Top 10 Mistakes Students Make While Studying

Committing Mistakes are a natural part of a student’s active study life but it’s ignoring the problems and reasons which lead to such mistakes again and again causes concern and leads to poor academic performance. Becoming aware can help students immensely by helping them avoid mistakes which will ensure better marks in the long run. Academic life is a time when futures are shaped and continuous mistakes will have a negative impact on the rest of your life.

Here are lists of top 10 mistakes every student must avoid while studying to ensure a more balanced and stress free successful academic life:

1. Shying Away or not asking for help:

Each student is different and has their own pace of understanding concept and storing them in memory. Some students learn faster while others take their own time but both can be top performers. So instead of hiding the fact about being slow one should develop a habit of asking the teacher their queries again till satisfied or openly discuss it with their classmates or seniors. Students who for some reason stop themselves for asking help will eventually lead to low grades and demotivation.

2. Study, Study, and Study Non-stop:

These are the type of students most of us envy, isn’t it! These are students who only study and don’t seem to be do anything else. Well, you may think it’s a very good habit but in reality, this is more harmful which leads to more complicated health risks in the future. Short breaks between constant study hours are to ease the stress and help the brain imbibe the learning better which will help them to retain their studies without causing health problems. So don’t worry about those who you call book worms but learn from them and study with short breaks.

3. Procrastination:

Students often procrastinate because they feel few subject or topics are not important for them or they will study for a few hours and grasp all the subject matter or on the other hand they push away subjects because they simply don’t understand it. Absence of a clear plan, spending more time on social networks, watching a movies or going out for a party with friends adds to procrastination. To get over this habit, every student needs have a clear plan for their studies down to the month, week and day. Just a plan is not enough you need to consistently follow the same too.

4. Poor Time Management:

Time management is an all important skill which makes difference between the topper and the average student. It’s the absence of time management which has you studying without a goal or direction. Some of the world’s top and best managers and entrepreneurs will always tell you that time management was among the keys to their success. Students find it difficult to manage time or move from subject / topic to another if they get stuck. Don’t do that, move forward, stick to a plan, and come back to what you have not understood after you have studied the rest.

5. Dump Negative Thinking:

“I am an average student”; “I can’t do this”. Do you think this is you? If Yes, then you must start the process of changing your thought process today. At the very first step you need to change you need to set some achievable goals and then once achieved move your goals to the next level and so on till you see a change the results you can achieve. Positive thinking will also help make the road to success easier “I will pass this exam with good marks”, “I can write an impressive essay”. Change in attitude, studying with goals, focus and dedication will see you to the top.

6. Skipping Lectures:

Today student finds it cool to bunk lectures for various social reasons which feel important or simply because they find the subject boring or less important. We all have been there and done that, haven’t we? This is a habit that needs to be kicked for the betterment of students themselves. Remember classroom provides an opportunity to study with a large group where there will be lots of questions and answers which make it easier for everyone to understand a subject / topic better and retention is higher.

7. Using passive study strategies:

Most students tend to read everything which may be considered a good habit by many but taking notes of important points while studying and revisiting these before the exam is a strategy you must use for success. Studying everything may prove detrimental for those who do not have strong memory and will lead to confusion or forgetting the answers at the time of the exam. Choosing more active study strategies that require you to engage with the material will help you to learn the material more effectively and efficiently.

8. Not prioritisation Strategy:

Students have a common approach where they study in chronological order for their exams. Most successful Students focus on what they find difficult and aggressively get the problems out of the way rather than just learn / study what they like and understand.  Some students find it easy to study the most understood and easy subjects first and then dedicate the rest of their time to the difficult ones Students need to plan their study smartly rather than following this method. From the list of topics in the exam, give more priority and time on the topics which are more important and can get you maximum marks in the exam.

9. Focused on memorizing than understanding:

We often see most students are trying to memorise all the answers rather than understanding the true meaning of it. When you aim to memorise every question and answer, it can backfire at times when the question is presented in a different manner than what you have memorised. The way best way to understand any concept is to present it or describe it in your own words or explain it your teacher. Remember the movie scene from 3 Idiots where “Chatur” gives a terribly wrong speech in front of everyone because not understanding the meaning of it. If you don’t want that to happen to you, start understanding..!!!

10. Not starting early:

Most students intend to begin studying for exams 2-3 weeks before the scheduled dates. What really happens is that this habit of procrastination makes you think it will be OK to skip this one day and get started tomorrow, and finally you end up studying a day before the exam under extreme stress. You need to think practically, you cannot learn everything a day before the exam if you want to succeed. Planning your study smartly and following the plan is the way to avoid the unnecessary examination.

 

Now mark your mistakes and start working on them today.