Skills that make Studying more Effective

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The emphasis on skill has always been with us. For thousands of years, man has been able to develop the ability to do a lot of things in a highly efficient and creative way. History is replete with accounts of men who were extremely skillful at pottery, archery, hunting and many others. Without skill, humanity would not develop socially, politically, technologically and economically. Skills are the driving force of development and advancement. It is with skill that surgeons, mechanics, engineers, pilots and other professionals carry out their jobs. The skill of professionals informs the trust placed on them by the people that patronize them. The more skillful you are, the easier it will be for you to get something done. The ability to get the most out of studying is dependent on how skillful you are at doing certain things. The effectiveness of the time you spend studying has a direct link with the number of skills you have in other areas.

One of the most potent skills that can greatly enhance your studying is the way you read. Many researchers have come up with varying reports on how to read effectively. But the most important metrics of your reading skill are your speed, eye movement, rate of comprehension and the size of your brain’s vocabulary dictionary. Your studying would become more productive if your reading speed is moderate to high. Your eye movement should be saccadic, that is, while reading, your eyes should make fluid jumping movements from left to right. The rate of comprehension is highly dependent on the amount of words whose meanings you already know. A very high rate of comprehension hinged on an encyclopedic store of understood words in the brain would do pure magic in making your studying highly effective.

Taking notes in class and while reading is a skill that when mastered, simplifies your studying and reduces the amount of time you spend studying. The ability to take informative, comprehensive and yet brief notes in class and while reading is a skill that can be honed by making an habit of using the notes you take to prepare for a mock examination. If you are able to get a very high score by using only the notes you have taken to prepare for the mock examination, it is a good sign that you have a very good note taking skill. Frequent Take notes frequently. Take notes in class, meetings and while studying. It would drastically improve your note taking skills.

The frequency of reading also has a great role to play in the effectiveness of your studying. Developing the discipline to read more frequently is an invaluable asset. Reading is something that even some of the most enthusiastic may not want to do. This is true especially for technical and scholarly materials. There are things you have to manipulate, set and put into motion to ensure that your reading frequency keeps going up. The ability to encourage, cajole and put yourself in the reading mood almost anytime you want to do so is a skill that you must develop. The only thing you need to know is yourself. Study yourself well enough to know how you can motivate yourself to read more frequently.

A most difficult skill to master is the ability to convert abstract concepts into near reality. This skill comes in handy when studying mathematics many science based subjects. Many of the concepts that make the plane fly, phones call and television work are deeply technical and for the most part, almost abstract especially at the development stage. Merging reality with abstract concepts is a very potent skill that would improve the effectiveness of your studying. Try as much as possible to relate what you read with reality. The more often you do so, the better you would become at it.

Attempting more problems while studying would help your retention and boost your confidence about what you know from what you have read. Especially in science related areas, make a log of how you approached particularly difficult problems that you succeeded in solving and seek help with more difficult problems you cannot solve. The combination of these activities would undoubtedly sharpen your problem solving skills and make your studying highly effective.