Should I change the way I study?

By DR AK Rana

Do you wonder whether you are studying wrong or do you need to change your study technique?

When we see people scoring higher than us, its genuine to think that they must be studying something different and if we are studying the same thing, then it must be the way we are studying.

There are some points you need to remember while you are preparing a topic –

Look through it and note down the major aspect/ headings it is covering.

Take each sub-parts separately because each one makes a question independently.

Study in detail and understand the concept/ meaning of each and every line in it.

Won’t it take lots of time? If you spend this much time on your first reading, you are never spending any more time on it.

How? Because if you half heartedly complete the topic fast, you will be spending the same time again and again with every revision. And you can’t guarantee whether the picture is complete in your head or not.

What picture? A study topic is a mix of jumbled pictures, with our understanding we place them in order one by one, still there will be space between each one of them. Only with your perfect understanding you can superglue it.

Benefit? Everyone knows for sure that with time our memory gets vague. The key is, it will be easy to grasp an assembled picture with just a look rather than those loose pieces which will again disperse and you will have to assemble them all over again.

Studying as a whole is like building blocks, you need to take care of every floor of it, otherwise the building will fall.

So? Spend time on it and not just cover but become master of it.

One thing more, whether it’s a theoretical part or a numerical subject; after you master the topic don’t forget practicing questions because that’s how you will be applying your knowledge and you really need practice in it.

Because solving question is another dimension that you will need to work on. I will make one blog on it also, in the future.

Now one more important thing that you need to work on as you are here doubting your study skill – Remember you need not change anything just add more or adjust it properly; you will understand what I mean when you finish reading the blog.

Many a times I have heard that people study while looking at others studying, but there are two aspects in it. You study in a studious environment that’s good but what’s wrong is when you start getting anxious looking at others preparation.

What’s wrong is finding yourselves at the end of the line waiting for the exam. Answer me, why will you do that to yourself?

Your focus start shifting from your textbooks to others, from your preparation to others, from your mistakes to others, from your marks to theirs…. That’s like insulting yourself.

One philosophy of Halleys clinic is if your morals and values are right, you don’t need to worry about anything else, and never compare yourself to anyone.

Be it good or bad, their life belongs to them and hence likewise. Once we think that, we are breaking a big chain that was preventing us from aspiring higher. Think as if in this whole world what others are studying is their headache and how you will proceed with your preparation is the only thing that matters, good or bad it will be mine.

Should I not learn from others? Who will tell you whether that approach fits you or not.

I will tell you a story for it. Back in days when I was preparing for my exams, I also tried to look into the way how others were studying and scoring so good.

One such technique was to go through the matter all at once without going into details and then look at it later on as required, this helped in finishing the syllabus early, leaving space for revision.

Poor me tried to attempt this method, and of course going through the matter helped me finish the syllabus but there was nothing in my head to write on paper. Right! I also needed to go back to topics, as and when required, but how would I know when and how? It was all crumpled up theory in my head mixed and overlapped in an artistic manner. That was not all, rather than going back I tried to improvise this method for my fitting.

For example, I will not be able to go through all the syllabus with my speed and way of studying that was sure; but one thing was right, it was to complete the whole syllabus. So rather than finishing a few topics completely, I just did their important parts with the help of previous years papers, and then covered all the chapters.

Once done, I can now look slowly more into the matter along with revising the most important parts and this technique really proved best to me to study one day before the exam. You can check my blog regarding completion of syllabus, I will share the link at the end.

So, what do you understand by this story, the most important part, it was my college paper and I could handle it even if I ruin it a little. But when you are going for final marathon, you don’t try new techniques that just someone told you, because it will not suit you.

Even if you want to take a new method, don’t leave your way of studying completely. Befit it with your new way of studying/ revising to make it perfect.

For example, if someone says to you to not make notes as time is less and you will just be wasting your time. Then the person is right, but what if you learn or understand the concept only after writing it with your hands?

Then, what you can do is, rather than writing the whole things, just underlining and writing the important stuff in textbook and other learning parts in rough paper where you can scribble to grasp the concept.

In this way nor will you waste your time, and you can also learn in your way.

So finally, we come at the end of this blog, I hope you study well for your exams without losing your confidence. Because –