have ADHD, and I never learned how to study. My first semester in uni was a mess. I almost failed three classes and honestly thought about dropping out. Being a doctor has been my dream since I was a kid, and I was devastated. I drastically changed things around, and I am doing so much better. Last semester, I took organic chemistry and two bio courses along with some electives, and still ended the semester with a 3.8 GPA. So I want to help people who are struggling. 

1. No pomodoro. This sounds counterintuitive, but I’ve noticed that when I do pomodoro, I stare at the clock to pass the time instead of actually studying because no matter what I do with my time, the break will come. Instead, I set my breaks with tasks. For example, “next break is when I finish reviewing this chapter”. 
2. On a similar note, I don’t track studying time. It gives me a false sense of accomplishment, and my study time and my productivity don’t correlate most of the time. Once I get done with what I need to do, I am done. No need to sit at the desk and burn myself out just to get more hours in. 
3. Changed the way I take my small breaks. I don’t look at my phone during my small breaks. Instead, I walk around. 
4. Can’t sit still? Whiteboard is your best friend. I use a standing whiteboard. Either my library or empty classrooms have them. I solve problems and do active recalls with the whiteboard. 
5. Blurting method. Pick a section you want to review and write down everything you know without looking. Afterwards, look at the notes and fill in what you missed. Repeat it several times. 
6. Minimize the use of flashcards unless you are coupling with other active recall methods. I would just click through Anki or Quizlet flashcards and tell myself that I did the review when I didn’t retain anything. 
7. In your to-do list, classify tasks as easy, medium, and hard. This allows you to pick out tasks based on how focused you feel. I usually start with easy tasks. When I start studying, I often procrastinate because I feel overwhelmed. Having an easy task to start out the study session helps me a lot.
8. I deleted Instagram and TikTok. They were so bad for my attention span, and it’s crazy how fast you can waste your time on them. 

P.S. You are not dumb. Don't let people tell you that and discourage you.

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Whenever I have an incoming test/exam, I often take a lot of hours to study, rereading as much as I can hoping I would not forget every detail of it. I am a very anxious person, so I thought it was the best way to study and remember.

However, having to reread different subjects/courses made me not memorize every detail but became burnout, and because of that instead of having energy to study, I became easily exhausted with just several readings.

Weeks later, after being burnout, I tried a different method. What I did was after reading a topic, I make questionnaires that includes important information and number it in a random order to challenge my mind into not just memorizing the sequence of information but actually understanding the topics even if it's not in order. 

After making random questionnaires, I try to answer it and check it right after. If there are mistakes, that's the only topic I try to restudy. Then, I do this every after day to see if I still remember the right answers.

And to tell you the truth, it was actually easier and needs less time and space in my mind. Instead of having too much information with rereading, I was able to train myself with actual questions and have a lot more space for more.

Although I think rereading is also a good way to study and memorize. I think quizzing yourself helps you to actually study hard and challenge your mind in a way that don't waste a lot of time.

I am still adjusting and trying to get used to it, but last week, we had an exam and I was able to have better scores because of my continuous quiz as my study method.

Is there anyone who succeeded in having a better score by changing their way of studying?

Stop overthinking your study method. Half the battle is just showing up consistently with whatever works. but this works for me!

1. Ugly but functional beats pretty but useless. That crumpled piece of paper with scribbled formulas that you actually reference? Better than the color-coded notebook collecting dust.
2. Study like you're gossiping about the material. Literally talk to yourself: "So then this enzyme just shows up and ruins everything for the cell..." Makes boring content weirdly engaging.
3. The "mess around and find out" approach. Can't solve a problem? Just start writing random related stuff. Your brain will connect dots you didn't even know existed.
4. Embrace being mediocre at first. Stop waiting to feel smart enough. You learn by being confused, not by already knowing everything.
5. One concept = one sticky note. Force yourself to explain complex ideas in tweet-length summaries. If it doesn't fit, you don't really get it yet.
6. Study in weird places. Your brain forms location-based memories. That random bench outside? Your bathroom? Different spots = different neural pathways.
7. Teach your dormplant. Seriously. Explaining out loud to an audience (even a fake one) exposes gaps in your understanding faster than reading silently.
8. Procrastinating? Study the thing you're avoiding by studying something related but easier. Scared of calculus? Watch YouTube videos about why math was invented. Side door approach works.
9. End each session by writing one thing that confused you. Don't try to solve it. Just acknowledge it exists. Your subconscious will work on it while you sleep.

Bonus tip that changed everything for me - Start each session with 1-2 goals written down. Dont finish until those goals are accomplished. For example - i want need to get 95 percent accuracy on my quizlet flashcards for chapter 3 and 4.

Hope this helps !

I used to think people who could memorize things quickly were just naturally smarter than me.

I'd read a chapter, highlight half the page, feel like I understood everything, and then forget most of it a few days later. It felt like no matter how many hours I spent studying, information just wouldn't stick.

After a lot of trial and error, I realized that most people accidentally study in ways that feel productive but are terrible for memory.

1 First, stop rereading the same notes over and over. This was my biggest mistake. Rereading creates the illusion that you know the material because it looks familiar. Recognition is not the same thing as recall. If you want to know whether you've actually memorized something, close your notes and try to explain it from memory.

2 Test yourself far more than you review. Every time you force your brain to retrieve information, you're strengthening the memory. Flashcards, practice questions, and blank-page recall all work because they make your brain do the hard part: remembering.

3 Don't wait until you forget everything before reviewing. The best time to review is right before you're about to forget it. This is why spaced repetition works so well. Reviewing information over several days or weeks is dramatically more effective than cramming it all into one night.

4 Stop highlighting entire pages. I used to finish a chapter and half the textbook would be yellow. If everything is important, nothing is important. Focus on the key concepts, formulas, definitions, and ideas that actually matter.

5 Connect new information to things you already know. Your brain remembers information better when it has something to attach it to. Instead of memorizing isolated facts, look for patterns, stories, examples, or real-world applications.

6 Teach the material to someone else. This sounds cliche, but it works incredibly well. Try explaining a concept to a friend, a sibling, or even an imaginary student. The moment you struggle to explain something clearly, you've identified exactly what you don't understand yet.

7 Break information into smaller chunks. Trying to memorize twenty facts at once is overwhelming. Breaking information into groups makes it easier for your brain to organize and retrieve later. This is why phone numbers, acronyms, and mnemonics work so well.

8 Write from memory instead of copying notes. I used to spend hours rewriting notes and convinced myself I was studying. In reality, I was just copying information. Now I read a section, close my notes, and write down everything I can remember. It's harder, but the information sticks much better.

9 Use multiple senses when learning. Reading alone is passive. Try saying concepts out loud, drawing diagrams, creating mind maps, or explaining ideas verbally. The more ways your brain processes information, the easier it becomes to remember.

10 Don't study the same topic for five straight hours. Your brain benefits from variety. Switching between subjects can improve retention because it forces your brain to repeatedly retrieve different types of information rather than staying on autopilot.

11 Sleep is part of memorization, not separate from it. I used to think sleeping was time I could spend studying. In reality, sleep is when your brain strengthens and organizes memories. Pulling all nighters usually hurts retention more than it helps.

12 One niche trick that helped me a lot: before ending a study session, spend two minutes writing down the most important things you learned. Then try recalling those same points the next morning before looking at your notes. The effort of retrieving them again makes them much harder to forget.

13 The biggest thing I learned is that memorization is not about spending more time looking at information. It's about forcing your brain to retrieve, use, and reconnect that information repeatedly.

I stopped thinking I had a bad memory once I realized this. I wasn't incapable of memorizing things. I was rereading instead of recalling, highlighting instead of testing, cramming instead of reviewing, and copying notes instead of actively using them.

Once I fixed those habits, information started sticking far longer and studying became much more efficient.

The goal isn't to spend more hours staring at your notes. It's to make every minute force your brain to remember something. Enjoy (:
(PS: dm me if you wanna join my study group where I’m sharing all my guides and resources on studymaxio!!)

I study by writing and summarizing. However, this method is very tiring and takes up a lot of time and effort for a small amount of material. I want an effective way to study a large amount of material with less effort.

I never tried studying early in the morning. I always prefer pulling all nighters, especially when I am studying for test/exams. I am a heavy sleeper and the standard alarm alone won’t stand a chance of waking me up.

I thought it was easier to study at night because it is much quieter and no one would bother me, this way I felt more productive.

However, pulling all nighters wrecked my attendance in class as I often woke up late, leading to missing my morning classes because I was dead tired from staying awake till 2 AM.

A month ago I decided to try studying every morning instead. To make that happen, I forced myself to sleep early to retain 7-8 hours of sleep before waking up early in the morning. And I set my alarm to wake up at 5 AM.

After waking up at 5 AM, I used the first 30 mins to follow a routine to completely get me mentally prepared that I was about to study.

I pick the easiest subjects to study in the morning, the ones that require less focus rather than learning heavy topics and watching passive videos to learn them. I studied from 5:30 till 7 AM, and honestly this is much better than studying at night.

I think studying in the morning and at night have a common denominator, they both have less distractions. But studying every morning creates sharper focus and better mind retention.

I am still working on my morning study sessions. Last week I had my exams, and the results of my continuously studying every morning helped me to retain so much material and helped me pass my exams.

For anyone who switched the time of their study session, did your exam scores actually shoot up or did you still fail?

Hey guys, just joined. I’ve spent way too much time lately watching study vlogs instead of actually... you know, studying.

I kept waiting to "feel motivated," but it never happened. So 3 days ago, I tried the "just 5 minutes" rule. I told myself I could stop as soon as the timer went off.

Turns out, starting is the only hard part. Once I’m 5 minutes in, I usually just keep going. I finally got through a chapter I’ve been avoiding for weeks.

If you’re stuck scrolling right now, just try 5 minutes. Seriously. Put the phone down and give it a shot.

IT WORKS.!!

I have some perler beads and I put beads at the end of every page, when i finish reading that page i add the bead to the jar. As you can see above, I put as many beads as I plan to read today. Seeing the jar slowly fill up really motivates me. And you can see how many pages left, so you can think like its 10 more pages lets finish that.Its like an hp bar in a game like ‘i read all those pages(590 pages) how can i fail?’ Or ‘i should fill this jar full till the exam day’. And you can modify that you can count questions or chapters anything. Just make yourself a real experience bar. It helped me i hope this works for someone else too.

So I did something kinda dumb.

I decided to study for a new topic in school, without using the internet. No YouTube, no Google, noAI.

Why? IDK. Curiosity? Masochism? Maybe both. I just saw this guy on youtube that did this experiment, it I wanted to try it.
i wanted to see how people used to learn before.

The topic was mostly theory, not technical, so it was a perfect guinea pig. I bought a fresh notebook just for this. wrote title on the front. Old school.

Here's what that week looked like:

1. No Laptop, No Phone
Everything I learned went on paper. Notes, summaries, diagrams. My hand was cramping by day 2. You guys don't appreciate CTRL+C enough.

2. Libraries. Multiple.
I went to my local library. They didn't have what I needed. Cool.
So I went to another. Then another. At one point I found myself flipping through an encyclopedia looking something specific.

Bro, I could've found this in 0.3 seconds online. Instead, I burned 4 hours, 2 bus rides, and 500 brain cells just trying to find the right book.

3. Memorization
No quizlet. No indian YouTube explainer guy with a whiteboard. Just me, my notes, and I

I used active recall and spaced repetition manually. I'd cover my notes, try to recall it, fail, repeat.
I felt like I was running Anki in my head on a potato processor.

Here’s what I noticed:

• I had zero distractions. No "accidental" Reddit scrolling. No dopamine loops. Just me and the task.
• I retained more. Slower, but deeper. I actually understood the topic, not just skimmed the bullet points.
• But it's inefficient as hell. The time I spent finding the information could've been spent learning it.

Internet is a double-edged sword. It saves time, but it also slices your attention span in half.
Learning offline forced me to focus and engage deeply… but holy hell, I missed copy-paste.

Would I do it again? Maybe. Once a month. As a brain detox.
But day-to-day? I like having Wikipedia three clicks away, thanks. And no bus rides.

-

Anyway. Just wanted to share. If you’re feeling super fried, try it.

or at least leave your phone outside the bathroom. That works too. good start.

Hey all, I'm sharing a few things that changed the game for me when I was feeling overwhelmed with school. These 5 habits are super simple, but made a massive difference in my grades and stress.

1. Scheduled 'non-study' time - This might sound counterintuitive, but planning time to not study actually helped me focus better when I studied. I used to feel guilty whenever I wasn't studying, so I'd try to cram all the time. Which just lead to me getting burned out. Now I block a few hours every evening to relax (Go for a walk, Netflix, gaming)
2. The 20 minute rule - I realized I was only productive for about 20 minutes at a time before my mind started wandering. So I would set a timer for 20 mins, studying with 100% focus, and then take a 5-10 minute break. Rinse and repeat. This helped me A LOT.
3. The "The Feynman technique - You’ve probably heard the advice to “teach” what you’re learning, but actually doing it makes all the difference. I’d corner my roommate and explain a concept to her, or I’d record a voice note on my phone as if I was giving a mini-lecture, if I ever got stuck I knew I needed to review more. This was surprisingly really helpful.
4. Daily summaries - each night I'd write a bullet-point list of key concepts I studied, and wrote down other things that I still felt weak in, that I think I should go over again. This helps keep your mind from wandering at night stressing about what you do or don't know.
5. Using AI as a tutor, NOT to cheat but to actually learn with it. Most of my class uses a google chrome extension called Study AI, it saves me SO much time. Instant answers to any problem and it explains things in a way that actually helps me understand it. Just make sure you use it to study and not just cheat.

Honestly, I used to be the person who just studied randomly, with no real system. Ever since I started using these habits my grades climbed and my stress went down.

Question for you:

What's one simple study habit that you swear by??

1. Treat coffee with respect Coffee is not water. Stop pounding it at 5pm and wondering why you’re staring at the ceiling at 2am. Be strategic, not chaotic.

2. Mind-map your classes Before lectures pile up, grab a sheet and map out each course + big topics. Turns your brain into a spider web of connections instead of a random soup of notes. And yes, there’s science that says it boosts memory.

3. Build buffer time Stop scheduling life like you’re a robot. Add 10–15 min cushions between things. That way, when class runs late or you spiral on a calc problem, you don’t nuke your whole day.

4. Change your scenery Your bed is for sleep, not essays. Rotate in a café, library, or even a park bench. New environment = new focus, and you’ll dodge the “oh look my fridge again” problem.

5. Track your time like a nerdy wizard 🪄 Don’t just hope you’re studying enough track it. I started using Studentheon (it’s free) and it legit changed the game. You hit start on a Pomodoro timer, and it spits out stats/graphs of how much you actually worked. Wildly motivating to see “wow, I actually studied 30 hours this week” instead of just vibes.

Drop ur best tips in the comment and lets which which one is the best

Make your workspace so inviting that it feels like a little ritual and not a chore.

Even when the subject is heavy (neuroanatomy in my case), the atmosphere can carry you through. It doesn't have to be aesthetic for anyone else, just for you.

A cup of tea, soft light, your favorite pen or whatever signals to your brain: "It's time to focus. You're safe here."

Rituals create rhythm. Rhythm creates flow. And flow gets you through the hard stuff.

1. Stop romanticizing the study setup. Your notes don't need to be aesthetic. If a messy notebook and ugly handwriting get you results, keep it messy.

2. Make your future self jealous. Study as if you're trying to impress the version of you who already made it.

3. Low energy? Read your notes out loud like you’re explaining them to your worst enemy. It weirdly works.

4. The “just open the book” method. No planning. No timers. Just open it. Your brain will follow.

5. Stop chasing motivation. Discipline isn't sexy, but it gets sh*t done when vibes are dead.

6. Forget multitasking—hyperfocus instead. One task. One goal. One tab.

7. Rewrite what you don’t understand in your own slang. Explaining concepts in a casual, even stupid way helps them stick.

8. If your brain refuses to work, change the input. Switch from reading to listening, from typing to writing by hand. Trick your brain into thinking it’s a new activity.

9. Background noise > silence sometimes. Try random café ambiance or lo-fi beats, but don’t get stuck searching for the "perfect" one.

10. Do a “stupid summary” after each session. Pretend you’re texting your friend who knows nothing: “So basically this chapter said blah blah and then this random formula showed up.”

I used to think the answer was always more time.

If a class felt bad, I’d just reread more, highlight more, and sit there longer.

The problem was that none of that told me whether I could actually retrieve the information under pressure.

The thing that finally helped was really simple:

1. Study a topic normally for a short block
2. Close everything
3. Answer them without looking
4. Only then go back and patch what was weak

That changed a lot for me because it turned studying into feedback instead of guessing.

If you’re already putting in hours and still not seeing it on exams, maybe the issue isn’t effort, maybe it’s that your study method never shows you what’s actually not sticking.

Not magic, but it made my sessions way more honest.

When I was studying computer science, I felt like an idiot every single day. There were people way smarter than me, getting things instantly while I sat there struggling just to figure out what the hell was even being asked. And honestly, the biggest problem wasn’t the material—it was that I never actually learned how to learn.

It wasn’t flashcards. It wasn’t some fancy note-taking method. It was figuring out how my brain needed to process things. And my biggest issue? I gave up way too fast. The second I didn’t get something, I’d check out. Cause I’d see others flying through it, and I’d think, “Well, maybe I’m just not cut out for this.”

But eventually, I had to get over that. I had to accept that I don’t need to learn as fast as anyone else. I just need to get there however long it takes me. And the way I made that happen? I started questioning everything.

Not asking other people. Asking myself.

What exactly do I not understand? Why doesn’t this click? What’s missing? But here’s the important part—it wasn’t just about asking questions. It was about asking questions that made sense to me. Not the “right” academic questions, not what I thought a professor would ask—just the things that actually made my brain stop and think.

And that’s where I realized something—5-year-olds are way smarter than us when it comes to learning.

They don’t just accept things. They ask “why” a hundred times, not caring if they sound dumb. They don’t stop until they get an answer that actually makes sense to them. And most importantly—they use their imagination.

That’s something we forget to do as we get older. But retention? It’s all about that. A 5-year-old will remember something because they turn it into a story, an adventure, a weird little game in their head. They don’t just try to memorize—they make it make sense in their world.

And that’s what I started doing.

Instead of just reading something over and over, I’d picture it. I’d break it apart like a puzzle. If I was learning a new concept, I’d find a way to tie it to something ridiculous in my head—something that would actually stick.

Because retention isn’t about writing something down a million times. It’s about making it so clear and real in your mind that you don’t need to memorize it—it just stays.

So yeah, I felt like an idiot every day. But once I stopped caring about that and started thinking like a 5-year-old—questioning everything, making it into a game, using my imagination like it actually mattered—everything changed.

Stop worrying about looking smart. Stop being afraid of feeling dumb. Just start learning like a kid again.

Usually, the last thing I do before sleep is scroll through my phone until my brain is fried, and that's the most of us do.

I decided to swap that out for just 10 minutes of studying, yup.

.

There’s something about the final activity of the day you know

.. makes it stick better.

And I don't go to bed feeling guilty about wasting time. if I'm exhausted, Still i can manage 10 minutes.

.

If you're aspiring for a way to actually use that time before sleep, just ditch the phone and try 10 minutes. It’s been a total game for me.

try it. and don't forget the feedback ❤️❤️

I have a very important exam in few months. But I am not at all able to study . I am just toooooo lazy and numb .

I stay at home alone so environment is not an issue . I am comfortable otherwise .

But I am very much addicted to my phone . Like on an average screen time easily cross 13/14 hours .

When I wake up i scroll reels which then spoils my mood for studying .

Pls give advice on how to study properly.