5 tips to study less and learn more.

Here is a short list of instant things you can do and apply to your current study techniques to make it more time-efficient while learning significantly more.

1. Use Google Calendar

I have been using this tool for making a flexible schedule and organizing when and how much to study. You can play around with spaced study blocks, deciding before every week (I do it on Sundays)your study schedule, don’t forget to make room for free time too, for me training is very important so I make my schedule around my workouts.

I also like the idea of treating it as a full time job, so I do all my tasks between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm.

2. Study in chunks

It’s been shown that the average person can only focus for about 25 minutes, so chances are that if you try to study for 6 hours non-stop you will start very productively but slowly decrease the focus, and after 30 minutes your concentration will drop significantly, making the last 5 hours a waste of time.

Use the “pomodoro” technique, where you study in chunks of 25 minutes and rest for the next 5 minutes, and do as many rounds as you need. As you progress with this technique, eventually you will be improving your concentration time, so studying for 40, 60, 90 minutes will be easier.

Note: Make sure to enjoy your rest time doing something completely different, move around, go outside, listen to your favorite song, chat with a friend, etc.

3. Sleep

We all have heard that sleep is good for our brain and health in general, and when it comes to learning it is actually a very big contributor.

Prioritizing your sleep schedule can make a huge impact on your performance, learning more effectively and consolidating short term memory into long term knowledge.

Tip 1. is a very useful tool for this one if you consider a consistent bedtime everyday.

4. Teach it to someone

Also known as the “Feynman” technique. This method has been used by most smart people in history, because they recognized that when you are able to teach a concept to someone (or an empty chair) in your own words and concise thoughts, is because you already understand very well the concept.

Bonus: if you can make a kid or your grandmother understand highly complex topics, you can consider yourself a master!

5. Use mnemonics

When memorizing facts it can seem impossible to remember so many, specially if they are not trivial and you need to know all by heart.

Using little words, songs or physical cues that help you remember them makes studying more fun and effective.

Apply 1–2 of these techniques to your current daily studies and test if they help you, then you can apply the rest and see great improvements in your learning, and enjoying more free time!