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emmastudies

How to take notes from a textbook

emmastudies

Knowing what to and what not to write down from a textbook is a often an issue when studying. Should I include this or is that completely necessary? Hopefully these few tips will help anyone struggle to use their textbook!

  • Read the textbook prior to taking notes - This helps give you a solid understanding of the material so you can summarise and shorten your notes. Have a good understanding is great to help shorten your notes, since you can avoid copying the menial information.
  • Highlight some key points, terms and concepts before taking notes - Remember not to over-highlight, keep it brief and minimal; key words, facts, and statistics!
  • Have a colour coding system - This helps to visualise your notes when trying to memorise information and also makes your notes more effective material to learn from. Making sure you’re using the same colours for highlighting your textbook and writing your notes. My colour coding system can be found here.
  • Use the layout of the textbook to organise your notes - I found copying the headings and subheadings really helped simplify and ensure I was learning each section. It’s much easy to find information when you’re skimming through notes. This also ensures that you can remember what topic areas relate to others, meaning you can add more into your essays under exam conditions!
  • Include different ways to show the information - Use mindmaps, bullet points, graphs, flow chats, and post-it notes to help visualise the content. Breaking up your notes with graphics is a good way to avoid full pages of writing and great for memorising statistics or key elements of a topic.
  • Supplement your notes - Use other textbooks and your own research to expand the depth of your notes. This is highly important for subjects that can require evidence, statistics and evaluations. Making sure this information is embedded into your notes is great for writing essays.
  • Add your own personal touch - Add doodles, acronyms, and abbreviations to help your study. Little things that make important information unique and standout will help you recall it later!
  • Summarise each chapter - Make a final summary of each chapter using sticky notes or flash cards. Once you’ve read your textbook, you’ll have a collection of chapter summaries ready to study from.

Each of these tips have helped me recreate notes that are well-rounded and full of brief but useful information. I hope this information helps. Let me know if it does! 

emmastudies

10 small tips to improve your productivity

emmastudies

Who can resist reading another little post full of tips to help you get more work done? Here is a few things that I find useful when trying to get myself motivated.

  1. Clear desk, clear mind - I like to organise things before I start working. If things are messy, I get a little preoccupied and procrastinate even more. My suggestion is clear your desk, sort everything you’ll need to study and get on!
  2. The two minute rule - If a task that needs to be done takes less than two minutes, just do it. My dad has often suggested that this is a great way to sort out your priorities and so far it has worked for me. Things like check my emails, cross off events from my planner, file something away don’t take long but get you in the mood for productivity. As they say “object in motion, stay in motion”.
  3. Break your time up - Schedule your study time and any breaks you need to take. This helps structure your day and acts as a motivation to get things done. Especially if you can reward yourself at the end!
  4. Leave your phone alone - Like most people I use my phone constantly but when I’m trying to work, it is best to leave it alone. Out of sight, out of mind. Try leaving it on silent and behind you so you aren’t tempted to pick it up after every beep. Use your break times to check it.
  5. Find your top three to five priorities - Seeing a long list of things to do is usually, for some people, kind of counterproductive. Figure out the main things that need to be done and work on those. If you’re able to complete those main things, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished the days necessities and may even want to complete some more.
  6. Try using a mindmap instead of a to do list - Apparently using a mindmap layout instead of a traditional list can help boost productivity. It is a little more funky way to see all your outstanding tasks and might not look as overwhelming as a super long list.
  7. Wear headphones - You don’t have to always listen to things but it can help block out any noise that can distract you. If you’re someone that likes some music, try songs with little or no words. This is a great playlist by Spotify.
  8. Don’t multitask - As much as you think you can do it, trying to multitask usually ends up in a confused mess and takes twice the time. Stick to one task at a time. If you think of something you need to do, write it down and do it later.
  9. Change things up - Doing the same things in the same place can get boring. Make the effort every now and then to change where you’re studying or how you’re studying. This can include moving your studying from the desk to the kitchen table for a change of scenery, or making flash cards instead of annotating your notes. Studying with a family member or friends is a fun way to get some work done!
  10. Be positive - Most people have times when they just don’t want to study or anything, it is natural. However it is not worth sitting staring at your books in an unmotivated mood just waiting to feel inspired. If you’re not feeling it, do something else for a while. Come back to it a bit later and have another go. Usually walking away and coming back is all you need to feel more productive.

I hope these few tips are useful! These are the kind of things that work for me, so give them a shot and let me know if they help. Best of luck with your studies x

Source: emmastudies.com
ellie-studies-psych
milkliners

27.8.16 85 hours +55 minutes/100 hours

And suddenly, I realise that I have a bunch of work pushed towards the end of my holiday. Note that I’m NOT USUALLY LIKE THISヾ(×× ) ﾂ. Oh well… I’ll have to push through to 100 hours of Korean to complete the challenge, and also find out ways to continue my studies and energise my determination as the school year begins…

Source: milkliners