Good Study Habits for High School and College Students

For most people, the years spent in high school and college are some of the most memorable years of their lives. This is usually a time when young people have a lot of fun and make lasting friendships. But of course, it is also the time to build upon an education that will be very useful for the rest of your life.
There can be plenty of distractions that can take your mind away from your studies, especially during your high school and college years. To help you to stay focused on your academic goals, here are 5 good study habits you should always practice.

Attend classes regularly

There may be times that you will be tempted to shorten your classes for various reasons, but you should avoid this temptation at all costs. Perhaps you had a late night out and want to sleep the next day and just skip the morning class, or maybe you were not able to prepare for the graded recitation so you decided to skip the class instead. In any case, none of these excuses are actually valid. Unless there is an emergency, you need to make sure you attend classes regularly so you don’t miss out on any of your lessons and academic requirements.

Proper time management

With all the papers to submit, projects to complete, and exams to study for, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, especially when the deadlines all happen at the same time. You can avoid feeling frazzled during these times by practicing proper time management. It’s really not that hard to schedule your study time wisely, especially if you have a daily planner to help you with this task.
Outside of classroom hours, you still have plenty of time in the week that you can allocate for studying, extra-curricular activities, social life and personal needs. You just need to set your priorities and manage your time accordingly.

Review your notes everyday

One of the really bad practices of many students is cramming for tests the night before. While some people say that this method works for them, it’s actually not very effective. You should spend the night before the exam sleeping and relaxing your mind instead of cramming. To avoid this, you should review your notes daily. At the end of the day, read through the notes so that the information stays in your head. You don’t even have to consciously memorize it, just read it thoroughly instead.

Take down notes properly

For the previous strategy to be effective, you should also practice good note-taking during class. Make sure you jot down all the important points and, if necessary, check with your teacher after class that you have not missed anything. If your teacher permits the use of laptops, as many now do, you should take advantage of this as typing notes is much easier and faster than using the traditional pen and paper method.

Find a good study spot

Whether it is at home, on a campus, in a park or in a corner cafe, you should try to find a good spot that is conducive for studying. It should be a place where you feel comfortable and where it is quiet enough that you can concentrate on even the most difficult lessons. Most students do their studying in their bedroom or in the library but you can certainly find your own space that works best for you.

For sure, there are many other ways that you can think of in order to make the most of your high school and college education. But if you just follow these 5 basic study habits, you can advance significantly and be much closer to achieving academic success.