The study tip they’re NOT telling you | How I went from a 2:2 to 80% at Cambridge University
Summary
TLDRIn this educational video, Abby, a former Cambridge University chemical engineering graduate, shares transformative study tips that improved her academic performance. She emphasizes the inefficiency of overworking and advocates for active learning, questioning, and engaging with material deeply rather than passively taking notes. Abby also discusses the importance of balance, taking breaks, and using past papers effectively to train the brain for exam situations. Her insights are backed by reputable studies, aiming to help viewers elevate their academic performance.
Takeaways
- 🎓 Abby graduated from Cambridge University with a master's degree in chemical engineering after four years of study.
- 📚 Initially, Abby struggled with university workload and found it challenging to maintain her straight A performance.
- 🔍 She experimented with various study techniques but found that working long hours was not effective for her.
- 🕒 Abby discovered that working less and focusing on quality over quantity improved her academic results significantly.
- 🧠 The importance of understanding the difference between deep focus and surface-level work when studying is emphasized.
- 💡 The script highlights the ineffectiveness of passive learning and the benefits of active learning for better retention and understanding.
- 📈 Studies by John K. Pencale and Anders Ericsson are cited to support the idea that working more than 7.2 hours a day or doing more than four hours of deep work reduces productivity.
- 🚫 Abby advises against relying solely on note-taking as a study method, as it can be a form of passive learning and not conducive to deep understanding.
- 📝 She recommends active learning strategies such as creating question cards and reviewing them periodically to reinforce learning.
- 📑 Abby suggests using past papers as a tool for active learning by tackling questions without time limits to train the brain for deep thinking.
- 🌟 The video concludes with the message that studying should be chaotic, active, and balanced with breaks and fun activities to avoid overworking and to enhance learning efficiency.
Q & A
What degree did Abby obtain from Cambridge University?
-Abby graduated from Cambridge University with a master's degree in chemical engineering.
What was Abby's initial academic performance when she first started University?
-Abby was a straight-A student until she started University, where the workload overwhelmed her and she struggled to find effective study techniques.
What is the main study tip Abby discusses in her video?
-Abby discusses the importance of working less and focusing on deep, effective study sessions rather than long hours of passive studying.
How did Abby's study schedule during her first year at University look like?
-Abby's study schedule involved waking up early, attending lectures, note-taking, gym sessions, and several hours dedicated to university work and pre-reading lectures.
Why did Abby's initial 11.5 hours of daily studying not work for her?
-The long hours of studying did not work for Abby because it involved passive learning without deep focus, leading to exhaustion and a lack of understanding or retention of the material.
What is the difference between Elon Musk's work and Abby's study hours according to the video?
-Elon Musk's work involves various activities like phone calls, emails, and meetings, which are not concentrated work hours like studying requires. Studying often involves deep focus on complex tasks, which cannot be sustained for as long as Elon Musk's work hours.
Who is Terence Tao and what does he suggest about studying?
-Terence Tao is a renowned mathematician who suggests that studying comes in waves and that deep focus cannot be maintained for long hours every day, which supports Abby's point about the ineffectiveness of overworking.
What does the study by John Pencavel suggest about working hours and productivity?
-John Pencavel's study suggests that productivity decreases after working more than 50 hours a week, which equates to 7.2 hours a day, indicating that working less can lead to increased focus and understanding.
What is the main problem with relying solely on note-taking as a study method according to Abby?
-Relying solely on note-taking is problematic because it is a passive learning method that does not create deep connections in the brain necessary for recalling information during exams.
What is Active Learning and why is it more effective than passive learning?
-Active Learning is a method where information is not only absorbed but also reproduced in ways that confirm understanding. It is more effective because it allows for analysis, evaluation, and improved memory retention, which is crucial for exam situations.
How does Abby suggest using past papers for effective studying?
-Abby suggests using past papers by tackling questions without time limits, focusing on deep thinking and retrieval of knowledge, rather than rushing through questions under exam conditions without truly understanding the material.
What is the final study tip Abby gives in her video?
-Abby's final study tip is to not strive for perfection in studying, to embrace the chaotic nature of learning, focus on active recall, take enjoyable breaks, and avoid overworking to maintain balance and confidence.
Outlines
🎓 Overcoming Academic Struggles with Effective Study Techniques
Abby, a Cambridge University graduate in chemical engineering, shares her journey of academic transformation. Initially overwhelmed by university workload, she experimented with various study methods before discovering a technique that significantly improved her results. This technique involves working less, contrary to common belief, and is backed by reputable studies. Abby emphasizes the importance of deep focus over long hours of superficial work, drawing parallels and differences between her experience and that of successful individuals like Elon Musk and Terence Tao, who rely on deep focus in their work.
📚 The Inefficiency of Excessive Study Hours and the Importance of Active Learning
Abby discusses the ineffectiveness of studying for over 11.5 hours a day, which led to exhaustion and superficial learning. She cites studies by John K. Perry and Anders Ericsson, which suggest that productivity decreases after working more than 50 hours a week and that deep work is limited to about four hours a day. Abby then introduces the concept of active learning, contrasting it with passive learning, such as excessive note-taking. She advocates for understanding and applying knowledge through active engagement rather than just absorbing information.
🔍 Active Learning Strategies for In-Depth Understanding and Recall
In this paragraph, Abby delves into the specifics of active learning, particularly for complex subjects like mathematics. She advises against the traditional method of note-taking and instead promotes a chaotic approach to learning, which involves deep thought and the creation of connections in the brain. Abby suggests using question cards and revisiting topics regularly to reinforce learning. She emphasizes the importance of understanding over mere memorization and the role of active recall in exam preparation.
⏱ The Power of Past Papers and the Pitfalls of Timed Practice
Abby shares her insights on using past papers effectively for exam preparation. She criticizes the common practice of timed practice, which can lead to stress and superficial learning. Instead, she recommends tackling past paper questions without time constraints to encourage deep thinking and problem-solving. This method helps build confidence and familiarity with exam questions, leading to better performance under exam conditions. Abby concludes with a reminder to avoid perfectionism in studying, to maintain a balance between work and leisure, and to avoid overworking.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Chemical Engineering
💡Study Techniques
💡Deep Focus
💡Productivity
💡Passive Learning
💡Active Learning
💡Overworking
💡Past Papers
💡Confidence
💡Balance
💡Efficiency
Highlights
Abby graduated from Cambridge University with a master's in chemical engineering after four years of study.
Abby struggled with university workload and found a study technique that transformed her academic results.
The study technique Abby discovered was not commonly discussed and was backed by reputable studies.
Working less paradoxically improved Abby's university experience and final grade.
Abby's typical day involved 11.5 hours of studying, which she later realized was not effective.
The difference between productive work and studying is the level of deep focus required.
Elon Musk's workweek of 120 hours is not a model for effective studying due to the nature of his tasks.
Terence Tao's work pattern shows the importance of waves of productivity in deep focus tasks.
John K. Pencale's study indicates reduced productivity after working more than 50 hours a week.
Anders Ericsson's research suggests a limit of four hours of deep work per day.
Abby implemented a balance of work and leisure to avoid overworking and increase productivity.
Passive learning through note-taking is less effective than active learning for understanding and recall.
Abby recommends deriving mathematical concepts to build deep connections in the brain for better recall.
Creating question cards for review can improve understanding without the need for extensive note-taking.
Past papers should be tackled without time limits to train the brain for deep thinking and problem-solving.
Confidence in exams can be built by actively engaging with past papers and gradually improving.
Abby emphasizes the importance of not overworking and maintaining a balance for effective studying.
Transcripts
so in 2022 I graduated from Cambridge
University with a masters in chemical
engineering after studying for four
years
I completed my first year with the tutu
and after a lot of trial and error I
graduated with 80 in my Master's thesis
hello my name is Abby and welcome back
to my Channel today we are going to
discuss a study tip that transformed my
academic results and hopefully if you
keep watching we'll transform yours too
so first of all why should you be
listening to me I was a straight A star
student until I got to University and
the workload overwhelmed me and I could
not no matter how many study techniques
I tried or how many YouTube videos I
watched I could not find a silly
technique that worked for me and after a
lot lot of trial and error I finally
found the study technique that nobody
talks about and I'm going to share my
whole experience with you backing up all
of my points with reputable studies so
that you can elevate your academic
performance so let's get straight into
it you need to be working less now
obviously how does that even work why
should I work less if I want to do well
but I'm going to take you through this
whole process of how working less
literally changed my whole university
experience and got me my final grade
let's take it back to the work process
that gave me a final grade of a 2-2 and
you're going to be surprised by this one
so let's look at a typical day I would
wake up at 5 30 a.m maybe you make a cup
of tea or something and then between
about six and nine a.m I would do two of
my lectures for the day whilst having my
breakfast I would then get ready for the
day and between about 9 30 a.m and 1pm I
would then make notes on all of the
lectures I'd watched that morning or
lectures from the day before I would
then have lunch and go to the gym and
then between about four and six pm I
would do uni work so things like
questions set any essays things like
that that would be my uni work slot I
would then have dinner and then from
seven to about 9 10 pm I would continue
doing any uni work questions and then
pre-read my lectures in the morning now
you may hear this and think well that's
a great disc very very productive day I
got the gym in I got all my meals in
that's what I used to think as well and
the funny thing is when I was doing
these days I thought I was a productive
Queen like I literally like my ego was
like woo look look at me go I am
literally working so hard I'm up so
early you know I'm out before everyone
else like I'm getting the extra work in
I'm so leaving with the first class this
year
I was wrong I was very very wrong now
let me explain to you what is so wrong
with that day so in total with the day I
just described that totals to 11.5 hours
of studying in that one single day why
did this not work it all comes down to
being able to study effectively working
ridiculous amount of hours a day is
completely romanticized and ultimately
when you're putting all this work in and
putting more effort in you'd expect to
do very well it's very understandable to
think this when you look at influential
people who work ridiculous hours but
what we need to understand is the
difference between these people and you
studying so let's take Elon Musk for
example Elon Musk claims to work 120
hours a week that's about 17.2 hours a
day seven days a week so it seems like
that should be the goal he's a very
successful person you should aim to work
in the same way as him if you want to
achieve what he has achieved this is
wrong because the type of work is very
different so Elon Musk Works 17.2 hours
a day okay but the work that he does in
that day is very different to the work
that you'll be doing when you're
studying that 17.2 hour day will consist
of phone calls emails travel
conversations with other people meetings
and so the last version of that day is
not concentrated work hours this is
where we need to make a very clear
differentiation between studying and
working these can be the same thing but
it's very important to know that these
are not always the same so where Elon
Musk is working and it includes all
these other things like course meal
Times Travel you are studying now
studying is actually more of a deep
focus style of working your studying
includes deep focus often on a very
complicated task such as understanding a
mathematical concept and applying it
completing a research paper a crime
complex understanding or writing an
essay on a topic you've never seen
before each of these tasks require deep
focus you cannot deep focus for 17.2
hours a day now let's look at someone
whose work does rely on deep focus and
let's see how they work Terence Tao is a
renowned mathematician at 10 years old
he became the youngest person in his
history to win the international
mathematical Olympiad terenceau is often
referred to as the finest mathematician
of his generation so let's see what he
has to say about studying Tau released
an article all about the way that he
works and I will link that article below
but one really important quote that I
took from this was my ability to do any
serious mathematics fluctuates greatly
from day to day sometimes I can think
hard on a problem for an hour other
times I feel ready to type up the full
details of a sketch that I or my
co-authors already wrote and other times
I only feel qualified to respond to an
email do errands or just take a walk or
even a nap Tao talks in his article
about studying for him comes in waves
some days he can do a lot Sundays he
literally just needs a nap and this is
so so important and this is due to deep
focus you cannot do 17.2 hours of deep
focus as Terence Town describes and this
is why setting yourself up to work
ridiculous amounts of hours a day is not
effective working and will not get you
the grace that you want and what's
really into interesting is I can
completely vouch for everything that I
have discussed so far so I set myself up
11.5 hours of work a day and it was just
impossible even though I did the work I
had no engagement in the work I to be
honest had no idea what was going on
most of the time because I was so
adamant to get through it there was no
time to take a moment to understand it
and I ended up just reaching a point of
pure exhaustion and this was very
uneffective studying so we've discussed
what you should not be doing and you
should not be studying for 11.5 hours a
day it's impossible but now what should
you be doing a study by John pen cable
on the productivity of working hours
discusses a reduction in productivity
after somebody works more than 50 hours
a week this equates to 7.2 hours a day
studying for less than 7.2 hours a day
means you have increased energy and
increased Focus which means you're more
likely to enter a state of deep focus in
which you can develop a deeper
understanding of the work now what's
really interesting especially if I
compare it to how I used to work when I
wasn't doing as well as I wanted it is a
study done by psychologist Anders
Erickson which suggests that people
can't do more than four hours of deep
work in a day so if you're setting
yourself up for 12 hour days you are
just setting yourself up for exhaustion
not for 12 hours of productivity you
want to be aiming for less than 7.2
hours a day on average some days you
might do a tiny bit more some days you
might do a lot less but that is good
that is not a bad thing and what's so
important to remember is the reason I'm
saying this is the study technique
that's not talked about is because it's
a study technique that's almost frowned
upon you should be working hard you
should be putting the hours in but
sometimes putting the hours in does not
correlate to doing well so how can you
make sure you're not overworking well
what I did to get my best result at
University was I scheduled in fun I
scheduled fun activities with friends I
scheduled time for myself I made sure to
try my hardest although easier said than
done to not think about work in my spare
time so when I wasn't working don't
think about it sometimes if you want to
if you're mulling on a complex problem
that is fine you can think about that as
you're going through your day but if you
have taken time away from work and you
know you've got to go back to it you
need to try and turn off just so your
brain can have time to reset and to
bring your energy back okay now I've
given you all the facts now you're
probably thinking okay so what do I
actually do how do I now study
efficiently well the next Point kind of
backs up the point I've just spoken
about working less you need to stop
making notes notes are again completely
romanticized especially on social media
or like study Pages everything like how
pretty can your notes be how how many
notes can you fit on a piece of paper
notes are almost an egotistical form of
studying where you can just show off
your work and it makes you feel like you
did really well but actually did you
understand anything that went on that
piece of paper now I am so so guilty for
this I will put on the screen now my
notes and
um every single sheet that you see on
the screen right now is A3 paper so I
must have had I had too many notes that
they couldn't fill bedroom walls they
would be going out of rooms I felt super
proud of myself when I saw these notes I
thought look at me go writing all my
lectures going through all of the
content they look good they're color
coded were they useful absolutely not
did I understand anything on them no and
obviously some people notes will be
really really helpful for them but stop
relying on notes and this is why writing
notes is obviously a time consuming task
and if you've got a lot of content to
get through to then write notes on all
of that it's going to take up so much
time that you are going to need 11.5
hour days and as we've just discussed
this is not effective and you will not
learn efficiently from this so if you
have a lot of content and you don't have
all of the time in the world you need to
let the notes go and you need to find a
more effective way to study and I'm
going to tell you exactly how I did that
so when I was writing these notes it's
called passive learning so you literally
just rewrite this information you hope
that you absorb it you read it you try
to understand it you move on okay now
passive learning does not create the
Deep Connections in your brain that you
need to be able to recall this
information in an exam situation so this
is why we need to start Active Learning
so Active Learning is a way that you not
only absorb the information but you can
reproduce it in a way that confirms your
understanding this form of learning
allows you to analyze and evaluate the
information improving your understanding
and ability to remember it so how can I
Implement Active Learning into my work
instead of just writing notes I'm going
to give an example that's on engineering
because obviously I studied chemical
engineering okay so first of all let's
focus on trying to understand the math
what you want to do is you want to get a
lot of paper a lot of paper you do not
want one sheet of paper because maths is
chaotic and math should be chaotic if
you want to understand it and you want
to go through your notes you want to
take a chunk of math that you want to
learn
and you are going to derive it use it
turn it upside down flip it on its head
basically learn it inside out
quickly and kind of just throw all the
thoughts you have in your head onto
these pieces of paper so by the end of
each section of mask you should have
paper filled with just
gibberish really because obviously
nobody else is going to understand what
just went through what happened in your
head to work all of that out you just
want loads of math all over the paper so
that you can start to build all the
connections between each equation well
that one derives that and if I derive
that I can get to here and once I've
done that I finally get to the equation
I need when you get to the exam you've
already created these Connections in
your brain and so you know these
equations inside and out so now you've
actively used these equations and built
the connections in your brain that you
need often this will require deep focus
so again you can't spend masses and
masses of time a day doing this it's
time to look at the wordy parts of your
lectures or the information that you
need to learn now with wordy Parts you'd
think okay this is where I can write
notes again no we do not write notes no
no writing what we're going to do
instead is we are going to read through
the notes and highlight interesting bits
or bits that you might really really
need to remember
and then we are going to create little
question cards at the end of each
subsection topic a little flashcard with
about probably six to ten questions on
it regarding the topic that you've just
studied once you've done that you're
going to put it down and that's the end
then every one to two weeks what you're
going to do is you're going to come back
to the work that you had studied one to
two weeks ago and you're going to read
through all those notes now I used to do
this in the morning so wake up and I
have already chosen the notes I'm going
to read that morning put them by my bed
wake up I'm not in bed I'd be so relaxed
just reading through these notes pick up
my little question card go through my
head okay what's this think about it
think about it okay I've got the answer
check my answer in a few months time
you're going to know these notes back to
front and not once have you had to write
them out you will have read them and
gone over them and processed them so
many times and gone back and answered
questions on them so many times that not
only will you know the notes back to
front you'll also placed the notes in
compartments in your brain using this
method by the time I set the exams I was
so much more confident when you're
reading your lecture notes or the
information that you're trying to learn
walk around your room talk to yourself
go over the concept say them out loud
write things down randomly and anywhere
in your room pieces of paper white
boards be completely chaotic because
this is how you're going to create a
deep understanding in your brain this
coincides again with needing to work
less because if you are overworking this
method will not work your brain will be
saturated and you'll be exhausted and
you will not be able to retrieve
information when you're going over your
lecture notes all the content you're
trying to learn another reason we should
be using Active Learning is because with
passive learning you are not training
your brain to retrieve information or
think outside of the box so when you get
to an exam situation and you need to
apply your knowledge you have not taught
your brain to do that at all all you've
taught your brain to do is to try and
absorb something if you've been doing
active learning your brain is now
trained to think deeply try to retrieve
knowledge right right at the back of
your head and look for the answer
leading on from this point my final
study tip is past papers and this is
such an obvious one of course doing past
paper questions is always always
beneficial everybody says it your
teachers are say it your lecturers will
say it and yes it 100 is but there are
two ways you can do this and I believe
one of them is beneficial and one of
them is completely nothing useless so
the useless way is the way that I used
to do it but I wasn't doing very well
and because I was on such strict
schedules to get through the ridiculous
amount of work I'd set myself I would do
all of the questions in exam time so uh
in my University we had half an hour for
a question I would time myself half an
hour and try to complete the question
now obviously in this time when you're
just learning the information and you're
not in the exam that's really really
hard to achieve so I'd reach half an
hour the question wouldn't be complete
and I'd look at the answers effectively
I've learned nothing when I got to the
exam I looked at the question and I
thought
oh I have not in any way train my brain
to think deeply to search for the answer
because I've just spent so much time
practicing in this silly time limit
panicking not knowing what to write down
not finding an answer and then looking
at the answers and trying to learn from
the answers don't get me wrong I wasn't
just looking at the answers to chi I
tried to learn from the answers but
there's only so much you can learn from
looking at information you need to
actively learn it so what should you be
doing you should be getting a past paper
question and just throwing yourself at
it with no time limit get all the paper
you need jot down anything that you
think jot down any answer that could be
even close to being right and make sure
the answers are far far far away out of
sight almost unreachable in doing this
you need to not stress about how many
questions you get through so don't set
yourself I need to do all of the past
papers for the exam because that's what
I used to do and yes I got through all
the papers before the exam and I didn't
understand the single thing that went on
the whole time whereas in my final year
I got through probably about half of the
papers but every paper I did I threw
myself at it I spent hours thinking even
for one question and obviously you can't
do that in an exam I was training my
brain to think deeply think outside of
the box so when I got to the exam this
time I was prepared and I knew how to
think deeply how to retrieve information
and I also had the confidence to face
the question when you haven't been doing
well on past papers your confidence is
not going to increase but if you throw
yourself at past papers and you give
yourself a limited time slowly you'll
get better and slowly you'll get more
and more answers right and you'll start
to think oh I actually can do this and I
actually do know the answers so as you
go on and on and on you'll get quicker
you'll get more confident and when you
walk into that exam you'll be able to
back yourself you'll be much better at
reaching the time limit and there's a
much higher chance of you reaching the
answer I think a super important
statement to take away from this video
is do not try to be a perfect studier or
whatever you'd call it it doesn't exist
studying is chaotic studying should be
chaotic especially if you're doing a
mathematical based subject because your
brain needs to thrash this out it needs
to be given the opportunity to just
throw answers at a piece of paper bring
things together break things apart so
that you can then reproduce an answer in
the correct form in the exam situation
focus on active recall challenge
yourself with questions take enjoyable
breaks see friends plan fun activities
and don't miss them and most importantly
do not overwork yourself so I'm going to
bring the video to a close there I hope
the video has been helpful and obviously
if you have any questions drop them
below and I will of course answer yeah
just do not make the mistake that I did
I genuinely overwork myself had no
enjoyment and did not do very well it
was only when I started to create
balance and study without time limits
that I actually started to learn a lot
more so if you did enjoy this video
please do like and subscribe and I shall
see you next week
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