Study Tips from Life at U of T’s Digital Storytellers

Hey, U of T! As we approach finals, here are some study tips from Life at U of T's Digital Storytellers:

Yashvit: "Eat well, work out, breathe, take breaks, and study hard. Remember, preparing well for exams includes all the above things, so try to not miss out on even one. Therefore, breathe, take breaks, think about acing your exams, don't cram, and trust me, nobody can stop you from succeeding!"

Anisha: "My go-to study method is to create multiple-choice questions for myself based on the lecture slides, then take my quiz on another day to practice recall. This works best when the question format matches the format of your exam (for example, if your exam is short-answer questions, create short answer questions for yourself instead). Works for me, and I hope it might work for you as well!"

Jessica: "My go-to study strategy that helps me be productive and avoid procrastination is the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is a time-management strategy where you set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a task, then take a 5-minute break. Repeat this 4 times and take a longer 15-30 minute break. Doing a task for 25 minutes four times sounds less daunting to me than a 2 hour study session!"

Annie: "As a humanities student, my finals season mainly involves writing a lot of papers. However, when I DO have an exam to study for, my go-to method is a mind map! This helps me to organize information from different weeks of the course into thematic categories and also to visualize the ways in which all of the topics and ideas from the course fit together. Hope this helps!"

Bolu: "During exam season, I find that using the Pomodoro Technique can be highly effective. What I usually do is set a timer for 25 minutes of deep study with white noise or rain sounds. Once the 25 minutes is over, I take a 5-10 minute break. After completing about 3 cycles, I take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. This helps me maintain concentration while preventing burnout and makes studying more effective."

Piya: "My study tip would be to incorporate healthy breaks between your study sessions, which do not necessarily need to involve jumping on your phone but perhaps doing things like going for a short walk, solving an easy sudoku puzzle, talking to a friend, or taking a power nap."

Sammi: "My best study tip, as strange as it sounds, is to sing your notes to karaoke! Now, I know if you live with roommates this may be challenging, but honestly, this makes studying at least enjoyable and helps with memorization by turning notes into a catchy tune."

All the best to each one of you! See you next semester!