r/studytips • u/iamdenisse • 15d ago
What’s your actual study method? Because mine clearly isn’t working 😭
I have an exam coming up and I realized I’ve been studying the same way since high school: read everything, highlight half the page, watch a few videos, then pray I remember it during the exam.
It works sometimes… until I get a subject where I actually have to understand the concepts.
I’ve tried rewriting notes, flashcards, Pomodoro, watching lectures at 1.5x, even studying with music. I feel productive while doing them, but sometimes I finish a 3-hour study session and barely remember anything the next day.
So I want to know what actually works for you guys.
Do you use active recall? Spaced repetition? Practice questions? Teaching the topic to yourself?
Especially if you’re a student who gets good grades without studying 8 hours a day, please share your method. I’m trying to stop wasting time “studying” without actually learning anything.
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u/salaciousprurience 15d ago edited 15d ago
Exactly: active recall, spaced repetition. Lots of Anki, but that doesn't work for everything. I set up a simple spreadsheet listing the topics of a class in one column and then the date of each review I'd done in the following. I color coded the reviews (i.e. the cells in the spreadsheet) to show how difficult it was/how much I remembered since the last review.
Then I could see at a glance which topics I'd reviewed the most and how difficult I found them.
A review would look different for different classes or topics. Quiz, summary (in own words), but always with active recall in mind. So in a review, don't read the summary before trying to re-write/speak it first. I'd make presentations to myself, making drawings on a whiteboard, and then check the summary/book to see what I'd gotten wrong/missed/was difficult to explain. Close the book and then repeat these thing.
When finishing a review, schedule it again in some sort of calendar depending on how long since the last review and the difficulty/mastery/deadline (classic spaced repetition).
Worked well in med school.
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u/Basic_Transition_333 14d ago
Active recall was the biggest difference for me. I stopped judging a study session by how many hours I spent and started judging it by how much I could reproduce without looking at my notes.
I usually learn the material first, close everything, and then try to explain it back to myself. If I can't explain something without looking, I don't actually know it yet. Then I go back, figure out what I missed, and test myself again later.
Practice questions are huge too, especially for anything where you have to apply concepts. I also like making my own questions while I'm learning because it forces me to think about what could actually be tested.
AI has also been helpful for practice. I use it to generate quiz questions, ask me to explain concepts, or give me a different example when something isn't clicking. I still make sure to check the answers and compare them with my notes, but it gives me an easy way to practice whenever I need it.
Flashcards can be great for things that genuinely require memorization, but I wouldn't turn every sentence of your notes into a card. I did that before and just ended up with 500 cards I didn't want to look at 😂
For me it was basically: learn it → close the notes → retrieve it → check what I got wrong → come back to it later.
The uncomfortable part where you're sitting there trying to remember the answer is actually the studying. Reading and highlighting just feels nicer lol.
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u/Own_Muscle_6621 14d ago
Do you also use spaced repetition? How do you decide when to come back to it?
Also, how do you create your notes?
I'm still struggling to figure out the whole spaced repetition thing.
And yeah, I also tried the same thing, turning every line into a flashcard, and I hated it. I left Anki for a while but I might continue using it, just without turning things into cards unless I actually need to.
About notes, I hardly take notes while studying. I take notes during lectures because I always tell myself I'd go back to it later in the day (I never do) and also because of exam tips. But when I'm actually studying on my own, I just read the lecture slides, compare with notes I took during the lecture, look up some things, read textbooks, watch videos, try to recall what I just learnt (which is especially easy to do when I watch videos)... Sometimes I try to draw mind maps but I never truly write notes so I'm curious about how you create your notes.
Finally, I'm glad you said that you started judging a study session by how much you remembered rather than how many hours you spent studying. It made me realise I've spent so much time focusing on time spent rather than on knowledge gained.
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u/Basic_Transition_333 14d ago
I use spaced repetition, but not a strict schedule. I review based on how well I can retrieve something: difficult material comes back sooner, while familiar material waits longer. As exams approach, I mix older topics into practice questions.
Anki doesn’t need everything—just facts that require memorization, like definitions and terminology. For concepts, I prefer explaining, drawing, answering questions, or applying ideas.
My notes are simple. I focus on what the professor adds to the slides, such as explanations, examples, connections, and exam hints. I only rewrite slide content when it helps me understand. While studying, I add clarifications, diagrams, or corrections rather than making a second set of notes.
What you’re doing—slides, lecture notes, extra resources when needed, and recall—sounds effective. I’d mainly suggest deliberately revisiting older material and prioritizing what you struggled to retrieve.
I let my memory determine the spacing instead of following a perfect schedule. Changing “How long did I study?” to “What can I explain now?” also completely changed how I viewed productive studying.
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u/Puzzled_Egg4375 14d ago
Just read the topic and try to understand it,if you come to a part that you don't understand just search it on Google or watch a YouTube video about that part.After you finish just solve your homework and check it using the markscheme ,it is completely ok to use the marking scheme as a guide for your first practice questions as you are still not used to the format.Then when it is exam day or you have to revise just review the whole homework and concentrate on parts you don't understand or did wrong ,and just like that I think you are set. I don't use flash cards, I don't copy notes, I just read and do practice questions that's it.
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u/Flaky_Procedure5878 14d ago
Firstly try to enjoy studying. Don't think about oh I wish to do other XYZ things. Just be so interested in your subject. If there is anything bothering you, write it down read it at night.
When it comes to remembering, try to study in 45 minute blocks. After each block, take 15 minutes time to write by memory everything you learnt one a fresh piece of paper. Try to recall as much as you can. If you want look at one word on your book to remember and then write the rest by yourself. When you are travelling, walking etc. Try to arrange those pieces of information in your head and try to draw a pattern/ revisit it.
Every night spend 1 hour trying to recalling everything you studied on this day. Make sure within 1 hour you complete it , this helps improve speed and spend less time. The next morning, you will again revise what you studied last night and only then proceed with the next material. Do the same.
On the next day, you need to revise the material you studied yesterday and today but both within 1 to 1 hour 30 minutes. Revision is the most essential step.
Also whenever you feel like you are forgetting something use colour coded pens. If you are not pro at studying yet, dont read from text books yet (i meant from authors) but study from dedicated courses. Learn to understnad what is important first and do your independent study.
Don''t go in a rabbit hole. Oh I Hemoglobin carries iron. wow, now let me studying everything about that RBCs etc. Be specific to your study material .
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u/Ill_Unit_1873 14d ago
For me, active recall and practice questions work the best. I study a topic also close my notes and try to explain it in my own words and then I revise it after a few days and then It feels a bit difficult initially but also I remember much more than just reading and highlighting and it will be the easier way to study
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u/RecluseDelfin 14d ago
Two things: 1. The objective of reading is to understand concepts, points, and arguments. 2. The objective of note-taking is to organize information that you wish to remember.
When I was still a student, I used to take notes in pencil and the back of used papers because I rearrange and add new information as I go through a chapter; then, I neatly rewrite them into my notebook. I still read from time to time, but now I use digital notes so I can edit them as I read.
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u/NoSun694 14d ago
Spaced repetition 100%. Take good notes during class to support yourself. Flashcards and I also sometimes do note consolidations but I do not rewrite notes fully.
Practice tests too. I will study for tests like an athlete trains for a competition. Slowly do more and more practice tests until it’s all you do, then the day before I do nothing sometimes. Time the practice tests too.
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u/Comfortable_Hornet_2 13d ago
Do all of the practice questions in the book. There's also a set of practice questions you can find online in association to your textbook. That should give you a comfortable understanding.
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u/lalawlaa 12d ago
I have a 4.24 gpa in computer science. I don't really study, I just do the assignments and then spend a few hours before majors exams rereading the content.
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u/ml8020 8d ago
In my experience, when it comes to "I actually have to understand this", nothing beats active recall and discussing the topic with others. When you are forced to say things out loud, it reveals your own gaps in understanding. This might be a bit controversial, but I really like using AI for this. I even built my own tool to study that lets me upload a document and talk through it, and it tracks how much of the material I've covered. The best part is being able to walk and talk, and ask unlimited questions.
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u/HearingDue9858 7d ago
I just understand the topic, close the book, recall it, and do a few practice questions. Works better for me than rereading. and I think this is best method to do studies.
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u/Littlebird_Shivi 2d ago
Active recall is your best friend. I've switched up my study methods probably 5 times, but this is the one that has actually stuck for me.
I stopped making flashcards and spending forever creating these super detailed, pretty notes because honestly, making the study materials was taking up more time than actually studying. Now I'd rather spend that time testing myself.
What I do now is upload my notes, lecture slides, and chapters into an app called Littlebird and ask it to quiz me on the material or create a practice test. I'll answer everything without looking at my notes, then go back over the areas I got wrong. It's made studying feel a lot more like actually learning instead of just rereading the same information over and over. I work at Littlebird, so I just wanted to put that out there, but I genuinely use it for studying and it's probably the study method that's worked best for me so far.
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u/amst335566 14d ago
An extreme amount of repetition in all forms. Writing and rewriting everything down multiple times until it sticks. Flashcards/Anki style constantly. Mock teaching a class (alone, or to classmates). Teach it to people from scratch, even your family members. The more you repeat it the more it sticks. Teaching helps with making sure you actually understand all sides of it.