DISORGANIZED DESK SYNDROME: ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM IT?
It is nothing but lack of concentration on your work, deviating from your work
Studying can be quite a handful, more so if you`re intending to spend your exam packed week at a cluttered desk. If your desk looks like the common playground of the entire class, you need some serious help right now. Here are some quick tips on de-cluttering and organizing your study space.
1. Plan your desk out
Before you begin studying, lay out your desk. Ideally, you should have a concentration space i.e. your main desk space where you lay your text down and study, and a recreation space, which you utilize when you want to take a break.
2. Use simple distractions
Every once in a while you`ll probably want to glance away from your text book and look at something else. So, why not keep a simple distraction handy? This can be anything that interests you; an interesting book to read, a Rubik`s Cube, a Moleskine book where you doodle, anything that could provide you a brief break from your study table.
3. Keep the essentials handy
Every time you study, there are things that you are always going to need, so make space for them at your desk. These include a bottle of water, a packet of biscuits, a pen stand and some rough papers (for notes or just plain scribbles when you get bored).
4. Systematically stock your study material
During the course of the exam week, you`ll find your table getting cluttered with extra study material and sheets of papers that you`ve already written on. This happens because you probably never thought of any space to stock it. To avoid this, create a separate space for all study material; bring it out and put it back as and when required.
5. Customize your space
Make your desk your exam zone. Make sure it`s well ventilated and well stocked. Customize it if you want with a few post-it reminders of your time table or your exam card or something as simple as a motivational quote by your favourite author. It`ll help you relax, stay motivated and study better.
Remember, while some ingenious minds can claim that they can`t work without chaos, if you`re a student, clutter is definitely going to affect your thoughts, mood and consequently your learning. So, clear you space and clear your mind. Happy studying!
2.LEARNING BETTER THROUGH TEACHING:
Almost all of us have stood in front of a chalk board and read aloud to parents, friends or siblings when we were young. Many of us even wanted to be teachers, and the closest we came to that was tutoring a friend a day before the term exams began. Advisors are now saying that we should engage in more behaviour akin to this -- teaching. Simply because teaching is said to be one of the most effective ways of learning. That’s why our mothers would always remember what happened to which king in which chapter of our history books or which author penned what down while in prison.
Research suggests that the more you teach somebody else about a certain subject, the better you get at it. This is true firstly because you will repeat yourself several times to explain a new concept to them. Also, a few other things crop up while providing someone else with information. It is believed that when we impart information to somebody other than ourselves, we begin to question all the material that we have and what we may have taken for granted. We need to go through things step by step, thoroughly so as to explain it. This in turn results in us being a lot more thorough with the subject.
Teaching also puts us in a position of authority as someone who is more knowledgeable than the recipient. This automatically calls for us to be more informed about the subject, get a holistic view of it and consequently have a little more knowledge about it than what is required.
Thus, rather automatically, teaching works wonders especially if you’re trying really hard to learn something. The next time you find yourself bogged down with a paper you find somewhat difficult, teach a friend. The interaction and the exchange of information will definitely help you to learn more and learn better. And if you’re having a problem remembering whatever you’ve taught, just get yourself a few more people and repeat the cycle.
IS HOSTEL LIFE TAKING A TOLL ON YOUR STUDY HABITS!:
Students walk into a college hostel with countless dreams in their eyes. They decorate their rooms, make their space cozy and get prepared for rocking the college with good scores and lots of fun. But sometimes the plans go awry and the fun happens but the studies don’t. Peer pressure, sudden found freedom, temptation to chat away all night, no one to remind them to study, no one to mind their conscience are factors that tend to keep students from performing in their studies. The result is a drop in scores.
Here is how not to let hostel life take a toll on your study habits:
1. Chart a strict study regimen for yourself
For you to not break rules you must make rules first. Prepare a time schedule and list down some rules that will help you keep your studies in focus. For instance, lay down a rule that you will not sleep before you finish revising what is taught in college everyday and make it a point to stick to these rules.
2. Do not get crunched by peer pressure
If colleagues, juniors or seniors disturb you while you study then the only way out is to tell them not to disturb you. This may not be as easily said than done. You have to master the art of saying no is such a way that it doesn’t offend anyone. Even if this means that sometimes you have to lie and say you have a headache to stay back, so be it. Lie to them, stay back and study unless it is absolutely difficult to avoid. But there will be colleagues who will deliberately disturb you during your study hours. Such people you must learn to be tough with. If required, do not open the door and do not entertain them. Tell them that you need to study now and you shall spend time with them later. Do take out time to hang out with them on and off but not at the cost of your studies.
3. Balance your fun time with study time
Only work and no play can make anyone dull. The idea is not to crash out your fun time. The idea is to balance it out with study time. We all have 168 hours in a week to use as we wish. The trick is in using these hours to their maximum benefit.
4. Multi task to achieve more results
Multi tasking not only saves your time but also enables you to pack in more in your schedule without eating into your study time. If you spend a lot of time traveling, use this time to read a new chapter so that your basics are ready for more reading up or revise what has just been taught at your college. While you walk towards your hostel, talk on the phone with your friends so that you don’t waste time on the phone after reaching your room. Play your favourite music while you get ready or bathe so that you get your fill of relaxation as well. Spend time with roommates while you eat.
5. Prioritize and focus on subjects you are weak in
Know your strong and weak points so that you can priorities and make efficient decisions about how to use your study time. Devote most dedicated time in studying subjects you are weak in. The ones you are good at, can be looked at even in the college with people around you.
6. Eat healthy and keep away from addictions
Hostel life often takes a toll on your health which in turn adversely affects your scores and performance in studies. So it is very important to take care of your health. Eat healthy and eat from clean, hygienic joints in case you happen to eat out. Avoid road side joints. Instead keep stuff in your room so that you can toss up a simple salad, cut up some fruits, and cook a straight soup or a simple meal like dal chawal or sandwiches.
Also, it is important to keep away from addictions. Most people learn to abuse alcohol or get addicted to drugs during their college days. Smoking cigarettes is something almost every 1 out of 2 students take to. Remember that picking up these habits doesn’t make you cool. Stay away from them and you will stay healthy and capable of concentrating on studies.
The bottom line is that you are here to make your future so concentrate on that and the rest can just follow. Make the most of your formative future and that stars shining our there in the sky will be yours.
EFFECTIVE LAST MINUTE STUDY TIPS:
For those who push studying to the last moment, often lag behind everyone. But none of us can afford to cheat with our academics. For all the lazy ones out there, here’s the good news for you. Observe these three strategies to cope with last moment exam irritability.
1) Turn topics into songs or poems: It may sound corny but you have heard it before and it really works. It definitely works better than falling asleep with a partially-read book covering your face. Take some basic concepts from your textbook and transform them into a goofy song, poem, or even a rap. This simple thinking exercise not only familiarizes you with key ideas in an almost fun way, it makes it easy to ‘sing’ the song back to yourself while taking the exam. So next time when you lag behind don’t forget to take this invisible cheat sheet along with you.
2) Have someone question you: One of the reasons we all hate studying so much is that it often confines us to either an awful silence or even to an undesirable loneliness. It`s definitely much more appealing when there is someone there with us to turn studying into an interactive quiz show. Asking questions and throwing around ideas are friendlier ways to see what we remember. Psychologically, it`s less stressful and therefore easier for us to learn. So if it’s the infamous night before an exam call up your classmates and get yourself engaged into this kind of academic activity.
3) Stop freezing: If it’s really the night before an exam and you haven’t capitalized anything from anyone, just stop getting nervous. Stop putting off what you have to do, just go ahead and do it. Don`t tell yourself, "Ok, I`ll really start studying after a snack" or "I`ll get into it once XYZ serial is over.” No! Get busy right now. You don’t even want to refresh yourself. But still you`ll feel better about studying the whole night, if it is from 8 PM to 4 AM than from 3 AM to 4 AM, as you wasted all that time just getting up to it. So think logically and act now.
So friends Lets start our work in time. We can do anything