What did you just say, you don’t have a study routine? We’re going to change that right now.

In this video I’m going to show you exactly how to create your own study routine that will help you raise your GPA and free up more time to just Netflix and chill.

Make sure you stay tuned until the end because I’m going to show you an example of one of the customized Study Routines I co-created with one of my Study Ritual Session Students.

So the way I teach study routines is by giving students a framework. This allows them to have all the key elements that will keep them organized, on top of their reading, retaining the information and building relationships with their professors. While also giving them the flexibility to build a study routine that fits their life.

So let’s talk about how to build your study ritual using the SheRocks@College Study Method.

Exposure

The first step to the learning process and your study routine is getting exposed to the material you need learn. This is probably the easiest step of your study routine but it’s the step that students get hung up on the most. How you choose to receive the information is your choice. Some students prefer to receive new information by having it lectured to them. Others prefer to read on their own and take notes. It doesn’t really matter, choose the style that best vibes with you. Your only job here is to figure out how you want to receive and make sense of this new information.

Testing to Make Sure

Most college students stop at step 1 when they create their study routine. But if all we had to do to get through college was show up to lecture or read, we’d all be honor students. At some point your professor needs to make sure that you’ve learned what they are teaching and right now the way they do that is through quizzes, exams, papers and presentations. In order to do really well in your classes you need to know what part of the information is sticking and making sense, and what part of the information you don’t understand or know just yet. This is what testing to make sure is all about. This part of your study routine requires you to try and retrieve from memory the information you are supposed to be learning. Preferably you want to test to make sure you understand and know it in an environment where it doesn’t matter if you don’t know it yet. (i.e way before the test) The reason why step 2 of your study routine exists is so that when you realize, “Oh crap! I still don’t have this down.” you have some time to fill in those knowledge gaps. The worse time to realize you actually don’t know something is when you’re staring at the question on the exam sheet.

Relearning

Sometimes when we learn a new topic it doesn’t make sense the first time. We won’t get it right away and that doesn’t mean you’re dumb, it just means you have to practice it a bit more or find a way to make the information make sense to you. Sometimes all it takes is having someone teach it to you in a different way. Sometimes it means breaking the information down into the bare basics. This process of relearning is what makes the difference between feeling like, “Heck yes! I know this.” when you open up the exam and “Crap! Did we even cover this in class?”

Each of the college women I work with use this method to customize and create a unique study routine that works for how they prefer to learn, their lifestyle and the resources available to them.

Let me show you an example of how one of my students Breann did this.

 

Before:

Step one: Read the textbook chapter front to back like a novel.

Step two: Debate whether going to lecture or seminar (support sessions) would be worth it.

Step three: If I did attend the class, I would not ask any questions or clarify any confusions. Instead, I would write my notes passively.

Step four: Shove the class and reading notes in my bag and call it a week. Yes, a week. I would not do anything else for that class unless there was a deadline coming up.

Step five: Scramble to find all my notes the night before the exam to study.

Step six: Study. But not really. I would glance at my notes over and over and keep rereading them hoping the material would be in my head for tomorrow morning’s 8AM exam.

Step seven: Walk into the exam on 2 hours of sleep (because I was up all night cramming) thinking it would be a breeze.

Step eight: Begin the exam. I would look over the questions completely confused because I swear we never covered any of this material in class or in the textbook.

After: 

Step one: Prepare for class by using the SheRocks@College Prep and Prime Method for reading any assigned material or previewing topics that will be covered in class.

Step two: I would go to class most of the time. I felt that some of the classes were not beneficial to me and used online resources instead. (Warning: Skipping class should not be taken lightly and deciding whether class will be beneficial is different for every school, course, and person). This is something I help students decide when we work together.

Step three: Before the class starts, I spend 5 minutes previewing past notes. During class, I take notes based on what I think is important, the objectives, and the course outline help me decide that. After class, I spend another 5-10 minutes reviewing the class notes and clarifying any confusions before heading home.

Step four: I will neatly store my notes and class handouts in a safe place until I get home where I will put notes into their corresponding class binders for easier reference later on.

Step five: I make a plan using the ‘study ritual method’ coined by Clarissa for upcoming homework, exams, projects, and paper for the week.

Step six: When exam time rolls around, I know I have been regularly reviewing my notes and homework. So all I need to do is review and fill in any learning gaps. I know exactly where my notes are and how I am going to review them.

Step seven: I review by doing quiz and recall to find any learning gaps. Then according to my study ritual, I will close these learning gaps as soon as possible.

Step eight: The exam is still a day from now and I have finished studying. I use this time to do a practice final exam provided by the professor or to visit office hours to discuss any material that is still hard for me to understand.

Step nine: It is exam day and I am relaxed. I know I studied, reviewed, and prepared for this class well. I open the exam and preview it. Right off the bat, I know that I can do this successfully.