How to Study Only 2 Hours a Day yet STILL Ace your Exams

Summary

The 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:02

🔍 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.

10:03

🧘‍♂️ 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.

Keywords

💡Study Habits

Study habits refer to the routines and practices individuals adopt to facilitate learning and retention of information. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of developing effective study habits as a means to study less and achieve more. The 'three D's' framework introduced in the script is a set of study habits aimed at maximizing efficiency.

💡Define

To 'define' in the context of studying means to clearly identify and understand the specific content or areas one needs to focus on for a particular subject or exam. The speaker uses this term to highlight the first 'D' in the 'three D's' framework, suggesting that students should know exactly what they need to learn and disregard the rest to save time.

💡Digital Notes

Digital notes are a form of note-taking that involves using electronic devices such as laptops or tablets instead of traditional pen and paper. The video script discusses the advantages of digital notes, such as portability, searchability, and the ability to manipulate and share content, as part of the second 'D' in the framework, which is to 'go digital' for more efficient studying.

💡Pre-recorded Lectures

Pre-recorded lectures are audio or video recordings of lectures made available for students to review at their own pace. The script mentions using pre-recorded lectures as a time-saving strategy, allowing students to watch lectures at accelerated speeds and on their own schedule, which can be particularly useful for reviewing material or for students who cannot attend classes in person.

💡Flashcards

Flashcards are a learning tool consisting of a set of cards, each containing a question or a piece of information on one side and the answer or additional information on the other. The video emphasizes the use of digital flashcards with space repetition software as a powerful study tool that helps in active recall and efficient review of material.

💡Space Repetition

Space repetition is a learning technique where information is reviewed at increasing intervals over time, which helps to move the information from short-term to long-term memory. The script refers to this concept as a feature of digital flashcards, where an algorithm evaluates the learner's performance and schedules reviews accordingly.

💡Deep Work

Deep work is a concept from Cal Newport's book by the same name, which refers to the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks. In the video, the third 'D' in the framework is 'deep work,' and the speaker discusses strategies like eliminating multitasking and using the Pomodoro Technique to achieve a state of deep concentration during study sessions.

💡Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. The script describes this technique as a way to enhance focus during study sessions, suggesting that students set a timer for focused work followed by a designated break time.

💡Ritual

A ritual in the context of studying refers to a routine or a series of actions that are performed in a consistent manner to create a conducive environment for learning. The video script mentions establishing a study ritual, such as having a designated study spot and time, to condition the brain to enter a state of deep work more quickly.

💡Valedictorian

A valedictorian is the student who delivers a farewell speech at a graduation ceremony and is typically the student with the highest academic achievement in their graduating class. The script mentions the speaker's experience as a valedictorian to illustrate their initial approach to studying and the subsequent realization of the need for more efficient study habits.

💡Multitasking

Multitasking is the act of attempting to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. The video script advises against multitasking during study sessions, as research suggests it can reduce productivity and effectiveness. Instead, the speaker recommends focusing solely on the task at hand to achieve 'deep work.'

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)