4 common mistakes and how to fix them
By Crystal Gwizdala
You’ve studied history, science, and math, but has anyone taught you how to actually learn? You might think you’ve mastered being a student, however, I want to challenge you to do better.
“We’re not effective at doing what most of us think we’re effective at doing,” says Chris Curtis, Professor of Psychology at Delta College.
What is learning? “[When] making a memory,” Curtis says, “you’re literally trying to connect two or three things that didn’t used to go together. […] Ultimately, what you’re trying to do is learn how to modify your behavior to try and be more efficient, to be more successful.”
Let’s get into some common mistakes and how to fix them.
- Using too much technology.
While laptops can help you take more notes more quickly and in some cases make learning more efficient and comprehensive, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Even if you’re a diligent student, temptation to check Facebook, weather, or movie times can throw even the best of us off course.
Even worse is how laptops affect other students in a class. Susan Dynarski, a professor at the University of Michigan, describes the presence of laptops as a source of pollution, like “a factory burning coal or a car using gasoline can harm the air and environment for those around it. A laptop can sometimes be a form of visual pollution: Those nearby see its screen, and their attention is pulled towards its enticements.” Typing, highlighting, and looking up definitions can create a significant distraction to others, even though it’s related to the lecture.
Fix: Respect your classmates’ ability to learn and leave your laptop in your bag. The only exception to using technology during lectures should be to accommodate a learning disability.
- Overloading your brain with distractions.
All right, so you’ve stowed your laptop away for your fellow classmates and you’re studying at home now. Is your phone sitting next to you? Maybe it’s face-down on your desk and silenced, but it’s still a distraction. “Just the monitoring effect of [expecting a text message] has a measurable performance impact,” says Curtis. Even benign things, like playing classical music, is a distraction. “There’s a part of your energy being used to monitor that, even if you’re not going to make any memories of it.”
Fix: “Completely remove the temptation for distraction,” Curtis says. “So just don’t not have it on, don’t just turn it over – literally move it someplace where it’s just not anywhere that you can even notice it.”
- Pushing yourself too hard.
“Even though [cramming] is a famous college technique,” Curtis says, “cramming is one of the most inefficient ways to study.” You might think that forcing yourself to read through a 50-page chapter in one session is the best way to ensure the work gets done, but you’re not really learning much.
“The brain is like a muscle; you need to give your brain a little bit of time to relax and recover, and start to build that stuff that you’re going to finalize at night. […] If you’re not giving yourself a good night’s sleep, it’s kind of like turning off your computer before your computer is done saving things to the hard drive. Whatever didn’t get processed before you wake up again in the morning, or [if] you never fell asleep the night before, just like when you shut your computer off, it’s just going to be lost.”
Fix: Distribute your study sessions across the week – it actually reinforces your learning if you give a subject a break. Give the Pomodoro technique a try. It works like this: Work for 25 minutes. Then, force yourself to take a break for about five minutes. You’re giving your brain a chance to rest, make connections, and refresh itself.
And nothing is more refreshing than a solid eight hours of sleep. Sleeping not only makes you less irritable, but it’s also essential to be an efficient and effective learner. While you sleep, your brain is consolidating information and building connections.
- Studying in weird places.
Where do you like to study? In bed, the kitchen table, at your desk during lunch? “I can understand it’s tempting to study in those places – lots of times you can spread out and it’s your zone – but it also tends to make you focus on things that you shouldn’t focus on,” says Curtis. When you study at the kitchen table, your mind associates it with eating and you might start to feel hungry. In bed, your mind is thinking about sleep.
Fix: Find a spot that’s just for school. Maybe it’s the library at Delta, or maybe you can set up a small desk or table in your home. If you’re really pressed for space, you can try laying a tablecloth over your kitchen table and arranging the space in a distinctive way. What’s most important is having an area that’s reserved for you and your schoolwork.