What are some good study habits to adopt?

When I was in college, I felt the same way, and the following study habits helped me. I found a great blog post from Centura College about study habits, I've added my personal comments to their suggestions - you can find the full article at the link listed below.

• Dedicate a specific time and place to study<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - This might be different for each day or each term, but having a schedule and sticking to it was helpful for me. I even made a point to schedule classes with a gap in between, so I could do homework on campus in the gap. </span>
• Prioritize your time<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - keep track of your assignments, you can use a calendar, a to-do list with deadlines, or whatever works for you. Ask yourself what can you do now, when you have extra time? Procrastination was probably the worst study problem I saw. That term project is supposed to take time throughout the term, not every waking moment of your life during the last week of the course. </span>
• Set the mood <span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;">- Do you learn better with music playing or silence? Are you prepared to pay attention to your text book or assignment if you're laying in bed with your pajamas on or would it be better to go to a table or event the library? Find what works for you.</span>
• Getting the most out of your assigned reading list<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - READ IT! If you come to class prepared, you'll know what to pay closer attention to, what to ask questions about, and you'll already have a good start on notes for reviewing later.</span>
• How to read like a student - <span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;">This one is key. Text books aren't designed to be the most enthralling things to read. It can be hard to stay awake sometimes depending on the subject matter. If you're reading for information, finding/noting key points, making notes and finding things to ask questions about later, you're present. Something that helped me, was starting from the end of the chapter - reading the chapter summary and reviewing the questions first so you know what to pay attention to and how to apply this new information. It's also important to keep an eye out for image captions, a lot of professors like to use them in test questions. </span>
• Participate in the class discussion whenever possible<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - talking about the course material and listening to others' opinions, thoughts and questions will help you remember points later on. Sharing your thoughts and recalling information from your text or lectures will help you later on exams too. Don't be afraid to have the "wrong" answers, it's worse when no one participates and the professor stares waiting for anyone to share.</span>
• Find a study group <span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;">- or create one! These can be what you make them. Sometimes it's just good to have a group of people holding each other accountable for studying. Be careful who you ask for help, though, make sure they understand the topic and are doing well in class.</span>
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - there are plenty of resources and people who want to see you be successful on campus. Professors have office hours, and if you're asking for help or clarification after being in class and doing your best, they're more than willing to help. Sometimes it is less intimidating to ask for help from a peer. My university had peer tutors that would schedule time to work with anyone who needed help. The appointments were free to the students and tutors were paid for their time, and had to get a good grade and recommendations from professors to be hired. </span>
• Don’t let life get in the way of your dreams<span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;"> - you're at college for a reason, you want to pursue a degree to help you land your dream job right? School work and learning should be your priority, even though there are other things competing for your attention - friends, parties, games, events, and sometimes work, homework and classes should be first as much as possible.</span>
• Don’t CRAM for exams - <span style="color: rgb(33, 50, 132); background-color: transparent;">If you're doing all of these other things, you shouldn't have to spend hours cramming. You want to learn the material and how to apply it, simply memorizing the text book or the notes might get you through the test if you're lucky, but what happens when you're at work in a few years and can't remember how to do that thing you learned in class? OR what happens for the final??</span>

<span style="color: rgb(50, 50, 50); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“10 Effective Study Habits for College Students Centura College.” </span>Centura College<span style="color: rgb(50, 50, 50); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, 22 Aug. 2013, centuracollege.edu/blog/10-effective-study-habits-for-college-students/. </span>

Another point that isn't listed above is knowing your learning style - do you learn better through reading, lectures, doing something or having a visual? You can read more about learning styles here: https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/ when you know how you learn best, you can focus your study plans - ie flash cards, highlighting/color coding, how your notes are organized, etc. too.