7 mistakes every student should avoid

I'm here to break some important news. And look, you might not be that happy, but I think it's important you know this. The amount of time you study doesn't matter. Back in high school, I realized there were some students who could study for just one or two hours and absolutely crush an exam. And then some students might study for three, four, or even five hours and not fully grasp the material. More important than the amount of time you study is how you actually study. In Okay, the first mistake actually happens inside the classroom. It's when you're hearing, but you're not listening. And what this refers to is that when someone is talking to you, you're not fully present. You hear the individual words, you have a vague idea of what they're talking about, but you don't understand the deeper message. And this happens very often with students in the classroom. For example, let's say you're sitting in history class and He tells you that a group of American colonists disguised as Native Americans board British ships and dump tea into the Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act. Now, if you're sitting in class and simply hearing lecture, you might think to yourself, wow, these guys seem pretty rebellious. But if you're actually listening to your teacher and think about the deeper themes and broader implications of the story, you'll have a much stronger grasp on the content. You'll realize that the Boston Tea Party was a change, that it was a symbolic act of defiance. And these are the ideas that will help you ace an exam or an essay, not the fact that a random group of colonists got mad on some winter day in 1773. So now how do you become better at listening? Now this might sound a bit controversial, but take fewer notes. Don't rush to write down every single word your teacher says or every single thing you see on the slides. When your teacher says something, pause for a second, digest the idea, and jot down a note in your own words. Okay, mistake number two is forgetting to connect the dots. If you treat school like it's one giant memory exercise that simply requires you to regurgitate a bunch of facts and formulas, you're doing yourself a disservice. Everything you learn exists in some context. Every idea is somehow related to a broader theme or lesson that you need to be aware of. And if you can maintain this awareness while you're in class and while you're studying for exams, you will excel in school. Now you might be saying, Gohar, what are you talking about? Let's work through an example. Okay, so let's say you're sitting in biology class and your teacher is talking about photosynthesis. She tells you that photosynthesis is a way for plants to convert light into chemical energy, that it occurs in the chloroplasts, and she even gives you the formula. A B plus or an A minus student might just focus on memorizing these facts. But an A plus student might realize, hey, photosynthesis relates to some of the stuff we learned about previously. For example, they might instantly realize that photosynthesis is connected to cellular respiration, that it's connected to the cycle of energy transfer within ecosystems, and that it's even connected to the carbon cycle. The A plus student will connect these dots and gain a much richer and deeper understanding of the content compared to the student who might just memorize these facts in isolation. Okay, now the third mistake is something I've touched upon before, but I'll say it again because I think it's something every student should avoid, staying in your comfort zone. Studying effectively is supposed to be a rewarding process, but it's not necessarily supposed to be a comfortable process. Now yes, you can and should try to make studying more fun by maybe studying with music or studying with friends, but you shouldn't go into a study session just assuming it's going to be super easy or go by in a breeze. Because the reality is, as you're studying, you'll often come across concepts that make no sense to you, and you'll come across formulas and facts that look like hieroglyphics. And this is a good thing because it means you're about to learn something. As you're studying, don't spend too much time reviewing notes or concepts you're already familiar with. Really spend some time figuring out your biggest weaknesses and tackle them head on. And the truth is, deep down we know what our strengths and weaknesses are. We know the topics that are easy for us and we can pick up in an instant, and we know the topics that might be a bit more difficult. For example, back in high school, AP Calc wasn't too bad for me, but APUSH was a little bit tougher. But I was honest with myself and spent way more time studying for APUSH, even though studying for AP Calc would have been a lot more comfortable. Now on this channel, I've talked about the importance of having a nice study environment, having a study routine, and using tools like Google Calendar and Notion. And while I think it is important to have some sort of structure, I also know it's very easy to get carried away. I often see students who think they can only take notes in a certain format, students who think they can only listen to a certain soundtrack while studying, students who think they can only study with a certain set of stationery. And look, while there is nothing wrong with finding something that works for you, and I myself am a fan of trying new things, you have to be adaptable. Having these requirements becomes an issue when you're in an environment where you don't have access to them. For example, maybe you're studying at a friend's house and don't have access to certain tools. Maybe your teacher wants you to take notes in a format you're not too comfortable with. Over-optimizing your study system also becomes an issue when you're impeding your own study sessions for no reason. For example, many students follow the Pomodoro technique, 25 minutes of studying followed by a five-minute break. If this works for you, great. But if one day you feel like you have more energy and can study for 30 minutes or maybe even 40 minutes, don't let this arbitrary rule stop you. And that's the big idea here. A lot of these tools and techniques you hear me and other influencers talking about are simply meant to guide your studying. They're not things you have to follow exactly all the time. Alright, now the fifth mistake is fearing judgment. I want you to think about the last time you raised your hand in class. Now, if you're like most people, you probably felt a little bit nervous. Maybe you were afraid your teacher would judge you or that your classmates would judge you. And while this feeling is completely normal, you should do your best to not let this nervousness prevent you from asking the question in the first place. Learning is a vulnerable process and you only make progress as a student when you own up to the things you don't understand. And look, I've been there myself. I know it can be a bit intimidating to ask a question, especially if you're in a lecture with like dozens or hundreds of people. But I promise you, nobody is going to remember your question a few hours after class ends. In fact, I don't remember any embarrassing questions my classmates might have asked during my lectures in college. And I'm sure the same goes for them. This advice also applies to more than just raising your hand. It applies to the time you're sitting at home stuck on a homework problem and you want to ask your friend for help. It applies to the time you want to ask an older sibling or a parent to explain a topic to you. It applies to the time you want to email your teacher clarifying questions. I promise you, these people in your life want to help you. And they're probably judging you way less than you think they are. The sixth mistake is clinging on to preconceived notions. And this is one I see all the time. I think a lot of students today, after they get a bad grade on an exam or struggle in a class, might just think they're not cut out for a certain subject. For example, someone who struggled in algebra their freshman year of high school might just think to themselves, oh math isn't for me or I just struggle with numbers. And I find this sort of negative self-talk can sometimes become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, maybe the student isn't bad at math. Maybe he just has a because he believes he can't do math, he actually becomes bad at math. This mindset might prevent him from fully paying attention in class. It might make it easier for him to give up on a homework assignment and blame his poor number skills. Look, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. And I understand that some students are genuinely stronger at some subjects and weaker in others. But don't let your preconceived notions about your ability prevent you from trying in class. I genuinely believe the vast majority of students are so much smarter than they think they are. And I think it's so important that we have systems and teachers who can help students see their full potential even in their weaker subjects. So I want you to take some time to reflect and open yourself up to the possibility that your weaknesses are not actually weaknesses. Realize that with a different study approach or maybe even a different mindset, you might be able to do better in math or science or history. I know you have it in you. Alright and mistake number seven, and this is a big one, disregarding your sleep. Back in freshman year of high school, I would go to bed at around 10 p.m, wake up at around 6 and get eight hours of sleep each night. But starting my sophomore year, which is when I started taking AP classes, I started going to bed at like 1 or 2 a.m every night. I even remember going to bed at 4 a.m multiple times. So yeah, I probably should have my sleep a bit more. And you're probably aware of all the benefits. Improved concentration, increased energy, less stress, better memory. But there's one study I want to show you in particular. It's called the causes and consequence of sleepiness among college students. And it finds that students sleeping nine plus hours each night have a significantly higher GPA than those sleeping six or fewer hours. Those who got more sleep had an average GPA of 3.24 and those who got less sleep had an average of 2.74. Now if you want to improve your sleep, I recommend you do a few things as soon as possible. And I've been doing these things myself. First, set up screen time and turn on time limits for every single social media app you have. On your iPhone, you can even set different limits for different days of the week. So if you're a student, I recommend setting a more aggressive time limit on weekdays. I also recommend you stop using your phone at least an hour before bed. A research paper from Harvard says, and I quote, we found that the use of these devices before bedtime prolongs the time it takes to fall asleep, delays the circadian rhythm, suppresses levels of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, reduces the amount and delays the timing of REM sleep, and reduces alertness the following morning. So yeah, get your sleep in. And with that, we have wrapped up today's video. Join my discord for more homework help and like and subscribe for more videos like this in the future.