8 Tips For Effective Learning

By Sumanyu Sharma

Do you often wish you'd ace those dreaded tests with ease? Do you often wonder why that-certain-someone always gets straight A's without cheating? If you do, follow these eight tips and in no time you'll have straight A's too because most likely that-certain-someone is using some of these tips outlined below. 

1. Figure out your preferred learning style. There are three types of learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Figure out which one of those learning styles match your preference and when learning, use activities that complement your learning style.
2. Use them muscles. What I really mean is, use muscle memory. There is just something about doing things by yourself that help you remember information for a longer period.
- Practice, practice, practice. In subjects such as Math, practice the questions till you perfect the concept. - Write, instead of type. This may be difficult to implement at start but, really it's because writing helps you store information more efficiently in the form of muscle memory while typing doesn't. I admit writing is slow and boring but hey, at least your writing will become legible and you'll learn more effectively. Isn't that great?
3. Distract yourself while learning. No seriously, stop fiddling around with your cell phone, it's hindering your learning. Find yourself a quiet place away from your friends and near the straight A students. Trust me, it works.
4. Ask your teachers for help. Teachers are your friends! Ok, maybe not; however, teachers do help students who show commitment, effort and hard work. If you sincerely ask your teachers for help, they will help you.
5. Give yourself a reward for your hard work. I'm sure we'd all love to have the ability to learn and work tirelessly and effortlessly. However, we all need a reward once in a while for all the hard work we've put in. These rewards can come in variety of shapes and sizes. You can buy yourself some chocolate (like I do), go outside for a while (this may be too difficult for some of us) and hang around with your friends (yeah...). As an additional bonus, maybe the reward can act as an incentive for learning and working hard!
6. Motivate yourself. There is no sense in doing something without having interest in it. No interest = no profit (read the last line twice to make sure you understand what it means).
- Find a reason to study subjects such as Math, Chemistry, Physics, English etc. Find out why it's important to learn these subjects and how they can help you both, personally and professionally. Let's say you want to learn about girls. You start by having interest in girls. No interest = no reason to learn. Then you realize you don't know that much about the topic. So, interest > learn > realize how little you know > learn some more and the cycle continues, benefiting you in the process. - Discuss intellectual topics with your peers, friends and family. It allows you to talk about geeky topics in an acceptable and honorable way.
7. Reflect back upon what you've learned. So much of learning goes to waste when we don't stop and think, what worked and what didn't work. It's important to reflect upon your performance and figure out how you can improve your learning. Remember, reflective learning is effective learning.
8. Put your plans to action. Sure, reading these tips may provide you with ways you can learn effectively, however all this information is useless until you actually put your plans to action. Now, use this newly learned knowledge and apply it in your life.