The holiday season is full of various exciting activities. For example, picking out gifts, spending time with family, decorating, and last but not least, exams! During all this festive fun, the majority of students do not want to stress about midterms. Thus, there are a few general and personalized tips that allow students to stress less about studying and more about important things like last-minute gift shopping.

How EVERYONE should study:

Although this idea can appear redundant, one of the most essential and universal keys to effective studying is time management. In order to complete assignments and properly retain information, one needs to examine their time usage. While waiting till the night before an exam to study is common, “cramming” typically does not yield the desired results. To illustrate, attempting to study numerous concepts in one night significantly disrupts a student’s comprehension and retention of the material. In addition, the amount of information can become overwhelming, which consequently promotes anxiety and stress. As a result, the best course of action for students is to develop a study plan. A well-thought-out study plan only requires minimal effort. To expand, prior to an exam, students should accumulate and organize all studying material and then divide it up over the course of a few days. Thus, the study plan could look like this: “On Monday, I will study this concept for an hour; on Tuesday, I will study this concept for an hour; and so on.” This allows for a better understanding of the material and a good night’s sleep before the exam.

How YOU should study:

Certain study methods are not beneficial to everyone; however, understanding one’s learning style can help identify what may and may not work for them. Take this quiz to find out what your learning style is, and read about how to incorporate it into your studying. Click here for learning style quiz!