Study tips for people who are new to something

Most study advice is terrible. It’s written by people who don’t remember what it’s like to be a beginner, staring at a textbook that feels like it's in another language. They say things like "be consistent" and "stay organized." Thanks. That helps.

Let’s try something that works.

Your brain isn't a sponge

First, stop just reading things over and over. Highlighting half a textbook page or rereading your notes is mostly useless for remembering things long-term. It feels productive, but it isn’t. Your brain gets good at recognizing the information, not recalling it.

Instead, force your brain to pull the information out. This is called active recall.

After you read a chapter, close the book. Write down everything you can remember. Or, explain the main ideas out loud to an empty room. Use flashcards, but say the answer before you flip the card. The struggle to retrieve the information is what builds the memory. It’s like lifting a weight—the effort is what makes you stronger.

You're supposed to forget

The second idea is spaced repetition. Your brain is built to forget. We lose around 70% of new information within a day if we don't use it. Spaced repetition uses this "forgetting curve" to your advantage.

You review information right before you’re about to forget it. That interruption tells your brain, "Hey, this is actually important." Each time you do this, you can wait longer before the next review. The first review might be a day later. The next, a few days after that. Then a week.

It’s a weirdly effective way to make things stick.

Stop multitasking. Seriously.

Your brain can't do two things at once. It just switches between them really fast, and does a bad job at both. Put your phone in another room. Block distracting websites. The world can wait.

The Pomodoro Technique is good for this. You work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After four rounds, you take a longer break. Those 25 minutes are a sprint with no distractions. It keeps you from burning out by breaking a giant study session into a few focused sprints.

A quick story

I remember trying to study for my freshman bio midterm. It was 4:17 PM on a Tuesday and I was just rereading the chapter on cellular respiration for the fifth time in my 2011 Honda Civic, parked just off campus. I thought if I just stared at the words long enough, they'd stick. A week later, I bombed the test. It wasn't until I started making myself answer practice questions from memory that the concepts actually clicked. That was the difference.

Where you study matters

Your brain makes connections with your surroundings. If you always study in the same place, it starts to associate that spot with focus. So don't study in your bed. Your brain connects your bed with sleep, and it will get confused.

Find a spot—a specific chair at the library, a corner of a coffee shop—and make it your study zone.

And get some sleep. An all-nighter is the worst thing you can do. Sleep is when your brain files away memories. Sacrificing it is like taking good notes and then setting them on fire.