| My keys to success:
1. Unless you are legitimately capable of teaching yourself from the book (AP Stats and much of AP Chem for me), pay full attention in class. This means not merely listening, but asking and answering as many questions as it takes to "get" the material at hand.
2. Do your homework as it was meant to be done. Take your time as you do the problems - don't BS anything. I personally check my answer at the back of the book immediately, and if its wrong, I hunt through the logic that led me to it. I don't rest until I figure out how I get the right answer. I've spent as much as 20-30 minutes on a problem before, but it pays off: I now understand exactly what I have to do and the rest becomes easy.
3. Study without distractions. Some people work better with music, but personally, that distracts me too. If you don't actively need a computer, then get as far away from it as possible to remove the temptation. Sometimes the best study spots are away from home - I once studied at the local YMCA and was amazingly efficient.
4. Drink lots of water. Dehydration accounts for somewhere between 95-98% of all headaches, and even being slightly dehydrated will hinder your performance. I personally keep a nalgene (1L water bottle) with me at all times, and drink generously from it as soon as I feel the least bit thirsty. When it is empty, I fill it immediately. This simple habit is probably one of my most potent.
5. Learn how to manage sleep. A sleep cycle is roughly 90 minutes in length. After 20 minutes into a sleep cycle, your body enters "deep sleep", where it becomes hard to wake up and doing so will make you feel bad/groggy. Thus, you want to sleep such that you wake up in that 20-minute beginning of the next sleep cycle. At minimum, a person needs 3-4 sleep cycles a night to perform well and 4-5 sleep cycles is ideal (more than 5 is actually bad for performance, though I personally sleep in at least once on a weekend). Never take a nap that's longer than 20 minutes unless you can commit to a 90 minute sleep cycle. If you get too little sleep, and have a free afternoon, capitalize on the chance to get a 1.5 or 3 hour nap (going any longer will make it very hard to get to sleep that night).
6. Learn what you can and can't do with caffeine. I personally minimize my consumption of it so that it's most effective when I need it. Caffeine has a half-life in your body of about 5 hours, and it ruins deep sleep. Never have more than one caffeinated 12-ounce soda at night. I generally only use it for effect on the occasional all-nighter. |