Study Aids & tips

It's Friday! What are your plans this weekend? Are you relaxing or studying? This week, WAYK are going to help you with some study tips that are easily overlooked. You might already know a lot of them, but it's easy to think "I don't need to do that." Well, you just might. 

I like to think of school as a place which introduces you to a catalogue of possibilities, peaks your interest in subjects, and then teaches you to memorise. It's not a prison to enforce ordinance. Memory is such an important skill in school, work and life. Even squirrels need a strong memory to survive during the winter; they remember where they buried acorns when the supply runs out after autumn.

So your task in school is to essentially find those acorns buried in your mind. Storing little acorns of knowledge in your head can help you surpass exams, with the intent that when you leave school, you still have those acorns, and don't need someone to show you how to do something - you can show yourself essentially.

However, this doesn't mean that training can't be provided to you at your choice of work.  No matter where you're working (particularly if you're a recent school leaver, or graduate), your employer should offer you some form of training. 

But how do we get there? It's a daunting process, and one that can strike anxiety and fear into even the most prepared geek (I don't use that offensively, I'm a geek). But preparation and confidence is key. If you're still completely frazzled, and can't think of any methods of preparation, then look no further; these study aids and tips will help!

Ultimately, there are no shortcuts

Hard work is the only way you will do your best. That goes for everything, whether it's studying or working in a career. You need to put the hours in. Unfortunately, this means that you will lose out on some hours of recreation or even sleep, but out of the 24 hours you get a day, you shouldn't be spending all 24 of them studying. 

Flash Cards:

Have you ever picked up a book and thought "Boy there's a lot of filler here. I wish someone would just tell me the answer"? Enter flash cards. True enough writers like the sight of their own writing (I'm guilty enough). Flash cards are great at just simple telling you the answer, but it does mean you have to do a bit of reading first.

Read through the textbook, highlight (if you own the book) the important bits and then write them onto cards. If it's the answer to a question, write the question down too. Once you've written all your important bits down, ask someone to look over them, and fire quick answer rounds.

Thankfully we've come a long way since the days of an encyclopedia. Google, among other search engines, are very useful at answering questions themselves, without the need of reading into a website in too much depth. Don't rely solely on this though; it's good to know the facts, but it's better to have a broader perspective.

Computers

Not everything has to be done by pen and paper; actually this method of work is becoming increasingly less popular. Computers are great word processors, because you can edit mistakes on assignments, and use search engines as previously mentioned. 

Computers are really advanced these days - you can play games, chat with friends, edit pictures, tons of recreational things which isn't studying. Distractions, basically. Getting rid of distractions is important, and tools like Google Citrus for Google Chrome is particularly good at blocking distractions 

Incentives

Why are you doing this? Give yourself a reason to do what you're doing, no mater how long or short term the reason may be. If you need something to get you through to the next page, put a treat or sweet at the end of the page, so that in order to turn the page, you have to treat yourself first. 

If you need something to get you through the whole process of it, ask yourself what the intention of studying is. Getting good grades? To actually learn how to do something? By realising your goals, instead of blindly studying, will you be more enthusiastic to studying - the process will be more structured.

Supplements

For some, there is no time to sleep. Things like studying, or socialising with friends gets in the way. For those who have difficulties fitting in extra time, some choose to cut out the sleep. While it's obvious you need to sleep (it's recommended 8 hours), some people still choose to study all night.

In this case, caffeine supplements can surely help. WAYK is a chewable tablet which contains guarana, a natural source of caffeine, and vitamin C & B complex, which helps you release energy from food. The release in energy means WAYK is an effective supplement (or nootropic). 

Confidence

Lastly, you need confidence in yourself. You need to remind yourself that you CAN do it. The effects of positive thinking is marvellous; whereas the effects of negative thinking is disastrous and sometimes fatal. Only you can install confidence in yourself, even if you need the help of others to get there first. 

If you are struggling to find that confidence, confide in someone you can trust. This can be anyone; a teacher, a parent, a friend, a priest, a dog... Okay, a conversation with a dog would be a bit one sided, but the release and unconditional love will only benefit you. Talking about your worries and problems is better than accepting that nothing can be done about it (because that's false.

How to Improve Productivity

It's very easy to improve your productivity, sometimes its as simple as gaining a bit of perspective. By taking the advice listed in this article, you can take some steps to manage the tasks being juggled around, and improve your productivity getting more work done.

1).Create a to-do list:

Writing a to-do list helps you visualise all of your tasks, and give you scope of how much work there is to do. 

Organising your chores into a list can help you prioritise, and see which tasks need immediate attention, so nothing slips through the cracks. 

There are loads of apps available for smart devices, which can help sync to a calendar and contact list. 

2). Destroy distractions:

Is the TV on? Friends sat nearby talking about a film? Remove everything that can distract you, and create (or go to) an environment which promotes work. 

For many, it is impossible to use a computer without wandering onto another site they shouldn’t, like Facebook, or Twitter or YouTube. Social media sites are big culprits for unnecssarily consuming time. 

There are apps (like citrus for Google Chrome), which can block a website, for the user’s desired length of time. This can be useful for it allows you to manage when to take breaks. 

3). Take breaks:

Get up and walk around, it does no good for you, or your work if you don’t take a break every now and then. Take the break away from work to reduce stress, and gain some clarity. 

Using these breaks to think about the tasks at hand, and put everything into perspective, can lead to new ideas and inspiration to better your work. 

4). Indulge in some caffeine: 

Caffeine can provide energy to help you surge through your tasks, or perk you up on the way to work. You can get caffeine from cups of tea and coffee, but there are also tablets and pills available which administer natural sources of caffeine too. 

Nootropics are supplements taken to enhance cognitive function, memory, creativity and motivation. The effects depend on which nootropic is used, but there are some which are designed to keep users energised and in tune for work. 

WAYK is a chewable tablet, that contains minerals like Zinc, which help improve cognitive function and guaarana, a natural source of caffeine. 

5). Drink water:

Dehydration can also reduce concentration, as well as cause pain and discomfort. Test if you are dehydrated, by examining the colour of your urine. If it is pungent, and looks dark yellow, then it is a sign that you are dehydrated.

Having a bottle of water to hand at all times obviously helps fight this, but it also gives you an indication of exactly how much water you are drinking throughout the day. It is recommended to drink 2 litres of water a day.

6). Set reminders:

2pm can come by quicker than you thought. If you’re swamped with tasks with equal importance, remember to make sure they receive equal attention; it can be all too easy to let one task suffer in quality due to being forgotten about. 

Most (if not all) smart phones, tablets & computers have reminder apps either preinstalled, or available for download off app stores. 

Using these can help improve your time management, but should you not have access to digital reminders, writing a cue on a post it note, and sticking it somewhere in plain view will make it hard to ignore. 

7). Keep a notebook:

Keep your thoughts, permanently. This way you can’t lose any USPs to an idea, and can track it’s progression. 

8). Ask for help:

There’s no shame in asking for help if you’re juggling more than you’d like to. Remove some of the pressure, by asking your colleagues to manage some of the smaller tasks on your list, so that you can focus on the tasks require your absolute attention. 

This requires good relationships with your coworkers, and you need to be able to reciprocate when they ask for your help. The more you scratch someone’s back, the more likely they’ll keep returning to scratch yours. 

Ask a second set of eyes to go over your work before it receives critical examination. Simple grammatical mistakes can hinder the efforts of a lot of hard workers, and it can be easy to overlook your own mistakes.

9). Remind yourself why you’re doing this:

Keep a visual of your goals in your head, and think about what you want to achieve. Without a goal, there wouldn’t even be a race to run in. 

While you remember your goals, reward yourself for achieving milestones on the way.

10). Don’t feel guilty for relaxing:

You can’t work for every hour of the day. Dedicate some time of the day to you, to remind yourself that the task at hand does not own you.