Tech Tips to Help Students Study Smarter

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Technology is rapidly developing, and it is used pretty much everywhere. It helps us extensively with our work, studies, and entertainment. Difficult to imagine modern life without gadgets.

The concept of education has received some alterations as well, with online courses gaining more popularity as the choice method of accumulating more knowledge.

Studying habits have to adapt to keep up with the times as well. Having a laptop or a tablet is a tremendous asset to college and university students, since compiling and reviewing massive amounts of information is not an easy task. Especially if done manually. The internet helps with that aspect immensely, but it can also prove to be a common distraction.

Some of these developments prompted educational institutions to perform changes of their owns; with libraries being switched over to digital formats. The need to visit a traditional library is gone, no longer are you required to rummage through countless books and carry them around like dead weight. A perk of the digital age! You can go online and find what you need without any hassle whatsoever; it is very convenient.

You are given these tools and options, and they are great if you intend to study harder. But, studying harder does not always mean becoming smarter as a result.

So, how does one study "smarter?"

The main crux of it is to ease the life of a student by using technology and cool, creative, yet simple techniques.

Is technology a cause of grief or the saving grace?

A little bit of both. With the small form factor of mobile phones and tablets, you get to enjoy the full extent of having a library in your pocket. Electronics can help you study, but they can also be the biggest distraction.

Before you can learn how to use technology to your advantage you need to restrain yourself from the disturbance of social media, video games, music, and movies. And develop a healthy organizational habit!

With the internet, you can easily get answers to nearly everything.

Were you given a difficult prompt?

Do you need a custom cheap essay?

Encountered a never before seen type of assignment?

By using search engines, you will easily find many useful articles and suggestions. 

What is covered in this article?

Tips on time management, the organization of private workplace, psychological and, of course, technical tips for increased productivity.

It doesn't matter if you enrolled into an online course or going to a college/university, many things cause us to divide our attention.

A mythical situation, you've joined an exciting course, everything is going fine. You listen attentively, but then you receive a notification from *insert your favorite social media service.*

Once you get distracted, it's hard to get back into the swing of things.

So to get the most out of your time and minimize distractions you need to impose a couple of simple, yet effective rules on yourself.

The technical side of learning.

• If you are studying at your computer, maximize your task/materials/window to a full-screen mode. Hide those pesky desktop and tray icons.
• If that doesn't stop you from browsing other apps, close all windows which are irrelevant to your current assignment. Every single one. This also applies to social media and e-mail notifications.
• Put your phone on silent/airplane mode.

What's something we can never have enough of? Time.

A simple clock goes a long way to improve your time management.

• Allocate enough time for studying (small periods of up to 30 minutes will be sufficient enough), but don't overdo it. In the case of studying, less is more. Brief studying sessions are better for retention, but make sure to make those study sessions regular!
• „All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.“ Leave yourself enough time for rest; you can't study hard all the time.
• Set alarms and notifications to not forget about your study session.
• If your online course has you watching a lot of videos, try increasing their speed to x1.25 or x1.5. You will still pick up things being discussed, but also save a bit of time in the process.

With practice, watching videos at normal speeds may seem too slow in comparison.

Now it's time for some other necessary improvements.

• Use noise-cancelling or noise-isolating headphones. They are perfect for minimizing external sounds. Earplugs get an honorary recommendation as well, but headphones are essential for the next suggestion.
• Listen to music that can help you concentrate. The choice of music is, of course, individual. Some may prefer beatless music (ambient, drone), while others may have a soft spot for hip-hop, thrash metal and free jazz. Experiment with a few genres and stick to them. Noises are detrimental, but some organized background music will give you a slight boost.
• Make your study place as comfortable as possible, since you will be spending a lot of time there.
• Close the door/window.
• Write your goals down and put them in a visible spot.
• If you don't have to make notes on your assignments, you can perform some light physical exercises. Some physical activity is vital in preventing conditions, like deep-vein thrombosis.

Psychological factor:

• Reward yourself for completing tasks. If the task you need to finish isn't what you would call enjoyable, motivate yourself through other means. Incentivize yourself in a way that pushes you further.
• Stick to the plan.
• Just do it. This particular sequence of words may have gotten bad publicity before, but it's the perfect way to get started on something. Don't think about it, just do it.
  
  

Now that you've established a proper regime for yourself, it's time to work on your memorization and recollection.

Notes are excellent for memorization. 

Need to recall an important detail? Use notes.

Need to save an audio file and share it amongst your friends? Use notes.

The notes in question are not in their usual sense. Not the standard notebooks, but digital ones.

GoogleKeep, OneNote will fill that purpose nicely.

So, there you have it. To reiterate, you need to work on your regimen.

Give yourself enough time to study, but allow yourself to rest. Don't "overtrain," in an academic sense.
Limit your distractions from social media, friends, and entertainment. That comes later as a reward for your studying efforts.

Keep yourself motivated and clear-headed. Work on your plan, and stick to it.

Contributed by Robert Everett

Freelance writer currently based in Chicago, solving students career and university problems and having interest in marketing and business. 

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/roberteverett82
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/3/110029123750852456335

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