Want to learn the ideas in How To Become A Straight-A Student better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of How To Become A Straight-A Student by Cal Newport here.
Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.
Video Summaries of How To Become A Straight-A Student
We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on How To Become A Straight-A Student, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Cal Newport.
1-Page Summary of How To Become A Straight-A Student
Overview
College is a time of great exploration for many people. Some students are under extreme stress, worrying about their grades and the impact it will have on their future. However, some students don’t get stressed out by this because they know how to study effectively. It’s important that you learn these techniques from actual straight-A college students who majored in various academic disciplines across the United States.
Studying more is not necessarily the best way to study. Studying better means taking good notes, fighting procrastination, developing time management skills and a few other tricks that will help you study quickly and efficiently so you can spend your free time doing what you want.
Here are ten points about how to study better. First, sometimes less is more when it comes to studying. Second, you need academic disaster insurance; and third, finding a quiet coffee shop can improve your grades.
Big Idea #1: In order to study more efficiently, manage your time and work in short, intensive bursts.
Students often feel that they don’t have enough time to get everything done. However, this is not true!
Most people waste their time working at a low intensity. This occurs when you study in front of the TV or work for long periods without breaks.
For example, while pulling an all-nighter might feel like hard work, you’re really just wasting time. It’s better to focus your efforts in short bursts with high intensity. In fact, many straight-A students do that and don’t study for long periods of time at low intensity. Studies show that the optimal learning period is roughly 50 minutes so you should give yourself a break after working for one hour. Think about it this way: The work you accomplish equals the amount of time spent times how intense your focus was on what you were doing. Therefore if you spend three separate hours studying with a focus level of 10, then it’s equal to ten hours of studying at 3!
If you reduce the time and intensity, you’ll have more free time.
To be able to work in short bursts, you will need to manage your time carefully.
It’s important to keep track of all your deadlines and upcoming tasks. Always carry a list with you so that you can write down anything new that comes up during the day. Spend five minutes each morning putting those items into your planner. Also, remember: keeping a calendar will only help if you actually use it.
Big Idea #2: The urge to procrastinate is unavoidable – learn to fight it!
Procrastination is something that most college students know very well. It’s the urge to put off work until the last minute, even when you have plenty of time. Some people are able to fight this tendency and get things done early, but not all of them do it in the same way. One method involves writing a progress journal every morning before you start your day’s tasks; this helps prevent procrastinating by keeping track of what needs to be done each day.
Then, every evening, write down the tasks you completed and explain why any uncompleted tasks were not finished. For example, if you’re too busy to study for your test (again), then say that it’s late at night and that you’ll be more focused in the morning. However, rather than get a good night’s sleep like you should have done earlier on, watch some TV so that “you can clear your head” before studying tomorrow. Five hours later when it’s 3 a.m., finally go to bed because of exhaustion from watching TV all night long instead of studying for your upcoming exam as planned.
You wake up in the morning after a rough night of sleep. You are unwilling to study because you did not get enough rest the night before. Your new excuse is that you can’t concentrate and should wait until tomorrow when you have rested properly.
