Have you ever finished a study session and felt like “I didn’t get anything done” or “I don’t remember what I did”? Do you feel like you need to make your study time more effective, but you don’t know how? You’re not the only one! Join Adam and Dinur as we talk about various strategies […]
The word “lazy” is a pretty nasty word. It’s negative and abusive. So why do we use it so much? Join Dinur and Adam as we discuss what “lazy” actually means, what we think it means, and what to do about it. Show Notes Medium.com, “Laziness Does Not Exist” Devon Price, Laziness Does Not Exist […]
In Episode 27, Adam and Dinur talked about how to plan toward easier. Well, now that you’ve planned out how you’re going to work easier, you need to move forward with following your plan. Join us for this episode to find out more! Click Here to Download This Episode’s Transcript! Show Notes Gretchen Rubin, The […]
As final exams approach on the calendar, many students resort to the “cram and jam” method of learning. While this is understandable, it’s also not going to help – cramming never does. In past posts on this blog, I’ve recommended self-quizzing, which is a scientifically-supported way to get better scores on exams. But I don’t […]
The Student-Athlete’s Dilemma Earlier this term, I had a student-athlete come to office hours. He was pretty far behind in class, and pretty discouraged. “I hate studying,” he confessed. “It just seems like a waste of time.” I’ve had many students, not just student-athletes, tell me this. Why study? they ask. They don’t see the […]
Most of the time, high-school students aren’t learning on a deep level. Their learning is usually focused around stuffing in information for tests and then spitting it back out on those tests. They know facts – but they don’t know why they are learning them. It’s just “what the school requires them to learn.” This […]
Flash cards. They’re old-school, sure, but they’re versatile. You can flip through them to learn terms, concepts, and ideas while you’re riding the bus, or waiting for class to start. You can get someone else to quiz you with them, or you can quiz yourself. You can play different games with them in your study […]
In the last blog in this series, we talked about how to prioritize your tasks so that you can actually get them done in a timely fashion. In this final blog in the series, we’ll talk about how to make sure you actually complete them. You’ve made a list of things you need to do, […]
In the previous blog in this series, we went over the beliefs that push us into rushing, and how many of those beliefs create a stressful situation. In this final blog in the series, we’ll go over why stress pushes us into a vicious cycle, four ways to stop that cycle in its tracks, and […]
The first blog in this series talked about what happens when we rush, and why we need to slow down. This blog will talk about why we feel like we have to rush, and how that can lead to an ongoing cycle of stress. Beliefs, Behavior and Stress Our behavior stems from what we believe […]
In college, most of the time, exams require more than memorizing. College is supposed to be the place where students move past just memorizing to applying, analyzing, and evaluating information – but not always. Some exams will still be focused on memorizing concepts, equations, definitions, terms, dates, and people. Some professors will want to know that […]
Last week in a private coaching forum I’m part of, one of the members asked: “How do we help our students know that they’re ready for an exam? So many of them are stressing out about getting straight As!” Her description of this student made me think of a poignant moment in Dr. Judith Rapoport’s […]
How many times have you been in the second or third week of a class – especially when it’s a topic you’ve never encountered before – and thought “I’m so confused! I’ll never understand this!” and given up? Believe it or not, you’re not alone. But what you need to know is that the confusion […]
Many teachers will advise you to work with your classmates – in a word, to create a study group. But what do you do in a study group? Too many times, study groups can devolve into chit-chat and waste your time, instead of improving your knowledge. Here’s some ways to make a study group work […]
I recently had a coaching client who was getting ready to go to college, but struggling with one of their high-school classes. No matter how much we went over study tools or test preparation practices, they were consistently getting low grades on quizzes and exams. It turned out they didn’t know how to take good […]
Aren’t Academic Coaches and Academic Advisors the Same? Many students hear “academic coaching” and think “academic advising,” and it’s true, the terms are similar. But although your academic advisors and your academic coaches are people who can help you through college, their jobs are very different! Let’s take a quick look at what each of […]
If you’re a college student, or know someone who is, you’ve probably noticed that college isn’t like high school. The work demands more than memorization: more reading, more study time, more writing, and more research. You may feel like you’re in over your head, or that you’re constantly behind. There may even be one or […]
“Make a study schedule.” It sounds easy until you sit down to do it, right? Then, for many students, it begins to feel like two other things, and neither of them are easy: A ton of work A waste of time It’s understandable that you feel this way. School has just started, you’re overwhelmed with […]
Tales My Teacher Told Me: Study Habits That Don’t Actually Work From the time you enter first grade, your teachers and parents and just about every other adult you know are telling you how to study, thinking that you have study habits that don’t work. Your older brother has notebooks full of highlighted colors cluttering […]