How to Study Only 2 Hours a Day yet STILL Ace your Exams
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses effective study habits for maximizing efficiency, focusing on the 'three D's' framework: Define, Digitize, and Deep Work. It emphasizes the importance of understanding what to study, leveraging digital tools for note-taking, flashcards, and pre-recorded lectures, and engaging in focused, uninterrupted study sessions. The speaker shares personal experiences and strategies that helped him reduce study time while maintaining high academic performance, ultimately advocating for a balanced approach to studying and life.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker emphasizes the importance of efficient studying, questioning the trend of boasting about studying excessively long hours.
- 🧠 The script introduces the 'three D's framework' as a method to study less and more effectively, applicable to various tasks beyond just studying.
- 🎯 The first 'D' is 'Define', which means understanding exactly what needs to be learned and disregarding the rest.
- 📝 The speaker suggests using syllabi, direct teacher inquiries, and upperclassmen's notes to define study content effectively.
- 🔍 Identifying personal strengths and weaknesses through practice tests is highlighted as a crucial step in efficient studying.
- 💻 The second 'D' is 'Go Digital', advocating for digital note-taking, which includes file management, portability, and searchability.
- 🎥 The speaker recommends utilizing pre-recorded lectures from various sources, including YouTube, to save time on attending classes.
- 📉 The third aspect of going digital is the use of digital flashcards with built-in spaced repetition software, which is key to efficient studying.
- 🚀 The speaker introduces 'RemNote', a flashcard app that can generate flashcards from notes, as a time-saving tool for students.
- 🧘♂️ The third 'D' is 'Deep Work', which involves focusing deeply on tasks without multitasking to enhance productivity.
- 🍅 The Pomodoro Technique is suggested as a method to maintain focus during study sessions and ensure regular breaks.
- 📅 Establishing a ritual for focus time, including a designated study spot and routine, is presented as a way to quickly enter a productive state of mind.
Q & A
What are the three D's that help reduce study time according to the video?
-The three D's are Define, Digital, and Deep Work.
What is the importance of 'defining' in the study process?
-'Defining' involves knowing exactly what you need to study and focusing only on that, which helps save time by avoiding unnecessary material.
How can upperclassmen be helpful in your study process?
-Upperclassmen can provide notes, insights, and tips about what will be on the test, helping you focus on the most important material.
Why is going digital recommended for studying?
-Going digital allows for better file management, portability, quick search capabilities, and the use of advanced tools like digital flashcards and pre-recorded lectures.
How can pre-recorded lectures save time?
-Pre-recorded lectures can be watched at your convenience, often at increased playback speeds, allowing you to cover material faster than attending live classes.
What are the benefits of using digital flashcards?
-Digital flashcards use active recall and spaced repetition, which help reinforce learning efficiently and reduce overall study time.
What is 'deep work' and why is it important?
-'Deep work' is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task, which increases productivity and efficiency.
How does multitasking affect study efficiency?
-Multitasking can slow you down because it divides your attention and reduces the quality and efficiency of your study sessions.
What is the Pomodoro technique and how does it help with studying?
-The Pomodoro technique involves working in focused intervals (typically 25-50 minutes) followed by short breaks, which helps maintain concentration and productivity.
Why is creating a study ritual beneficial?
-Creating a study ritual conditions your brain to enter 'deep work' mode more quickly and consistently, thereby reducing the time needed to achieve a focused state.
What is the main advantage of using RemNote for digital flashcards?
-RemNote automatically generates flashcards from your notes and has a built-in spaced repetition algorithm, saving time on creating flashcards and focusing study on weak areas.
Outlines
📚 Mastering Study Efficiency: The Three D's Framework
The speaker discusses the trend of students boasting about studying long hours and questions the effectiveness of this approach. They introduce the concept of the 'three D's' as a framework to study more efficiently: Define, Digitize, and Deep Work. The speaker shares their personal journey from being a high school bookworm to mastering the art of efficient studying, emphasizing the importance of understanding what is necessary to know and focusing on habits that can be applied to any work, not just studying.
🔍 Going Digital: Enhancing Study Techniques
The speaker delves into the second 'D' of their framework, which is to 'Go Digital'. They advocate for the use of digital notes over traditional paper notes for better file management, portability, and searchability. The speaker also recommends taking advantage of pre-recorded lectures from professors or online platforms like YouTube for self-paced learning. They highlight the power of digital flashcards, especially those with built-in spaced repetition algorithms, as a game-changer for their medical school success, and introduce their own startup, RemNote, as a tool for efficient studying.
🧘♂️ Deep Work: Maximizing Focus and Productivity
The final 'D' in the speaker's framework is 'Deep Work', which is about concentrating deeply on tasks to enhance productivity. The speaker suggests eliminating multitasking and using the Pomodoro Technique to manage study sessions effectively. They also emphasize the importance of creating a ritual around study time, including having a designated study spot and routine, to condition the brain into entering a focused state more quickly. The speaker concludes by encouraging viewers to apply these habits to not only reduce study time but also to improve grades, offering a link to additional study tips for further improvement.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Study Habits
💡Define
💡Digital Notes
💡Pre-recorded Lectures
💡Flashcards
💡Space Repetition
💡Deep Work
💡Pomodoro Technique
💡Ritual
💡Valedictorian
💡Multitasking
Highlights
The trend of studying for the maximum number of hours is discussed, questioning the efficiency of such a method.
The speaker shares personal experiences of studying habits from high school to medical school and the evolution of these habits.
Introduction of the 'three D's framework' as a method to study more efficiently.
The importance of defining what needs to be known and focusing on that, rather than studying everything.
Strategies for understanding the syllabus and engaging with teachers to clarify what will be on tests.
The value of talking to upperclassmen to gain insights into what to focus on for exams.
The practice of taking practice tests to identify personal strengths and weaknesses.
Transitioning from paper notes to digital notes in college for better file management and searchability.
Advantages of using pre-recorded lectures for studying at one's own pace and speed.
Recommendations for using digital flashcards with built-in space repetition software for effective studying.
The impact of digital flashcards on medical school success and the introduction of the app RemNote.
The concept of 'deep work' from Cal Newport's book and its application to studying.
The negative effects of multitasking on study efficiency and the importance of focused studying.
The Pomodoro Technique as a tool for managing study sessions and breaks effectively.
Establishing a study ritual with a designated spot and routine to quickly enter a focused state.
The benefits of these study habits not only for reducing study time but also for improving grades.
A call to action for those who want to spend less time studying to adopt these habits for a better life balance.
Transcripts
- Why I'm able to study 10 hours per day.
Why I'm able to study 70 plus hours per week.
How I studied for 12 hours a day for over a year.
I think it's interesting that the trend now
is who can study the most.
I mean, it's motivating and everything
and I'm not gonna lie,
we participated ourselves and it was kind of exhilarating
but what happened to all those people who flex
about not having to study that much?
And I'm not talking about the students who stay up all night
in panic mode cram before the test, just to barely pass.
I'm not talking about those students.
I'm talking about the ones that spend less time studying
because they're that confident in themselves.
And they steal A's their exams.
The ones that post, how I only studied two hours a day
or how I only studied 10,000 seconds for this exam.
So some of these students are actual geniuses
like photographic memory or asperger or whatever
and that's fine.
But I'm pretty sure that the majority of these students
who spend less time to study do so because of their habits.
So I'm gonna break down the three D's
which is a simple framework you can use
to spend less time studying.
And these habits don't need to be applied to studying,
it can be applied to any kind of work that you do.
But for the sake of this video,
I'm gonna talk about studying.
And it's funny because as I went through school,
high school, college, medical school.
As I went through school,
the more I figured out how to cut back on the amount
of time I spent studying.
So in high school, I was a total bookworm.
I was a nerd and I was proud of it
but I've definitely spent a little too much time
studying in the beginning.
And I realized I had to make more time for other things.
I had to make more time for sports.
I needed to make more time for my girlfriend
and whenever I spent time with my best friends,
we love making skits and videos
and that took up a lot of our time.
And that's when I knew that things had to change.
And the first big habit for me,
the first of the three D's is define.
Define what you need to know.
It sounds simple but it's so underrated,
know what you need to know forget the rest.
So the first thing I would do is look at the syllabus.
Some teachers tell you everything you need to know
and some even go a step further
and tell you the exact percentile breakdown
of what will be on the test.
If your syllabus sucks, then go to the source directly,
ask the teacher, I would stay after class,
go to office hours but ask the teacher,
will this be on the test?
Okay, so maybe not be that blunt
'cause then the teacher might feel like
you're only in this for the grade
and you don't wanna learn anything.
So you're gonna kind of ask us strategically,
like, how important is this
or how would you quiz us on this
or how would you test us on this idea?
Something like that.
But be that kid who asks will this be on the test
'cause I guarantee you, everyone in the class
wants to know as well.
So you're gonna be more popular if you just take one
for the team and ask the hard questions.
The next thing I would do is ask the upperclassmen
as seniors who have already taken the class.
Like I remember I asked a senior who had already taken
an APR History class before me
and she ended up giving me all of her notes
complete with highlighting.
And she told me exactly what was gonna be on the test
and what I should focus on.
And yeah, it was amazing.
So all I had to do was ask
and the third thing I would do is identify your weaknesses.
You can do this by taking practice tests,
doing practice problems,
really pinpoint what your weaknesses are
and what your strengths are.
Because one of the biggest time-saving factors
is to not waste time going over things
that you already know.
So that was my big takeaway from high school,
I ended up doing pretty well.
I graduated valedictorian of my class
and I tried applying to medical school
straight out of high school.
Unfortunately, it was a little too competitive
and I quickly realized that I was just not
a very well-rounded student.
I mean I had the grades but I didn't have anything else.
So when I went to university,
I knew things had to change
because classes were gonna be harder.
And I had to make more time for extracurricular activities
like clubs, sports, research, work, volunteering and so on.
So luckily in university,
I figured out a second productive habit
which is the second D of our framework
and that is to go digital.
So I was taking paper notes all throughout high school
and I don't think any of us had laptops actually.
But when you get to college,
you've got to seriously consider digital notes.
And I'm not telling you to go out there
and buy a Mac book or an iPad or anything like that.
But you can definitely find an affordable option
that will eventually pay off it's worth
in the amount of time that it helps you save.
In my opinion, digital notes are superior
to paper notes in every way, you've got file management.
It makes it super portable,
you can search for anything that you want for any note
or any word that you want instantly with Control + Find,
you can manipulate images, PDFs, lecture slides
and you can share your notes with other students.
Of course you can save even more time
if you just don't take any notes at all
but that's a different conversation.
And you can find that here, if you're interested,
the second way to go digital is to take advantage
of pre-recorded lectures.
So most of my university professors
had prerecorded lectures,
usually podcast recordings of their lectures
from last year or years prior.
And the content doesn't really change that much
and they'll post it onto the website.
And so I will just download those
and watch those on my own time.
Usually at two times or three times speed
but I can handle it.
I'll watch it and come from my own home
and sometimes not even go to class
And that saves so much time.
I mean some classes have mandatory attendance
and there's nothing you can do about that.
But when I was able to, I would skip class.
But not only that, I realized that YouTube
is an amazing source of pre-recorded lectures.
You can find videos from companies like Princeton,
Kaplan, Khan Academy.
If you're in medical school like us look at Osmosis,
Sketchy Medical.
You can even find fellow classmates
with their own YouTube channels,
teaching the material better than the college professor.
I mean they have their own channels,
they're trying to get their subs up.
So, I mean, maybe you should even make a YouTube channel
and employ the Feynman technique,
teach other classmates the content that you're learning
and while you're teaching them, your learning as well
so it's win-win for everyone.
And the third piece about going digital
and this was the real game changer for me
and that is using digital flashcards.
You guys, I can't emphasize enough
how powerful flashcards are.
I mean if I had to choose one thing
to attribute my medical school success to
it would be digital flashcards.
And the reason I say flashcards is because
you're using active recall, space repetition
and interleaving all at the same time.
And if you have no idea what I'm talking about,
check out this video right here.
So with that said your digital flashcards need to be
a particular kind of flashcard.
It has to have a built in space repetition software.
So the digital flashcard app that I started off using
was called On-key.
But as some of you already know,
Matty and I are working on a startup called RemNote.
And obviously I'm biased here but I think RemNote
is the best flashcard app for students.
So for those of you who don't understand
the combination of space, repetition and flashcards,
basically what it is is that you have flashcards on an app
on your phone
and there's a built in computer algorithm
that evaluates your strengths and your weaknesses
and it creates a study schedule that helps you focus
on your weaknesses and you don't waste time
with what you're already good at.
And this overall cuts down on the amount of time
that you spend studying.
And make sure that you're studying flashcards
on your phone that's definitely the way to go,
because you can take advantage of all the little moments
where you're waiting in line at Starbucks
or you're on the Metro or you're in the elevator
or you're just walking to class.
You can be studying your flashcards
during all of those little minutes
and all those minutes add up
which ultimately subtract from the total amount of time
that you spend studying.
And the reason why I say that RemNote
is better than any other space repetition flashcard app
out there is because it saves you even more time
in that it automatically generates flashcards for you
from the notes that you take.
And we all know how much time it takes to make flashcards.
Matty and I have been through this.
We know we're trying to figure out
all the inefficiencies here
and we're trying to build a tool that wish we had
when we were going through medical school.
And for those of you who are lazy like us
and you don't wanna make your own flashcards
and instead wanna use someone else's
we've got you covered there too.
Matty and I have been consolidating
all of our medical school flashcards exclusively
for RemNote and we'll be sharing them with you bit by bit.
So definitely check out RemNote,
it's free to use link in the description.
Okay, so after university I went to medical school
and I would say that there was a lot more quantity
of knowledge to know and it was more difficult
but I was still able to figure out a way to cut back
on the amount of studying that I needed to do.
And this takes us to the third habit,
the third D in our framework, which is deep work.
This comes from one of my favorite books by Cal Newport
called "Deep Work".
And basically it means just being able to concentrate,
being able to focus and get in the zone
and get your shit done.
So in regards to deep work,
the first thing you got to cut out
of your life is multitasking.
There's a lot of research that shows how multitasking
can slow us down.
And for those of you at home,
who are watching me talk about studying right now,
while you're actually trying to study with your book open
in front of you, I say much love,
thanks for supporting the channel but I guarantee you,
if you just focus on studying
when you say you should be studying,
you'll end up saving a lot of time in the long run
and you can watch more of our videos
with all the extra time that you save.
And in the end it will be a win-win for both of us.
So for deep work, that's the first thing I would do.
I would stop multitasking and the second thing I would do
is use Pomodoro.
If you really need to multitask,
then Pomodoro is a great tool to use as well.
So the way it works is that you wanna set a timer.
So let's say half an hour up to an hour.
And during that period,
you really focus on the work in front of you.
And after that period, you can set a timer for a break,
say 15, 20 minutes.
And during that break,
you really focus on taking your break.
Like if you're gonna watch anime than watch anime,
if you're gonna watch basketball or last night's game,
then watch that.
But use Pomodoro to keep your focus
and in a way you kind of delay of gratification
because at the end of your study period,
you know that there is a juicy episode just waiting for you.
The third thing I would do for deep work
is to make your focus time kind of like a ritual.
Our brains are easily conditioned
by things like rituals and habits.
So definitely take advantage of that.
So you wanna have a designated spot in your apartment
or the library or coffee shop with a comfy seat,
a reliable toilet nearby
and a study music playlist that you love.
And you wanna go there at the same time
or around the same time every day that you plan to study.
So you wanna make this your spot and make it a ritual
and stay so consistent
that when that time of day rolls around
and you sit your butt down in that seat,
your brain is so wired and so familiar
that it gets into deep work mode faster.
And the faster you get into deep work mode,
the less time you will spend studying.
Trust me, guys, these tips really do work
if you wanna spend less time studying
so that you have more time for things like hobbies,
friends and families, side hustles and life.
And by the way,
if you don't want to spend less time studying,
like if you're one of those weirdos
who actually enjoys studying and you want
to spend 10,000 hours a week studying,
like that's perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with that.
But I guarantee you, if you employ these habits
that I mentioned, your grades will go up
and if you want a sure way to get better grades
then you can check out our video
about the best evidence-based study tips
which you can find by tapping on the screen right here.
Thanks for watching this one and I will see you there.
(upbeat music)
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