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tinstudies · 7 years

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As someone doing an English degree, I know how hard it is to read efficiently when you have 50,000 books and only a few weeks to read them (i’m exaggerating a little ofc). I also know that not everyone enjoys reading and I know how easy it is to leave reading to the last minute because ‘it’s only a short novel’. Well, here are some tips to make the most of your time and read efficiently, when you don’t really want to, don’t have the time to or would rather be doing something else.

1. DON’T RE-READ. I regularly see tips that say to get the most from a book, you need to read it at least twice. Ignore that. If you’re like me and have 3 books a week (minimum), you don’t really have the time or the patience to read them twice. Instead, read them once, but slowly. Take your time with the first read and actually understand it, instead of reading it once as quickly as you can and trying to find time to read it again in a futile attempt at actually understanding what you’ve read.

2. SET YOURSELF TARGETS. A key part of reading efficiently is actually reading the book. So set yourself daily targets of how many pages or chapters you need or want to complete. Set a target that is manageable and set them to cater to the events that occur in your day. Say if the book is due Friday and you start reading on Monday, but you have a lunch date with your friends on Wednesday and you really need to study for your biology exam which you care about more - set yourself reasonable targets to accommodate those things rather than pushing the reading aside completely because you’re ‘too busy’.

3. CHAPTER OVERVIEWS These are good for remembering details of the book when you are finished. After each chapter, spend a couple of minutes writing a chapter overview. Note down any important events, characters, themes and settings. Lined post-it notes are good for this, but you can always put them in a notebook too. I usually put the post-it notes on the last page of the chapter, so I can flick through the book after and know which chapter it is for, but again - do whatever feels best for you. If your book doesn’t have chapters or very few, maybe do overviews every 20-50 pages, depending on the length of the book. These are just to make your life easier and so you don’t have to remember every single chapter. You’ll have the overviews to refresh your memory.

4. HIGHLIGHTING AND TABS While you’re reading, highlight - or tab if you’re uncomfortable with or can’t highlight the book - in different colours the different things you need. Usually this is themes, characters, settings, literary devices etc, but also highlight or underline things that stand out to you. Even with highlighting, it’s good to tab the pages so you can find them again. If you aren’t comfortable with marking a book, you can do this in a notebook, but it might take a little longer writing out the quotes. Remember to make a key of these colours, because you will need remember what each colour is for.

5. DON’T GET COMFY It’s very easy to get comfortable when reading and not take in anything. You need to be on your game the whole time, no matter where you’re reading. Feel free to put on study or relaxing music, but don’t get comfy. Sit at your desk or on your bed with your back against the wall, so long as you tell your body that you’re studying and not just reading for pleasure. You don’t want to be reading and miss important things, not when you’re short of time. You can get comfy when you’ve finished!

6. DISCUSS You never truly realise how much you understand a book until you talk about it. When you’re finished reading, you’re not finished studying the book. Discuss the book with someone. Even if they haven’t read it themselves, talk to parents or friends. Tell them that you’ve been reading X and you found this, this and this interesting, but that one scene confused you. Discussing the book helps and sometimes people can help you grasp a clearer understanding of your text.

7. USE STUDY AIDS SparkNotes and Smoop are useful study aids and will be a life saver. Please don’t rely on them. Just using them instead of reading won’t work and your teacher will know. But they will help your understanding and will help you pick up bits you might’ve missed. They will also help with contextual information and they’re good for an overview when you’ve finished. Don’t use them before you’re done reading though. Trust me, it’s for the best.

8. RE-READ I don’t mean re-read the book. Re-read your notes the day before the book is due so you can fill in any blanks in your notes and understanding. Anything that is missing can be filled in during that day before the book is due and you’ll feel super accomplished on the day. You can compile your notes into one notebook and prettify them now, if that’s what makes you happy or helps you. Make them useful for your understanding is the key part, of course. But just reading through everything will put it fresh in your mind.

9. CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH You can choose to do this before or after reading, but don’t do it during. Contextual research is generally boring (at least for me) but it is super useful for understanding or just to sound clever in an essay. It can also fill in a lot of blanks and help you get knowledge of what is happening. Literature and history have a lot of connections and knowing the history of literature and of your novel is super useful. Always attempt some sort of contextual research, even if it’s just reading those little intro bits in the classics or whatever.

10. RELAX AND REWARD So you’ve finished reading, research and making notes? Relax! Reward yourself. Get a cup of tea, pat yourself on the back and get an early night. You deserve it! Reading can be exhausting and if you’re gonna remember anything in the morning, you need some good sleep and to feel good about yourself.

And with that - HAPPY READING!

I hope this was helpful for everyone and if you need any more advice, don’t be afraid to ask me, your teacher, your parents or even your friends!

#study tips #study guide #studyblr #study help #study #my posts #medkip #theatreforthemasses

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