During my active procrastination hours here at the seaside, I came up with some of (for me, personally) very useful tips for studying and I thought it would be great if I shared them with you, you never know when you might need them.
1. First thing first, I highly advise you not to buy completely new books at the beginning of school year. If possible, wait until professors tell you which books you REALLY need and then run to your library and get them there, as many as possible, because they're free (and believe me, law books ain't cheap!). Another cheaper path you can take is that you buy used books from your older colleagues and you might even score a few notes and briefs in the package!
2. Listen to your older colleagues! If possible, get to know people who are at your law school for a couple of years and are well aware of how things work there and know the professors. Ask them for advice, help with studies, how to manage all the work and most importantly, about exams and professors' preferences. This is the best way to start law school a bit less stressed. If you do get a friendly advice from your older pals, DON'T IGNORE what they tell you, because it's golden information, they already know how things work.
3. I know how frustrating it is when you get a book from the library and can't use highlighters in it... it makes me sad really, but there's something you can do about it. I came up with this a couple of days ago (I'm slow, yes) and it motivated me af! The only thing you need is page markers (or whatever they're called) and scissors. Cut these bad boys into thin strips so they can only cover the font size in your book you need to highlight and - voila, you can now highlight keywords and remove it later, no one will ever notice.
4. If you're constantly running out of time and are way behind your studies (me 24/7), sticky notes are a pretty good way to make things speed up a bit. I always need to make notes when I study, but it takes so much time. What I do is take a bunch of sticky notes and write a summary on them as I read through the book. Write only important information or something you have trouble remembering and stick it in the book. When going through the book, quickly skim the text and read your summary on sticky note. It works for me!
5. Stay motivated! Probably the most important thing, because you're most likely gonna be living behind a book during finals season and it will come a time when you'd rather become a stripper. Find a way to get back on track. I personally use some motivational quotes, stick them around my apartment or set them as a background picture on my phone/computer. Watch an episode of Suits, listen to music or go for a relaxing walk. You can also reward yourself with your favorite food or a bottle of wine after you accomplish your daily task. Treat yourself, even during hard times!
I hope some of these work for you like they do for me. Stay strong!
No comments :
Post a Comment