How to Improve Your Study Habits

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Lesson 6

        HowImprove Your Study Habits

              Text A
    Maybe you are an average student with an average intellect.You pass mostyour subjects. You occasionally get good grades, but they are usually just average. You are more interestedhiking thanhistory, andsports thanscholarship. The factthat you don't study very much.

    You probably think you will never betop student. Thisnot necessarily so, however. Anyone can becomebetter scholar if he or she wants to. Ittrue that you may not be enthusiastic about everything that you study, but by using your time properly you may improve your grades without additional work. Here's how :

    . Plan your time carefully. When you plantrip, onethe first things you must doto makelistthings,take. If you don't you are almost certainleave something important at home. When you plan your week, you should makelistthings that you havedo. Otherwise, you may forgetleave enough timecomplete an important task. After makinglist, you should makescheduleyour time.

First fillcommitted time-eating, sleeping, dressing, school, meeting, ete. Then decidea good, regular timestudying. Be sureset aside enough timecompletework that, you are normally assigned each week. Of course , studying shouldn't occupy allyour free time. Don't forgetset aside enough timeentertainment, hobbies ,maybe just relaxation. A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, butwill force yourealize whathappeningyour time.

    2. Findgood placestudy. Look aroundhouse forgood study area. Keep this space , which may bedesk or simplycorneryour room, freeeverything but study materials. No games, radios, or television! If you can't find suchplace at home, findlibrary where you can study. When you sit downwork, concentratethe subject! And don't gothe place you have chosen unless you are readystudy.

    3. Scan before you read. This means lookingpassage over quickly but thoroughly before you beginreadmore carefully.
Scanningpassage lets you previewmaterialgetgeneral ideathe content. This will actually allow youskip less important material when you beginread. Scanning will help you double your reading speedimprove your comprehension.

    4. Make good useyour timeclass. Take advantageclass timelisteneverythingteacher says. Sit where you can seehear well. Really listeningclass means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember whatteacher says. Whenteacher gets offsubject, stop taking notes.

    5. Study regularly. When you get home from class, go over your notes. Reviewimportant points that your teacher mentionedclass. Read any related materialyour textbook. If you know what your teachergoingdiscussnext day, scanread that material, too. This will help you understandnext class. If you do these things regularly,material will become more meaningful,you will rememberlonger.

    6. Developgood attitude about tests. The purposea testto show what you have learned aboutsubject. The world won't end if you don't passtest, so don't get overly worried. Tests do more than just provide grades; they let you know what you needstudy more ,they help make your new knowledge permanent.
    There are other techniques that might help you with your studying. Onlyhandful have been mentioned here. You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.

              Text B
    Some kindplanningessential. For one thingreveals whether you really have enoughsaythe topic you have chosen while therestill timechangeanother topic. Italso important becausestimulates your ideashelpsfix themyour mind Without some noteshelp you, you may find that you begin writing with several ideasyour head but you forget somethem as you are writing.

    When you have chosen your topic,perhaps havegeneral ideayour theme, make quick short notesallideas that come into your head.Remember that these should be notes-words or phrases-not sentences , which would slow you down. As you do this you will find that new ideas will comeyou,one idea leadsanother. This should not take more than ten minutes, foran examination you have no timewaste.

    If you have not yet decidedyour main theme , you can do so now,thenthe main ideaeach paragraph. You may haverearrange your ideas,decide which paragraphs they will fit into,which ideas will be left out altogether.

    Itfor youdecide how detailed your plan should be. If you are good at writing,have had plentypractice, probably onlyfew brief notes will be necessary, but if you are not, then you may requiremore detailed plan. But remember that everibest writers needmake some notes if they are goingproducewell-organized piecewriting. You willcourse be given marksthe arrangementyour ideas.

    With your planfrontyou, you should be ablewrite your composition. There should be no needwriterough verseon first, then correctand makefinal copy. Thisa wastetime.

           Additional Informstion

    Therea lotmisunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taughtprinciples behind really effective working. Abovea graph showingamountperson learns againstnumberhonrs he worksa day. If he doesn't do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour's work he learnscerain amount (point ).

If he does two hours' work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he'll learn still more (point 3). Now,he trieddo 23 /2 hours' work24, he'll be so exhausted that he'll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he'd learn more (point 5).

    Now whateverexact shapethis curve,must havecrest. Point Xthe very maximum anyone can learnthe day. And this representsoptimum,best, amountworkdo. Itthe best possible compromise between adequate time atbooksfatigue. Fatiguean absolutely real thing; one can't escapeor tryignore it. If you try to, if you press yourself to'work pastoptimum (and any fool can propeyelids updo 4 hoursday ) , you can only getthis downward slopeachieve less thanbest-and then get exhaustedlose your powerconcentration.

    The skillbeingstudent consistsgetting one's daily study as nearoptimum point as possible.cannot tell you whatoptimum is. It differs withtypework,differs from personperson, andeventhe same personvaries from weekweek. You must tryfind your own. Every day you study, bear this principlethe optimummind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself repeatedly reading oversame paragraphnot takingiri, that'spretty good sign you've reachedcrestthe dayshould stop.

    Most ordinary students find their optimum at about five hoursday. Yours may belittle more orlittle less-but if you getfive hours' good workday, you will be doing well.

    Now. what are you doing with yourself when you aren't working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sita chairworry. Hereanother misunderstanding. Peop~e too easily thinkthe mind as ifworked likebody,does not. If one wantedconserve physical energycutmaximum amountfirewood, one would lie flata bedrest when one wasn't chopping. Butmind cannot rest. Evensleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mindalways turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. Thatwhat makes mental rest.

    When you've finished your optimum hourage you must stop. You must not then sit aroundthe chair thinking aboutwork-that only tires without any learning. You must get outdo something. It doesn't matter what-anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.

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