Tips to improve your study

Although it may seem contradictory, in the middle of the Christmas holidays, it is the ideal time to stop to think and develop habits and techniques that help students prepare for exams. We can take stock of the first half of the school year and think if the study techniques we have acquired are good, or on the contrary, if there is something we should improve.

The objective is to achieve the best result for the next evaluations. It is wrong to think that memorizing everything at once is the best solution, there are certain methods that can facilitate this process. Below we offer you 10 suggestions to achieve a significant improvement in your concentration and thus obtain the desired success:

1. Select a suitable place to strengthen your attention span. The place where you decide to study should be comfortable, free from any type of distraction such as television, mobile phones and other electronic devices that are not related to your study. It is also important to control the temperature and ventilation of the place, you must take into account that you will spend a lot of time there and you must be comfortable, but be careful, you must find the ideal temperature, since too much heat could make you sleepy and too cold would make you lose your senses completely. concentration.

2. Organize study time with appropriate breaks. For an efficient level of learning it is necessary to divide the agenda into daily or weekly sessions with the help of a schedule. It is important to comply with this schedule since, in addition, it will allow you to acquire a study routine. Think about setting a limit of 30-60 minutes maximum for each section and resting 5-15 minutes between hours, as a way to refresh your memory and recover energy before continuing studying.

3. Motivation. Human beings are always better motivated if there is some reward involved, so find something that will cheer you up and keep you steady when it comes to memorizing. But, do not demand too much of yourself, you must be realistic to avoid falling into demotivation by failing to meet the objectives. Think, for example, of your reward when summer arrives. You can think about those English summer courses abroad that you want to do so much, think that if you get bad grades you will have to study in the summer and you will not be able to enjoy an English summer to the fullest.

4. Make an outline or summary. Prepare a general outline with the main keys of each section studied, so you can remember the topic much easier and faster. You can also make a summary of the content with the most important points, this will help you retain the basic concepts so that you can develop them more easily later.

5. Read in loud voice. To better internalize the content, it is recommended to read aloud and ask yourself questions during reading that enhance your cognitive capacity. You can also practice with a friend with the same syllabus so that both of you can test each other as a game, thus reinforcing the concepts learned. This is a practice that is used very often in any course or summer camp, even in English summer camps, to help retain words in English while playing games.

6. Exercises for memory and concentration. Daily training will help you improve concentration and improve your performance. There are several mobile applications and video games focused on this training that will help you improve memory. Remember not to abuse these exercises and although it is an important task to perform, it is recommended that you do not use more than 1 hour a day, since otherwise, your study time could be affected.

7. Rest. Rest is essential for good performance, so it is recommended to get optimal sleep before the day of the exam. It is better not to study at dawn, since our ability to concentrate decreases when our energy levels are low and this habit can reduce memory. For this reason, you must acquire a routine that leads you to rest eight hours a day, take into account the time you get up in the morning and calculate those hours of rest, also always having a margin, we are not robots and one day it could make it harder for you to fall asleep.

8. Sport. Exercise frequently, go out to play sports, swimming clears your mind a lot, walk or simply move in the way you enjoy the most. Keeping the body healthy also directly influences your mental rhythm. Even when you have a mental block or feel that what you are studying is not retained, it is time to stop and leave the study room to clear your head, you will see that when you return you see everything in a different way. Did you know why in the summer camp we put this into practice? Precisely because sport helps to have a healthy mind and in this way, in a natural way, information is better retained and helps to internalize what has been learned in the study.

9. Feeding. Do not ignore the importance of a balanced diet to achieve school goals . Avoid foods full of sugar such as sugary soft drinks, coffee and other processed products, especially in the afternoon and evening, when the break time is approaching and even more so if there is an exam the next day. On the contrary, opting for foods rich in potassium and magnesium such as bananas, nuts and vegetables are the best allies to be able to concentrate constantly. This does not mean that you can never eat any sweet, but if you do, let it be in hours away from rest time.

10. Just relax. Finally, do everything you need to be mentally relaxed: practice mindfulness techniques, read, get a neck massager or some other habit that helps you de-stress before starting the study. You can also do this practice before going to sleep, since being relaxed will give you the restful sleep you need.

We have just given you a lot of information, it is not necessary to put everything into practice at once, you can start little by little, including some of the tips in your daily routine, until you are ready to introduce the rest. Ideally, you would reach the end of the course with all these habits acquired in order to get the best grades and enjoy the English summer courses abroad to the fullest.

We hope these tips have been useful and it is easy for you to put them into practice, we hope they will be of great help to you to prepare for your school exams. If you follow these guidelines, we are sure that you will achieve the desired success!