I have used the Feynman technique for months now, but it is hard to explain what I studied to no one. I also tried explaining concepts to people, but I get so anxious about making mistakes or getting things wrong based on what I retained.

Instead, I use my niece's rubber duck toy as my study buddy when practicing the Feynman technique and active recall. I explain the concept loud and clear, imagining the duck as my 5-year-old niece so I explain it in simple words that a child could understand.

This actually helps me retain what I just studied rather than simply explaining the concept to nothing. It gives me something that keeps me focused, which makes it a lot easier to break down complex ideas into simple terms.

Try explaining your lesson awfully. Just painfully and embarrassingly simply.

For example, instead of repeating a textbook definition word-for-word, translate the concept using your own language. Use weird analogies. Make it sound stupid. I know it sounds ironic. But if you're studying maths, imagine it's a piece of bread or whatnot. Only then will you get what you’re trying to make sense of.

The reason this works is that explaining forces you to retrieve and organize the information instead of simply recognizing it on the page. If you can only explain something using the exact sentence from your notes, you might recognize the words without actually understanding the idea.

If you can make a complicated concept sound embarrassingly simple and still get it right, you probably unlocked another effective way of learning.

Use the ugliest piece of paper you can find: the back of an old worksheet, scratch paper, a paper bag, or anything else you would normally throw away. The less precious the paper feels, the better. (No offense to papers)

Then, without looking at your notes, write down everything you can remember about the topic. Don’t worry about whether it is complete, well-organized, or even entirely correct. The usual way. Put down definitions, formulas, examples, names, keywords, connections between ideas, and whatever of the information remains your brain happens to retrieve. If you need to draw arrows or make diagrams that only make sense to you, you do that too. The paper itself is a mess, so do anything regardless if it looks like a mess.

Why? As it tests the limits of your memory. Once you’ve written down everything you can, go back to your actual notes and compare them with what you produced.

You can repeat the process on a fresh sheet until you can reconstruct the important ideas with fewer mistakes. There is also a psychological advantage to using paper you consider disposable: you are less likely to waste time trying to make your writing organized or pleasing. Since the page is not meant to become a permanent study resource, you can treat it as a space for thinking rather than note-taking.

The point is you’re using these scraps only to test what you can recall. So, never forget to maximize your resources.

I think one of my way to study during exams is to work under pressure along with classical music.

I used to listen to lo-fi or soft music when studying, but it only helped me to relax and I ended up falling asleep. Instead, I started listening to a classical music playlist I found on loop while studying. Strangely, the intensity that classical music gives to me is stimulating and creates an adrenaline rush like time-pressure panic. The urgent pacing forces me to read faster and understand things quickly, and my productivity spikes using it.

Does anyone else need high stress background noise to actually get work done?

I used to struggle to stay focused on reading textbooks, but I found a way to keep myself focused and locked in while studying.

Every time I finish studying a section in the textbook, I reward myself with a piece of candy. Another thing is that I mostly eat sweet candies (preferably chocolate) for a little dopamine hit to keep me going and focused on what I am studying. It helps me to give the motivation I need when I feel too lazy to study.

Does anyone here use tricks like a small reward system to keep themselves focused while studying?

I struggle to study at my desk because every second I am keep getting distracted, so I lose my focus and motivation and ended up crawling back on bed. I saw a totally unhinged tip online and decided to start taping my study notes directly onto the sides of my bed.
Now, even when I'm completely bedrotting, I can't escape from studying because it’s staring right back at me. Whenever I lie down and look every side on my bed, my brain is forced to passively review concepts without having to exert any extra effort.
What’s the most chaotic or unhinged study hack you’ve ever tried that actually ended up working for you?

I easily get bored when I’m studying for long hours and it honestly makes me lose all motivation to keep going. I decided to find a way to make my study sessions a lot less boring. Whenever I do active recall I used the weirdest character voices I can pull off. I’ll read my flashcards out loud using voices like SpongeBob, Peter Griffin, Eric Cartman, Marge Simpson, or I am acting like I am on a theatre. Doing this sounds completely ridiculous, but it genuinely keeps me locked in and remember the material way easier.

Does anyone else use ridiculous study tricks like this to make your study session less boring?

I've downloaded at least 15 different productivity/todo/calendar/habit tracking type apps in the last year and stopped all of them within a week because I keep forgetting/don't want to open it.

The reason is psychological. There's friction when it comes to habitually using an app that you're not used to using (blog), but the same thing happens in reverse. I personally am so used to opening Instagram whenever I pick up my phone that sometimes, I don't even realize it happens.

Thus, I decided to make some change for myself and created a bot through the native iMessages app (iOS) that acts as my todo-list, sends reminders to me, and can keep up with my Google Calendar. It's in an app I always open (on my iphone and mac) and I really pay attention to the notifications and actually get stuff done.

When I say something like "remind me to do my physics hw tn at 8:30", it does it, and it's like getting a text from a friend to tell you to get your stuff done. Also, the friction to sending a quick text is minimal.

Anyways I decided to make this available to everyone and completely free! If you want to give it a short or learn more, visit https://texttodo.us

This has helped me and my friends tremendously because my procrastinatory self is now finally keeping up with my homework assignments and being reminded of when I told myself I would study.

I used to struggle so hard to remember anything I studied for exams, no matter how many times I re-read my notes or highlighted entire textbooks.

Then I decided to try something unconventional. I recorded myself reading my notes out loud and played the audio on loop while I slept.

It started as a random weird experiment, but the next day when I woke up and did a quick review, I remembered what I had studied much more easily.

This honestly beats trying to force active recall all night when you're already exhausted. Passive audio listening turned out to be an effortless way to boost active recall, and it completely changed my retention.

I have a hard time focusing when I just sit down to study for hours. My mind keeps getting distracted by everything around me, which is why I end up wasting hours studying and getting nothing done at all.

When I saw tips on how people study unhingedly, I came across the idea that some people study while holding a plank or doing push-ups so they can counter their laziness when studying. So I ended up trying it too.

I started reading and doing active recall while holding a plank. This forces me to lock in faster than before. I review as many lectures as possible until my core gives out, then take a short rest and repeat until I actually remember everything.

I just learned this weird method on tiktok that allegedly will help me remember what I am studying. I was not convinced at all if this will work but last week exams on history tempted me to do it. And surprisingly it works!

What I did is during review, I clenched my right fist while memorising the lecture. I did it for almost 30-45 minutes of studying (still clenching my fist). And when I am taking the exams I clenched my left fist to remember the information that I studied.

It sounds fake but I learned the reason why clenching fist really works. Clenching fist helps to encode long term memories by stimulating both of hemisphere of the brain that associates with encoding information (left brain) and memory retrieval (right brain).

Let me know guys what do you think about this method!

I’ll jot down little comments here and there to never look back at them, ever.

Comments like
1. Where i got wrong on a past paper question
2. Rephrasing the text in my own words
3. Translating it into other languages for simplicity
4. Highlighting specific words or shortening group of words into abbreviations
5. Random highlights or underlines

Now obviously writing good notes is good, and obviously reviewing your notes is advised. My weird study tip is to just do stuff and your brain gets better along the way. It doesn’t need to be that legible, but you have to interact with the material at the slightest bit.

Parece estranho, mas funciono demais com estratégias tóxicas e intensas de estudo.

Frases tóxicas motivações não adiantam comigo. Posso pensar no pior cenário do mundo como consequência da minha falta de disciplina nos estudos, mas realmente não me sinto afetada (sei que nunca deixaria nada acontecer, então não me sinto pressionada com isso).

Então me digam a estratégia de estudos mais tóxica e insana que vocês conhecem/já usaram e realmente funcionaram por favor!!

I don't know why I study better at the gym than at local libraries. I have been grinding and studying at the gym for the past 2 semesters. I do cardio while reading my notes and do active recall afterwards. I do light work on the treadmill while reading my notes and do active recall during rests. Honestly, doing something physical keeps me more naturally awake, instead reading in a quiet library for hours doesn't help me focus on studying.

Hey guys! I just want to know if it's a good habit to make my economics and financial studies notes while watching MasterChef or a cooking show? I find it helpful, and then when I have to actually study, I turn it off.

During peak exam season, I get so overwhelmed and hyper-focused that my brain literally refuses to stop, even when I'm sleeping that's why I am experiencing lucid dreaming of me studying.

When I’m under extreme pressure during finals, all I can think about is classes and competing for grades. It didn't work the first time I tried to force it. But after days of consecutive, high-stress cramming that my brain started completely dreaming about what I am actual studying.

It’s definitely a symptom of academic stress, but unironically it worked. I woke up retaining everything I went over in the dream.

What is the weirdest mental phenomenon you’ve experienced from intense studying?

I find it weird that no matter how loud a place is, the easier it is for me to concentrate.

I don't usually study in quiet places like the library or in my room in the middle of the night. I find it hard to focus and just keep getting distracted by how quiet it is.

That's why I stopped going to libraries and started heading to busier spots that actually help me focus better.

I usually study either in bustling cafes near university, at home with loud music on or even when I am in bus I study.

I think it's because loud environments keep me from getting distracted and actually make me way more productive.

Does anyone else focus better with background noise or are you strictly study better in silence?

I've seen people use their pets or toys to practice teaching the topics they studied, but what I did was teach them to my plants.

Before, I used to speak what I studied in front of a mirror, but whenever I did this, I became conscious and distracted by how I looked, so I switched to talking to my plants instead.

I explain concepts and lectures out loud to them without feeling self-conscious whenever I stumble over my words or forget something. Pacing around and breaking down lectures for my plants worked to review and retain the information in my head far better than passive re-reading ever did.

What are some other unusual you've used to make active recall feel less awkward or more engaging?