known as overlearning.

where you basically hammered away at one specific concept

or problem for so long that you really

kind of start wasting your time.

And once again the, WaniKani app

provides us with a great example of how to do this well

because when you're reviewing,

the app is constantly switching between questions

about radical and kanji meanings, about vocabulary terms,

and about how to pronounce specific kanji

so you're constantly being asked to recall

what you've learned in different ways.

So when you're studying for a test,

or you're doing a homework assignment,

you can basically replicate this by switching

between concepts or different sections

of a problem set at regular intervals.

Tip number nine is to do at least

one study session in the classroom

where you're going to be tested

or a very similar classroom if you can.

And this tip leverages what is called

a context-dependent memory.

Research and cognitive sciences found

that people are better able to recall information

when they are present in the same environment

in which it was encoded so if you learn in the classroom

or at least spend some time reviewing in the classroom,

then when you're sitting in that same classroom for the test

you're gonna have an easier time

remembering what you studied.

Additionally, if you can study in the classroom,

then that makes it a more familiar place

and when you're taking the test, being in a familiar place

can actually cut down on test anxiety as well.

That brings us to tip number 10

which is to go for a walk after a long study session.

So when you're thinking, your brain uses

two different types of primary neural networks

what are called highly attentive states

and then resting state networks.

And crucially both of these types of networks

are very important for learning effectively.

In the book A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Barbara Oakley

labels the use of these two networks

as the focused and diffuse modes of thinking respectively

and notes that it's important to switch between them

in order to encode new material.

Now using the focused mode is pretty straightforward

as it's activated anytime you actively work on a problem,

so to get over into the diffused mode,

you just need to step away from that problem for a bit

and let your brain process it in the background.

And a great way to do that

while also getting some exercise

which is in itself a great way to enhance your learning

and there's an entire book on that

is to go outside and go for a quick walk.

Tip number 11 is to do at least

a few of your review sessions in a group.

Working in a group can not only expose you to new ideas

and let you come to the problems from a different angle

but it also prevents you from getting stuck

on any one problem for too long.

The caveat here is that you shouldn't do

all of your work in groups because it can get to the point

where you start relying on other people

to find the answers for you

and you're not actually solving them for yourself,

it's very easy to confuse recognition of the right path

to the answer given to you by someone else

with actual mastery of the materials.

So you have to strike an optimal balance

between individual problem solving time and group work time.

Tip number 12 is to find the study sounds

that work the best for you

and I'm very specifically using the term sounds here

because ambient noises, music and silence

can all work well for studying and make you more productive,

it just depends on what kind of person you are.

Now if you want to go the route of ambient noises,

a great starting resource is Noisely

which actually allows you to mix different sounds together

to create your own custom soundscape

and I really like doing that or you can keep things simple

by going with the classic Rainy Mood for rain sounds,

or Coffitivity which is a website

that creates coffee shop ambience.

And for music you might wanna start

with my Sunday Study post over on Spotify

or my Ultimate Study Music Playlist here on YouTube.

Both of which have a lot of similarities

but also some key differences.

And if you do find a song that you really like

because they are pretty eclectic,

a good way to find more music like that

would be to use Spotify as a radio function

or to just find the album's songs from and put that on.

Now I do want to mention that the science behind the link

between music and productivity is pretty muddy right now,

there's a lot of research that's been done

but very few concrete conclusions.

So this is an area that really warrants

personal experimentation.

That being said I will still be linking

to some resources in the description

so you can dig in and do some reading

on what exists right now if you're curious.

And that brings us to tip number 13

which is to protect your sleep.

Now I know this seems completely obvious

but I also know from personal experience

that sleep seems to be the thing

that we most readily sacrifice

when we're dealing with a looming deadline.

And this is a really detrimental choice that we make

because sleep is crucial for keeping your brain

at its optimal levels and it's especially important

for retaining the information that you've learned

and being able to recall it on tests.

As the Harvard Medical School puts it,

"When we are sleep-deprived, our focus, attention,

"and vigilance drift, making it more difficult

"to receive information.

"Without adequate sleep and rest, over-worked neurons

"can no longer function to coordinate information properly,

"and we lose our ability to access

"previously learned information."

So no matter how tight your deadlines are,

respect your body's need for sleep.

Make sure you're getting enough sleep

and also make sure you are keeping

a consistent sleep schedule as well.

Now all the tips on this list are indeed useful

but I do want to make a final note that it is not necessary

to try to implement them all at once.

If you try, you would probably

just find yourself overwhelmed

so instead, just pick one area

that you know you can improve upon

and focus on that during your next study session.

Eventually that will become ingrained as a habit

and you can move on to something else.

And if you're not sure where to start

or if you often find yourself overwhelmed

with huge lists of tips or just the sheer amount of options

you have available to you,

then you might want to follow this video up

by going and taking Brian Cervino's excellent course

on how to strategically set priorities.

You'll find Brian's course over on Skillshare

alongside more than 27,000 other classes

that can help to boost your skills

in a ton of different areas including graphic design,

video production, digital animation,

marketing, and lots, lots more.

All of Skillshare's classes embrace the principle

of active learning and they all include a project

often with sample files that you can download

which can help you to start using what you're learning.

Each class also has a discussion section

so you can ask questions and get feedback

from both the teacher and the other students as well.

And best of all, Skillshare is really affordable.

Their annual plan is less than ten bucks a month

and in case you haven't heard about it already,

that subscription also gets you access

to my hour-long Productivity Systems course.

So if you want to start boosting your skills,

then sign up, the link is in description down below.

And if you're one of the first 500 people to do so,

you're gonna get a two-month free trial

with unlimited learning on the platform.

Big thanks goes out to Skillshare for sponsoring this video

and being a big supporter of my channel

and as always, thank you guys so much for watching as well.

Hopefully you enjoyed this video

and if you did maybe consider hitting that like button

and getting subscribed right there.

I will also have a lot more stuff in the description

so if you want to jump off from this video

into something more detail,

I've got many other videos you might wanna check out.

Otherwise you can click right there

to get a free copy of my book on how to earn better grades,

find one more video on this channel

or listen to our latest podcast episode over here.

Thanks again for watching 再次感谢收看

and I will see you in the next one.