It’s that time of year again. The weeks where every college student regrets wanting to be something in life and the days all start to seem as one long period of death. Finals. Unfortunately, many college students take unnecessary L’s on these exams due to the fact that they simply don’t know how to effectively study.

Too many college students study for extended amounts of time & only retain minimal information. Here are some efficient ways to help you deal with the misery of finals week:

Adapt & Become Comfortable with the Material

Let’s face it, some classes are just impossible to comprehend let alone pass. Don’t let the fact that the concepts are difficult drive you to the point of insanity even before you start to attempt to study.

Make peace with the conclusion that the course is hard as fuck. Understand that you’re not the only currently struggling and that you certainly wont be the last. If other individuals have survived, so can you. Start to casually navigate the material. Always test the waters before diving in headfirst.

If You Don’t Understand, Search

We live in a time where information about anything is literally at our fingertips. If you cant understand something, simply search for an explanation. Your professor is not the only person with knowledge of the material. Youtube has millions of videos pertaining to whatever subject that you seek. Google around forums & chat sites. Someone out there is having the same difficulties with this stuff as you.

If all else fails, put the $200 you spent earlier in the semester to good use & read your textbook. Most textbooks nowadays give pretty clear & insightful information.

Prepare For Open Ended Questions

Cognitive psychologists & neuroscientists spend their beloved careers searching on how individuals can become more efficient in learning. According to research, it’s unreasonable to spend valuable time on every bit of information that you are presented with. These scientists have thankfully found a loophole.

Study the material as if the questions asked are open ended (essays). Your mind will immediately grasp more details. Miraculously, your working memory will recall more information once stimulated. Even if the exam is multiple choice, review concepts as if there will be an essay assigned at the end. Studies have shown that this type of preparation method is the most efficient of them all.

Study Sheets

Your notes are irrelevant if you don’t re-read & rewrite them. Divide the workload, and make study sheets for every chapter. You’ll simultaneously end up studying while you’re creating these cheat sheets. An effective trick is to write & highlight personal thoughts on certain concepts.

As farfetched as it may sound, encoding & retrieval of information becomes significantly easier once it becomes personal, so your detest and confusion can actually come in quite handy.

Trust Yourself

At the end of it all, how well you perform on the exam solely relies on you. Although you may not necessarily know everything, no one is judging you or your thought process. Trust yourself. Remember that you studied & prepared to the best of your ability. The test is your time to shine and prove to yourself that you have the capabilities to figure out how to overcome anything in the way of your success.

Misaell Cabral | Elite.