With first semester finals on the horizon, these are some study tips to help create good study habits. Creating good and consistent study habits are necessary to help you to succeed. Good study habits are your own personal way of studying effectively, so everybody’s will be different. Hopefully, these will help you and create your best study habits!

1. Spread out your studying time.

Try not to study the night before a test. Study in increments of time instead of all at once. Studying for multiple days at a time helps retain the information better. Cramming in all the information all at once doesn’t put it into long-term memory. It takes time and repetition to remember all of the information. Also by trying to learn everything the night before increases stress and lack of sleep. By spreading out your studying time over multiple days it will help you retain all of the information, and cause less stress.

2. Find a good study spot.

It is best to find a place to study with very little distractions. Sometimes your home can have too many distractions, so going to an area outside of your house could work better. A library is a great place to study, and some have designated study rooms if you want to have a place to yourself. Also, make sure that your phone is turned off. Having your phone turned off ensures that you will not get sidetracked by any notifications. The place where you study is incredibly important, so make sure it works well for you.

3. Take breaks every now and then.

It is necessary to give yourself a break sometimes. Studying for hours on end can be exhausting for your body and mental state. Letting yourself have a break allows your brain to reboot and prepare itself for either the test or more studying. When you’re on a break its also a good idea to get a snack. Some good snacks would be, blueberries, avocados, nuts, dark chocolate, and more. Once you have rested and recuperated, then you are ready to get back to studying or to take that test!

4. Find your best study style.

Finding your most useful study style is important to get the most out of studying. Studying styles such as notecards, practice tests, and rewriting notes are the most common and in my opinion, the most helpful. Notecards are a great way to memorize vocabulary and small facts. Practice tests are great for figuring out where you are, and see what you need to study. Both of these things are on a website called Quizlet. I use quizlet for almost every test and it has been extremely helpful. It is a great way to study and memorize vocabulary. When you find your preferred study style, make sure to stick with it and it will help you all throughout school.

5. Study with others.

Studying with others is an amazing way to get other perspectives, get your questions answered, and find a solution to a problem together. By having others around to help you, you are able to have the help you need with that one problem. Having others around you to struggle with you also creates a sense of teamwork. Working together will help you find the solution faster, and then have that sense of accomplishment after. As long as your group is not goofing off the whole time, then studying all together is a great way to retain information and get your questions answered.

All in all, find what works best for you. If working at a library for a few hours in a row helps, then go through with that. Maintaining good study habits will help you all throughout life, and help you succeed!