Maura Brunt ‘27
EE Staff Writer
While finals are around a month away, studying is a vital and effective part of doing well in school, so that you can end the year off on a good note. Many factors go into studying and your success. Even before finding the “perfect playlist”, you have to consider what type of learner you are, so you can determine the best way to review your knowledge. While your friend may prefer studying by listening to online podcasts or writing more notes, you may learn best by teaching others or seeing visual representations. The VARK Learning Styles are some examples of these different techniques. While it may not seem like a big deal, every person has their own way of reaching success, so it may be a good idea to change your method if you struggle to study.
Every student is a different person and thus has their own preferences and music tastes, but there have been some types of music correlated with higher achievement and success. The best type of playlists to have for studying are ones with quiet or no lyrics. This includes instrumental music, classical music, or lo-fi music. These are helpful to your studying as they are proven to increase your brain activity, as both hemispheres are activated to a certain degree, which allows you to learn more easily. While you can listen to music with lyrics, it may be distracting, especially for work involving intensive reading. When creating a playlist to study, you should also keep in mind the length. One helpful tip to not get too sucked up in studying, and subsequently draining yourself out early, is to design the playlist to last for the exact time interval you want to study – so you know when your break should be.
As mentioned before, while having playlists can help, there are a few more things you should keep in mind to study well. First, you need to be in a conducive environment that allows you to study: Don’t have distractions near you. One of the best ways to do this, if you are at home, is to put your phone in a different room. If you are at school and have a study hall, you can also get a library pass, so you are in a quiet environment with no distractions. Second, make sure to take breaks. It is better to take small breaks in between studying so you can have time to process the information. Before or after the breaks, you can go over the highlights of what you were reviewing and try to retrieve it so it is further retained.
On that note, make sure you don’t just study by rereading information. While rereading your class textbook may be helpful, it would be better to try and retrieve information, talk about it, or rewrite and reexplain it in your own words so you can have a better understanding. When retrieving and reviewing, keep track of the information that you know well, but also make tabs on what you don’t know well, or are struggling to remember. You can focus on your weaker points more, and even try to look up helpful tips to remember them, so you know them on exam day.
Overall, listening to music in general may be beneficial for your studying. While it can distract some people, in which case you should find a quiet environment to study in, it often helps motivate people and make them more efficient. Studying can be hard or stressful, but if you listen to music you like, it can relieve that stress and help you concentrate better – overall allowing you to remember more for exams.
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