How to Study Effectively

Introducing the brand new Live Lively Printable Shop on Etsy! We're helping revolutionise your year by introducing our brand new printable collections: 'The Complete Collection' and 'The Planning Professional'. We give you the full description of these brand new products and our top 5 tips for studying efficiently. 

As the first semester of university begins and the school term is in full swing, it’s that time of the year where we’re dragging out our calculators and sharpening our pencils for another full year of studying. In my 13 years of schooling, not that we really had to study much in the first 5 years, it’s amazing how your studying journey transforms from revising spelling lists to writing essay after essay. No longer is the homework about finishing your Social Studies title page or finding an item for show and tell. Studying has become some serious stuff and schools, while being great at handing out homework, don’t often give you the instructions on how to study effectively.

The thing is, we’re all different. And in a classroom full of kids, or a lecture full of students each individual will have a different way of learning, a different way of taking in and memorising information effectively. Ultimately, the job is left up to you to learn more about yourself before you are able to learn more about the world. Please, someone point out to me if ‘Self-Discovery’ was ever an option on their subject list because I clearly wasn’t paying attention.

The key steps that you have to take to understand how you learn have to come from you! But hey, we’re not all alone in the world and I saw the need to come up with a set of ebook style worksheets, and organisers to help you not only learn better, but manage your time more effectively throughout the school year.

Having the motivation to study can be difficult. You no longer collect a gold sticker at the end of a test or after completing your homework well. Yet nobody really teaches you how to create reward systems for yourself. It’s like all of a sudden we have to get used to not being congratulated for everything we do and so all of a sudden the work we produce isn’t worth celebrating? I’m not saying there’s an issue with the school system, or perhaps I am. But either way, students are left pretty alone regarding having to transition their study habits through the years and maintain the motivation to produce work that you’re proud of even without the pat on the back afterward. We need to learn to self-congratulate, self-motivate, and self-manage. This is what this set of worksheets will encourage.

You’re able to purchase these worksheets individually, or as a set. Currently, there are 2 sets of printables on offer: The Complete Collection and The Planning Professional

The Complete Collection: 
​Complete Collection is the ultimate guide for study and school organisation. Containing the full set of study associated printable, this is the perfect guide to plan out your complete school year, organise and manage your time efficiently and support your revision process!

The Complete Collection contains:

• assessment/credit tracker
• daily planner
• goal setting worksheets
• term/semester planner
• timetable/class planner
• homework planner
• monthly planner (Sunday/Monday start)
• monthly habit tracker
• project planner
• reference recorder
• revision checklist
• revision sheets: formula, definitions, topics to study
• essay planner sheets (with multiple layouts)
• study planner
• subject task
• weekly planner (Sunday/Monday start)
• weekend planner
• wellness tracker

The Planning Professional:
​The Planning Professional is essential for anyone looking to plan their time efficiently. Containing the full set of planning printables, you’ll be able to revolutionise how you organise your time, increasing your productivity and ability to complete daily tasks!

The Planning Professional Guide contains:

• daily planner
• goal setting worksheets
• timetable planner
• term/semester planner
• monthly planner (Sunday/Monday start)
• weekly planner (Sunday/Monday start)
• weekend planner

Each printable or set comes in a downloadable PDF form meaning that you are able to print off copies of the document as many times as you need throughout the year! Oh and the documents can be used over and over again through your years at school or university - so no need to buy it every year!

This is the perfect way to motivate yourself to get stuck into your studies this year, or a great gift for your son/daughter, granddaughter/grandson or family friend who is still in school!

To celebrate the launch of these ebooks, I wanted to dedicate a special blog post of study tips and how to have a successful study session!

So here are my 5 top tips for a successful study session:

1. Get your space organised:

• grab all the materials that you’ll need! I find that as soon as I’m walking around the house trying to find that textbook I’m open to so many more distractions. The fridge, funnily enough, becomes a bit one and before I know it I’m making a lovely lunch and have completely forgotten about what I was doing. If you’re getting ready for a serious study session, or even just to complete your nightly homework. The key behind this is to make sure you have a plan in place and identify exactly what you’re wanting to be studying. Grab the ‘Study Session Planner’ from your ebook download and ensure that you know exactly what you’ll be studying, then grab the relevant materials and get down to it!
• prepare water and snacks! Prevent yourself from having to get up and head into a different room to grab some food or top up your water. This is just the ultimate cause of distraction. Have a prepared healthy snack in front of you, and make sure your water bottle is full. Encourage yourself to snack and drink water regularly to keep you feeling good and functioning well.
• have a timer prepared! I love using the Pomodoro method. This simply divides your study time into 25 minute block in which you take 5 minute breaks between. This is a great way to encourage you to study evenly across your subjects, but also to keep you focused and productive by giving your brain a break regularly. Every 4 study sessions, you’re encouraged to take a 20-30 minute break. Download the app, ‘Focus Timer’ which is free for iPhone users and this allows you to set up custom study sessions!
• remove distractions! Make your family/friends aware that you’re trying to study, they should respect this! Take yourself to a comfortable room which enables you to focus. Put away your cell phone, and no don’t use it as a calculator. If required, use a website blocker like ‘Freedom’ for your laptop to block social media apps from distracting you.
• pick out a study playlist! If you’re the kind of person who loves having music on while you study, great! But ensure that this is non-lyrical music - classical is best! This genre of music encourages focus and prevents you from singing along. Video-game and movie soundtracks are also great and they are specifically designed to make you focus on the material in front of you. You can find great study playlists on YouTube (but don’t get distracted!), Spotify or Apple Music.

2. Have clear priorities!
Part of the ‘Study Session Planner’ encourages you to prioritise the tasks you have planned for the study session in front of you. Numbers at the top of the list are the tasks you need to complete first. This includes that essay that’s due tomorrow which you’ve been procrastinating over, or a test you need to study for. Complete these tasks and then move onto the tasks which are less of a priority however still need to be completed. The aim is, once you’ve completed your study session, that you would have finished the tasks of the highest importance and have ticked off as many tasks that you could fit in to your study period before you ran out of time. This ensures that every study session is productive and worth your while!

3. Choose a finish time for your study session and take breaks regularly!
The endless study sessions which keep you up at night turn into the most unproductive study sessions. If you have a set amount of time dedicated to studying, you understand that you only have to be focused and productive for a shorter amount of time. Ultimately, this prevents procrastination and saves you time in the long run! By knowing that I only have to complete 4 Pomodoro study sessions (for example), I’m going to try get as much of my stuff done during that time so that by the time I finish I’ve completed the majority of my workload and I can go and relaxed knowing that I’ve deserved the break.

4. Have a reward in mind!
Your mum might not give you a gold sticker by the time you’re done with this, but you do have the ability to plan a reward for yourself for your efforts. This doesn’t have to be something elaborate, but maybe after completing your homework you choose a netflix episode to watch or allow yourself some time on social media. If you’re studying for a big exam, perhaps organise to go out for ice cream with friends after the exam or have a pamper night with friends. Having a reward is a great little boost of motivation to keep you going.

5. Reflect upon your work!
Don’t just pack up your books and leave! Spend 5 minutes reflecting on your study session. It’s during this time that you’ll actually learn more about yourself and your study needs. As a guide, ask yourself the following questions:

• Were you feeling motivated to complete this study session? Did you struggle with motivation during the session or feel tempted to procrastinate or get distracted?
• If you did get distracted, how did you manage to refocus? Or if you didn’t get distracted, what do you think helped with this?
• Identify 3 things that made your study session successful. For example, you made a plan, you eliminated distractions, and you had snacks prepared.
• Finally, identify 3 things you would like to improve on next time. For example, find a less distracting music playlist, locate all your textbooks before you begin, and make sure that all your stationary is gathered and that you have fresh batteries in your calculator!

This reflection doesn’t have to take forever, but rather should give you some good ideas for next time. Complete this study reflection mentally, or on the bottom of your ‘Study Session Planner’.

I’m so excited to share this new product with you and I really hope you all enjoy using it. Be sure to share photos of you and your printables throughout the year by using the hashtag #livelivelystudy

From my study desk to yours,