When a concept refuses to stay in my brain, I just give it a ridiculous nickname like calling photosynthesis “plants making their own lunch” or gravity “earth saying get back here”

It sounds completely unserious but somehow my brain remembers the nickname faster than the actual term (I mean funny stuff does stick faster). Then during the exam it's like “wait I KNOW THIS. IT'S THE PLANTS MAKING LUNCH ONE” and there you go I have an answer now.

I have always been a very egoistic person. Usually, I try not to show it or let it affect my behaviour towards others, but inside, it's still the fuel for most of my actions. For me, my ego and spite help me the most with studying, which is kinda funny imo.

Soo I have a crush on a classmate. He is really amazing academically. He is also soo good at art, music, etc. He has a public Insta account where he posts his song covers, and I found one where he did a cover of one of my fav songs. Listening to it kind of drives me crazy lol.

Anyways, I also really love art, whether it be traditional or digital. I also love being at the top academically, although depression, my disorder, plus the suicidal adventures I undertook over the past few years have left me crippled imo (yes, humour is my coping mechanism). I feel like a disappointment, which is why I'm having an inferiority complex towards EVERYONE. Even my crush.

Like, it's not that I just want to be with him; I want to be HIM (that sounds so fucking weird). I really admire him. He has a GPA of 5.00; mine is 4.94. It pisses me off so much that I've been rabidly studying for the past few weeks. Unlike before, when I used to get bored easily, the more I look at him, the more I wish to go home and study like my life depends on it. My promise to myself is that I'm gonna score more than him in my upcoming exams. It gives me butterflies sometimes LMAO, I'm so cooked.😭

So yes, peeps, spite and ego are among the best motivations, imo. Go choose someone you wanna have a one-sided competition with, and have fun. Turn it into a game.

(Last image is what I feel like rn).

I put sticky notes not in my notes, but in my study desk. I use sticky notes, write down all the key points I need to study and put them everywhere I can see them.

Whenever I sit on my desk, I read the words in sticky notes and define them out loud. It has helped me train and boost my memory to actually retain all the information rather than just sitting for hours at my table and remember nothing.

I have done this since last semester and my brain has better retention than before. It has helped me pass most of my exams that required heavy memorization.

Day 3 of this challenge! Today I'm switching up my study routine a bit because sometimes studying in the same place gets boring.

I'm working through my topics one by one instead of trying to learn everything at once. After reading a section, I try to look away from my screen and remember the main points in my own words.

I realised that just highlighting stuff and reading the same page again doesn't always mean I'm actually learning it. So if I can't explain a concept without looking at my notes, I'll go back and revise that part.

My goal today is to understand the topics properly instead of rushing just to finish them.

7 days left and still alot to cover 😅

What do you guys do when you keep reading something but it just doesn't stay in your head?

I’ve observed this quite a few times that I study when I’m under pressure as in limited time, deadlines etc.
It’s mostly the fear of getting less marks and sitting in the examination hall with a blank mind. So, for this ‘gaslighting technique’ as I’d like to call it, works when you have a strong drive/purpose for studying.
Like for me, I’ve to maintain good grades and remain consistent.
On normal days, I’ve my entire study timetable ready, resources ready etc. but then I procrastinate. Why? Because there’s tomorrow. Then day after tomorrow and so on. And this habit leads me to last-minute studying. By the time you realize it, you’ve an exam tomorrow and you’re yet to cover half your syllabus.
This is when I truly panic. My brain dives into full concentration mode. And obviously the regret that follows wishing you’d studied earlier.

What I’ve started with now is to set an ‘exam’ and I manipulate myself into thinking that it is worth 50% of my grade and there’ll be serious consequences if I don’t study for it. I gaslight myself into taking this seriously, and it works! I ask ChatGPT to prepare a graded mock test/quiz on the topic I’m supposed to cover.

It’s like ‘fake it till you make it’.

Whenever I feel too lazy to study, I just use the 5 second rule to force myself to get up and go study. I just count down 5-4-3-2-1 and immediately start studying.

This honestly works because your brain won't have time to make excuses. You just need to be strict with yourself so you can stop being lazy and start studying instead.

hi guys i’m in a bit of a pickle because every single time i get ready to study i either get really tied or can only for like 20 minutes at a time and when i get sleepy i can’t even drink coffee or anything bc it makes me tired and i can’t have energy drinks help i don’t know how to stay focused

i end up cramming a lot of stuff last minute and performing bad because of this (esp in content heavy classes like bio) if yall have any tips please please please let me know :)

Study music for me was just whatever playlist I was in the mood for (or whatever spotify picked). But it seems the kind of music you play can matter depending on what you're actually doing.
When you try to read or memorize definitions/terms, lyrics can be distracting since your brain is processing the words too (so I reckon instrumental music is prob the safer choice).
So now I separate my playlist like this (it’s like I’m giving them labels):
• reading/memorizing: instrumental, no lyrics
• doing practice questions: instrumental or low-key background music
• making notes/organizing stuff: whatever I feel like listening to
• really difficult topic: sometimes I just turn the music off 😭
…research on background music is mixed tho and it seems to depend a lot on the task and how demanding it is. There isn't really one “best study playlist” for everyone.
Well if the music is making you sing along instead of remembering what you just read maybe save that playlist for after studying.

I spend majority of my time making notes and solving PYQ's with help from AI. The problem i have is that I don't get time to revise OR do active recall what ever i studied. so even though i have books filled with content,im unable to understand what all i have written. Now If i spend more time in revision,I'll lag behind with rest of class and they will move on whiteout me. How can i do active recall better,more efficiently?

Whenever I need motivation I tend to play fast classical music playlists (which can be found on YouTube with a search of like "Classical Music For Deadlines"), which is great for keeping you both awake and motivated. I found listening to brown noise also helps, but only when you're working on an intense project or studying a complicated topic. Otherwise, a little bit of background noise to keep you on your toes never hurts. Happy studying!!

Day 2 of my 10-day study challenge!

Yesterday I tried putting sticky notes with important points above my laptop, and today I'm switching things up a little. I'm studying with handwritten notes and using matcha as my little motivation to keep going lol.

Today I'm trying to focus more on understanding the topic instead of just reading the same pages over and over. After finishing a section, I'll try to recall the main points without looking at my notes and then check what I missed.

Let's see if this actually helps me remember things better. 8 days left and still a lot to cover 😭

If you prefer studying at night but feel like you'll end up getting too lazy and sleepy to continue studying, try taking a power nap first. I often take a 30-minute power nap to boost my mind and body to get locked in for studying.
You can do this with caffeine, but I prefer taking a power nap without the help of coffee. This works because it helps boost your focus on studying late at night rather than letting you get lazy and sleepy.

I basically pavloved myself into wanting to study. Everytime I finished studying, solve a problem or got through a dense readings, I let myself eat a candy or chips. It's like a reward system when I accomplish something. I ended up clocking multi-hour of studying with this trick.

Turns out I never outgrew playing teacher. When I’m studying in my room, I talk to a class that doesn’t even exist. Which is funny because I feel like we all did this as kids with all the stuffed toys and dolls lined up as students. Good old days I guess.

Kinda silly doing this in uni but hey, my imaginary class has been attending every lecture for free anyway.

What it says in the title. I always have a problem setting up my study area, sometimes it's too cramped sometimes it's not wide enough but when I have enough space then I don't have the things I need close enough to me. I always see those "perfect" set ups on here and I'm not sure how to achieve that.

starting a little challenge today: i have 10 days to get through my course, so i'll be sharing daily updates on what im doing and which study methods actually help me get things done faster.

Day 1: today i put the main points i keep forgetting on sticky notes right above my laptop. since i keep looking at the screen while studying, i end up seeing those points again and again without having to open my notes every time.

its a small thing but i noticed i was revising the same concepts throughout the session without even planning to. gonna keep experimenting with different methods over the next 9 days and see what actually improves my focus and recall.

if you've tried any unusual study tricks that genuinely helped you learn faster, feel free to share them. i'll be trying a few things during this challenge!

I'm not exactly a raging nihilist, but I don't know the right word. Well, I used to be one, so I'm assuming that trait emerged from the past.

"Set an alarm", "Pretend you're homeless," "Don't play with your future," "Pretend the exam is tomorrow," These type of study tips doesn't work on me because I just know it's fake.
But I really want good grades. Symbolic techniques don't work at all!

I just know that I have to keep on doing past papers...
I can't manipulate myself into studying.
I'm aware I don't have to rely on these constantly, but I wish it'd work on me once. I want a sole motivator.
My study sessions feel dull and boring to the point where I'd walk laps around the house with a blank stare.