Avoid head trauma by following these helpful tips!

It’s that time of year again and a good deal of my circle of friends are busy bashing their heads against textbooks in a symphony of study frenzy.

Take it from someone who’s been there and done a lot of it. Studying can be one of most depressing and soul-sucking activities in your life. Without the proper preparation and approach, it can feel like an endless struggle against an insurmountable heap of information that refuses to stick in your brain.

There are a few things you can do to help yourself in the study process. The first and foremost? START EARLY! When you have half a semester’s worth of information to try and memorize, cramming it all in the night before is impossible. Inevitably, we never do leave enough study time for ourselves, so another important thing to do is prepare for what you’re going to study. Often professors give you a study guide. This is not a trick; it is one of the most key things you can use to limit yourself to only the necessary information. A tendency a lot of students have is to go over and over the same thing that they already know. We feel like we’re accomplishing more because we are affirming the things we’ve already learned so we don‘t feel so lost at sea, and we skip over the things we don’t quite understand. The things we don’t quite understand are the ones we should be spending time getting to know. Although this can be frustrating, it’s very important to fill in the blocks of knowledge we don’t have.

Another great study tip is to take breaks. Yes, breaks. They are very important and crucial to maintain your sanity. Study breaks will give your brain a chance to recharge for a few minutes and to refocus. If you stare at a page of information for endless hours, your brain starts to wander and sometimes you can read over the same sentence five times without actually reading a word it says. Study breaks help minimize the BBS (Busted Brain Syndrome) and let you come back after with fresh determination. There are a lot of things you can do during this downtime, but I’d suggest more active approaches to breaks than watching TV or a movie. If you go outside and really get moving, you can flush your body with a fresh burst of adrenaline that can really help wake you up when you’re about to fall asleep at the books.

If you’re in the opposite bind - which can happen when you realize how much you have to read still and suddenly panic - a more relaxing break with a cup of tea can be the right move. Soothe your stomach and your nerves. Cooking can also be a good way to relax, as it usually takes a little longer than short breaks and ends with eating - which is everyone’s favourite thing to do. A healthy home-cooked meal is good for your body, mind, and wallet.

Do you have any helpful study tips? Everyone studies different ways and has different needs. Do you have any creative or helpful tips for the fellow student? Please, feel free to share! The more, the merrier!