The essentials for academic success Study smart with these 8 strategies

Study hard, and you will get results. That’s what we’ve always been told to do, based on the principle that it’s the key to academic success. Yet you spent countless hours poring over your textbooks and study materials, only to end up with ridiculous grades. What is the real secret to excellence and high academic performance? What is essential for academic success? In reality, anyone can achieve good grades if they dedicate themselves to it; science proves it. However, studying hard does not guarantee results.  The secret to exceptional academic success is not to study more, but to study intelligently. Discover 8 simple, psychology-based principles and practices that will completely transform your grades and the way you study. Let’s dive into…

1. Improve consolidation by sleeping efficiently

Who would have thought that lack of sleep could be a major reason for academic failure? It turns out that not getting enough sleep is one of the main reasons why your brain refuses to retain anything. Centuries of research have revealed that sleep improves memory retention and recall by 20 to 40%. By getting more sleep, students can significantly improve their academic performance. It’s fascinating!  Want to learn more, retain more, and perform better in exams? Learn how to sleep effectively. And if you keep forgetting important things you should normally remember, consider sleep. The problem is, you’re too busy! That’s why you’re not getting enough sleep. The question is… busy doing what? Playing video games or watching TikTok videos? If you really want to improve your academic performance, seriously consider your sleep.

2. The key to academic success–Teach others

Have you ever heard of the learning pyramid ? It’s a scientific concept that ranks different learning activities according to their effectiveness. This pyramid reveals that the most effective way to learn is by teaching others.  Indeed, according to the learning pyramid, you will retain up to 90% of the material you teach, while the average person only retains about 10% of what they read. Of course yo,u can’t teach what you don’t know, but teaching some of the concepts you have a little bit of grasp of allows you to gain incredible mastery. So instead of spending many hours trying to memorize and digest complex material, why not teach some of it to someone else? If you can’t teach it, at least discuss it. Discussions are almost as effective as teaching.

3. Study Break-Break-The Perfect Study Sandwich

How much time do you dedicate to your study sessions… 2, 3 o, or 6 good hours?  According to psychology professor Marty Lobdell, your brain is only efficient during the first 30 minutes of each study session (the peak). After that, you are literally wasting your time, because your brain’s efficiency is at its lowest – 0. Watch the full video by Marty Lobdell.The good news? It only takes about 3 to 5 minutes to revive your brain (for an average person), allowing it to reach optimal performance again. This tells you something… You should only study intensively for 25 to 30 minutes at a time! Next, take a short break of 3 to 5 minutes to allow your brain to return to its peak performance, as it should.  Here’s how it works: Study efficiently and intensely for 30 minutes, take a 4-minute break, and repeat. This strategy took me from being an average student to an undergraduate.

4. To study by raising questions

If you read a newspaper as if you were looking for something very specific, you will find it, along with every other important detail. But read the same newspaper without any purpose or intention of searching, and I promise you will find nothing. Here’s the secret: before you start reading, quickly skim your study material, whether it’s a textbook, an article, or a document. As you go through the document, look at the subheadings, images, a nd other highlighted areas, then raise several questions in your mind – you can write them down. Start your study session now by reading in detail, but this time, you have questions to which you are seeking answers. Your goal is to try to answer all these questions as succinctly as possible. This more than triples the effectiveness of your studies.

5. Start early, not just before exams

Raise your hand if you’re the type of person who only studies for a few weeks or days before the final exam? That was also my case until I discovered that this habit was the main reason for the poor grades I was painfully bringing home. Think it’s cool to study only in the last few minutes? Science proves otherwise!  The best and most effective study strategy is to approach your work little by little, giving your brain time to assimilate all the complex concepts you are consuming. Studying in small chunks makes learning fun and much lighter, and most importantly, reduces your chances of falling into procrastination. Study your material as soon as you receive it. This way, when exams come around, you won’t be studying again, but simply reviewing, making sure that the concepts are not wrong or misunderstood.  This is how successful students study, and this is how you should study!

6. Find the ideal study environment

The study environment is part of what is essential for academic success. You’ll study much more effectively if you have a quiet, dedicated study space and a study lamp to create a peaceful atmosphere. This simple practice can help you improve your grades far more than simply increasing your study time.  Here is an excellent study strategy proposed by Professor Marty Lobdell: Get a study lamp and turn it on at the beginning of each study session. After the first 25-30 minutes, turn the lamp off. Next, leave the study table, go do something fun for 3 to 5 minutes, such as play guitar or listen to music, then return to your study table, turn on the lamp,p and start studying again. This routine remarkably conditions your brain. Immediately after 30 minutes of studying, your brain learns to switch off. And as soon as you turn the light back on after the break, your brain is so sharp and ready to work – it’s incredible!

7. Taking and developing notes – The essentials for academic success

This advice is intended for adults of note-taking age. The way the brain stores new information is astounding! When new data arrives, new pathways must be created in the brain, and the information is encoded and then stored. For long-term memory, these pathways need to be stronger. Research has shown that note-taking helps you remember what you read better. When you take notes, new pathways are formed, and information is stored long-term. According to Professor Marty, you should sit down every day after each lecture and expand on your notes. The idea is to add depth and detail, to write things in your own words, and to develop an early and profound understanding of your notes. If you do this, you will save hours and hours of studying.

8. Engage in active learning

Let’s return to the learning pyramid. Note that the pyramid classifies activities as either active or passive. Lectures, reading, and audiovisual materials are all forms of “passive” learning, while demonstrations, discussions, and teaching others fall under the category of “active” learning. If you want to study less, study smarter, and achieve outstanding academic results, you need to practice active learning. The reason you spend so many hours studying without ever understanding is that you are not actively studying, which means you are not actively engaging with your study material. 

The solution?

Ask questions before you start reading, practice with exercises or experiments, share your results, and then teach what you know to others.  Do this,s and your results will be incredible; they might even shock you! One last thing… You’re here because you want better results. To achieve that, we sometimes need a mentor, a personal coach. Discover Move to Top! A Quebec-based agency that helps students thrive beyond their own expectations. Through our specialized learning programs and trained coaches, we transform students into academic champions – who achieve their dreams.

Conclusion

And there you have it, the essentials for academic success. Good grades will allow you to get into excellent universities, and they could even open doors to better job opportunities outside of university.  But what makes life successful is how you can apply these concepts to solve real-world problems. So get to work today. Use our tips diligently to reduce your study time, increase the efficiency of your studies, stay ahead of your peers, a nd achieve outstanding results that will allow you to progress.