Hello everyone!
I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, I know I definitely did. But now that Thanksgiving is over, I have the honor of having finals this week (yikes). To get into a motivated spirit, I thought I would share with you my favorite study hacks, along with some "brain food" to get you through the long days ahead of you.
Starting with food (everyone's favorite subject), I find it most necessary to share with you my FAVORITE study snack of all time, that takes less than three minutes to make. Now, I can't take all the credit for this (Pinterest ideas have helped me a ton), but these "baked" apples are the bomb.com. Simply cut up an apple (NO GREEN APPLES), a little bit of margarine, and a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and brown sugar. toss it all in a glass dish (make sure it comes with a lid. If it doesn't, just use a paper towel.), cover it up, and microwave it on high for two minutes. I swear, this melt in your mouth treat is calming, so you won't feel a stress overload while studying for that economics final, and will stall away hunger for a while. Another one of my favorites is roasted chickpeas. Roast them in the oven for 45 -60 minutes with some olive oil drizzled, and you're good. My favorite thing to do is to make Parmesan and garlic chickpeas, by adding some garlic powder, dried parsley, and Parmesan after you drizzle on the olive oil. Not only is this an easy snack to grab and go, but chickpeas are proven to be a good source of dietary iron (step away cheerios), and are beneficial to your immune system. Also, if anyone knows me, I have an undeniable love of bagels. While I can't always stop at Einstein Brothers and get my favorite (which happens to be the Nova Lox), and not be broke, I can definitely do it myself at home.
Now on to the study hacks. If it wasn't apparent by the previous paragraph, I am a firm believer that snacking while studying is going to help you stay focused. I'm not sure what it is, but whenever I snack when I study, I tend to remember things better than being on an empty stomach. I also recommend drinking water and/ or tea when you study. My go- to buddies are green tea (mine are from the brand Bigelow) and Republic of Tea's get smart® - No.16 Herb Tea for Memory/Focus. I realized that my past two posts, I have been going on, and on, about tea, but it is pretty beneficial for your body. I would recommend green tea in the morning for a boost of energy, unless you want to stay up all night. Also, a do NOT try to pull an all- nighter studying. There is a pretty extensive list of things that can happen to your brain, but I'll keep it short.
1. The National Sleep Foundation says you remember less when you are tired
2. Your circadian rhythm is thrown off
3.You'll stay stuck on any hard problems you have. Being tired= limited focus
4. You could possibly suffer from a sleep attack- where your brain forcibly makes you pass out, in spite of every intention not to (this could also be deadly. If this one doesn't convince you not to pull an all- nighter, I don't know what will)
5. Your brain stops functioning all together.
The best thing to do is get 8 hours, so don't save up all of your studying for the night before, and do studying in 20 minute increments for each class you have. to add on, don't forget to take a break. An information overload could possibly lead to a mental break down (that's not exactly fun). If you are more of an extrovert, try working in study groups. Collaboration can sometimes be key to getting good study habits. As an ex- AVID student, there is one thing that I still do, and that is mark up my notes and rewrite them. As much as I love typing, and like how fast it is, writing what you need to know sticks better in your head than typing.
Well, that is it for this week's blog post. Happy studying, and watch out for our next post! I think you'll enjoy.
Until next time
- Maddy
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