BlogStudyWhere Should I Study for the HSC?

Where Should I Study for the HSC?

Feel Like This When Studying?

Studying.

Whether or not you want to, studying is an essential part to both learning and let’s face it, getting the mark that you want.

But it doesn’t have to be as excruciating and boring as most people say it is, spending countless hours, slaving away in a library, with that one librarian who takes silence a little too literally.

How about studying on your own terms?

Your own space, your own time and above all actually get work done.

I am of course, talking about studying in the comfort of your own home.

Why Study at Home?

Now, I have plenty of friends who had success studying out in libraries or get-togethers at someone’s place. It’s always a good way of collaborating and tackling those tricky syllabus dotpoints or six markers at the end of a paper.

But let’s face it, home is the best because:

Reason Number 1:

You spend a majority of your time at home.

Study groups won’t be a daily occurrence and you’ll be hanging out with friends less and less as exams approach. Just take a few steps to your study space and start getting work done.

Reason Number 2:

It’s your room. Your rules.

You have quick access to all of your study notes and can take breaks whenever, without having to excuse yourself from a group discussion.

But an important and overlooked point is the ability to optimise your study space. I will get into this later, but when done correctly, will make sure you can achieve a lot more in a shorter amount of time.

So How Do I Start Studying at Home?

This question may seem silly at first.

‘Just pull out a book and start reading’, I can hear you say.

There is a little more you can do to truly reap the rewards of studying at home. Note how I use the terms ‘study at home’ and ‘study space’ on purpose. Study space does not always mean your bedroom. Sure, for the larger portion of your high school life, you’ve spent your time, in your bedroom, in front of your laptop or computer furiously multitasking.

Sending DMs to your best friend. Tetris battles. Scrolling Pinterest, Insta and Twitter. While occasionally punching in a few words that have some relevance to that essay that was due a day ago.

But today, it’s time to decide where your study space is going to be, optimise that space and follow that study plan.

Step 1: Pick Your Space

Your family will often be flexible when it comes to your later years of high school. If you want that special spot, exactly two metres from the fish tank, demand ask politely, if you can move a reasonably sized table and comfortable chair to that location.

I find a clean, open place works best. Natural lighting is amazing. An open window is a plus.

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Now your bedroom may well be this place, but don’t have bias while choosing a location. Keep in mind, if you choose your bedroom as your study space DO NOT study in bed. Your brain will associate being in bed with you trying to sleep and you will become tired very fast. If you’ve been doing it up to now, stop doing it from now on. It’s a bad habit because when it does finally come to bedtime, your brain will be powered up, ready to take in information.

Step 2: Optimise Your Space

Optimising your study area will boost your productivity. So there are two major things to make sure you’re doing…

Remove distractions

A big one. Getting study done means exactly that. Doing anything else, whether that be browsing the web, instant messaging or even something as small as checking the time on your phone more than needed is a distraction.

Being aware that you are doing one of these actions and stopping yourself is a good step. But, being proactive and removing these distractions before you even start studying will save you a lot of time. This reduces your study time yet you will get more done.

So, my advice, use some web blockers, remove unneeded electronics (if you are using a laptop, make sure you need it) and objects you often play around with. I used to have this stress ball that I bounced off the wall, for no reason, for fifteen minutes every study session. After I removed it from arm’s reach, I no longer got distracted by it.

Also, remove other subjects’ materials from your table. File them properly when you switch between subjects and don’t think about it until you return to that subject. If you have planned this time to study for Mathematics, focus on it and stop worrying about that essay that you still have due one day ago. (Although if it were actually due one day ago, you should probably do that first)

Follow your study plan

Each subject should have a study plan, what you have to get done week-to-week. From this, form a day-by-day plan, incorporating everything you have to complete in that week, from all your subjects, into a timetable.

Click here to make your own weekly study schedule!

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I like to print my weekly study plans and stick them to the wall to keep me in check. Setting out 2-3 hours per day after school and 3-4 hours on the weekend to complete what you have to do is much better than cramming it all on the weekends. Also, if there are no urgent subjects, studying a little bit for 2-3 subjects a day is more effective than spending an entire day on one subject. This prevents you from falling too far behind in note making and keeps you on top of your classwork.

If you are on school holidays, treat it like school. This was a tip that my Extension 2 Mathematics teacher gave me, of all people.

Wake up when you normally would for school. This helps when school resumes and to be adequately rested for those early morning exams. Last thing you want to do is go to sleep at 4am and wake up in the afternoon, the day before your 8:45 English Exam.

Bonus Tips

So far in your life, studying has taken up a large portion of it. And over the years you have no doubt picked up on small tricks that have helped you study that little bit more effectively. Here are some of my favourites!

Get Plenty of Sleep

It is important when spending hours per day sitting down and exhausting your brain power that you properly replenish your body.

The easiest way to do this is to get plenty of sleep.

Studies show that sleep has benefits for your overall focus and allows for the consolidation of memory.

And yes, this is very common advice, but I never slept enough up until a few weeks before the HSC exam. I used to be the type of person who believed that I could survive on four hours of sleep. But, after the first two hours of being awake, I spent the rest of the day wishing I slept more.

I’m sure a lot of you still don’t get at least 8+ hours of sleep per night. So make it a habit. Only after I got into the habit of sleeping a sufficient number of hours each night, did I realise the improvement in focus and mental capacity the next day.

Stay Hydrated and Exercise

Again, obvious but important.

Hydration and exercise go hand-in-hand. Drink plenty of water while studying and take some time out of the day for some form of physical activity. Whether you walk the dog, kick a ball around the park or go to the gym.

I can’t emphasise the importance of exercise enough.

Not only is it a nice break from the often monotony of studying, it increases alertness as well as improves your mood, sleep and reduces stress levels. For those of you who have stopped or are considering stopping physical exercise of some sort because of exams, keep in mind, not a lot of time has to be dedicated to this. Twenty to thirty minutes will suffice if you are short on time.

Stay Social

You’ll have less time to go out with friends but maintain contact. With today’s technology, it isn’t difficult to set up a Skype call or plan a meet up somewhere in advance. Believe it or not, but your friends will most likely be keen to meet up if you haven’t seen each other for some time.

Again, this is a great break from studying and will improve your mental health.

Helpful Apps

Pomodoro Timer

A study-break timer. Standard Pomodoro timers have 25-minute study sessions broken up by 5-minute breaks. After four 25-minute sessions, you get a longer break, usually 10-20 minutes. Breaks are a good opportunity to walk around and to drink some water. I also like to dance around to some music during the breaks to refresh my mind and boost my mood.

There’s both a website and an app which have study session and break times which can be changed. During the studying time, don’t check the progress of the timer. That’s obviously an unnecessary distraction.

Click here for an online Pomodoro Timer

Tip: If you are using the timer on a website, while doing work on the computer, move the tab to a different window because some versions show the time ticking down on the tab which is very distracting.

Forest

When I first heard about this, I didn’t actually believe it would work. But it does. It’s a nice fun app to prevent phone usage and browsing blacklisted websites while you’re meant to be working. Something about growing virtual trees helps you do work.

Try it out below!

Click through to download Forest

Website Blockers

Beware that there is a level of self-control required no matter what app, add-on or program you use, since you have control over the settings. But they are useful for developing a good habit nonetheless.

Use these to blacklist certain websites while you are studying.

A few examples:

Cold Turkey: Windows, macOS and Android

Stay Focusd: A Google Chrome Extension

Self-Control: Downloadable for macOS

So Get Started!

The most important tip I’ve learnt about getting anything done in life is to just start. Reading hundreds of articles about how to study, looking for some magic solution, won’t help. Getting started allows you to learn how you study best and adjust accordingly. Add that with consistency and you have the closest thing to a magic solution for the HSC.

Good Luck!

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Thomas Zheng enjoys using numbers in every aspect of life. So much so that he just had to take Civil Engineering at UNSW, because even Extension 2 in high school did not satisfy that need. Now he’s writing (with actual words) for Art of Smart because he understands the importance of balance in life. I guess that’s why he spends most of his time watching TV shows and movies as opposed to doing ‘something productive’ as his teachers used to say, because that totally demonstrates how much he understands that balance thing.

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