Today I will be sharing with you guys my secret to how I went from this to this. Hey guys it's Monse and welcome back to my YouTube channel. Today I'm going to be talking about how I was able to really improve my grades and I will be sharing eight main tips.
Top secret. things that I did that really helped me get my grades up like this. Okay guys so the first thing that I actually started doing this year was I started to use the Pomodoro method. I'm pretty sure many of you guys have heard about this method. It has been very popular for a bit and Basically the Pomodoro method is you study for a certain amount of time and then you take a certain amount of time for break.
Usually what I do is I take 45 minutes to completely study, like absolutely no distractions, no phone, nothing. And then I study for that amount of time and then after that I take a 15 minute break. So this has honestly been a game changer for me just because it has allowed me to completely focus on my work for 45 minutes because and then after I know that I'm gonna have a break so that kind of is like an incentive I guess to like really focus.
So I completely recommend using the Pomodoro Method just because you're really setting a specific time that you are going to study. For example some people are not able to like completely like sit down and focus for 45 minutes. So what they do is they do 25 minutes and then they take a five minute break and then 25 minutes and then five minute break. You get the deal.
It could be 30 minutes, 35 minutes. It honestly is just all up to you and what works best for you. Personally, I've noticed that for me being able to focus for 45 minutes is the best and because after that I'm just not as focused if I do more than 45 minutes. Also, it depends on like what you're studying.
because I could study like AP Psychology for like an hour or an hour and a half but it's hard for me to like study like pre-calc or like other subjects that I'm not interested in for like a long period of time so it also just depends you know you could switch up your times a little bit but yeah. The second tip that I have for you guys is studying for tests a week or two prior to when your actual test is going to be. This has also helped me so so so much because i used to be the person that studied like one or two days before the actual exam and cramming for an exam let me tell you it is not something that actually works because you're like not completely retaining the information you are just cramming it into your head you know for like a little short amount of time and then you completely forget it and then sometimes you won't even remember what you actually studied while you are taking the test. That happened to me last year. I crammed for many of my exams especially for APUSH and AP Biology.
Not the best idea but now I have actually stopped doing that. For example for like AP Psychology I start studying a week before and this helps so much because you are literally using space repetition. So let's say you start studying for your exam. a week before you literally have seven days to like study a little bit each day let's say you study an hour each day that is seven hours that you are studying for the exam and those seven hours little by little by little they add up and so your brain it's like using space repetition where you are constantly trying to recall what you are learning and that helps a lot with you know really retaining and keeping that information in your brain and you're not cramming it all in one night. The third tip that I have for you guys is to use Quizlet or any app that allows you to keep practicing and keep retaining.
It is a lifesaver. And as much as I would love to use my flashcards, I sometimes still do, but not as much. I love using Quizlet just because this allows me to keep practicing active recall.
And so these apps basically they kind of separate the information that you do know from the information that you still need to work on and still need to. help memorize I guess. So yeah, I personally make quizlets the week before like my exams or two weeks before or sometimes I even start it at the beginning of the unit just so that every single day I could keep on using this my like set that I made for quizlet and then I could keep practicing it every single day so that I could keep remembering and that goes along with the last tip that I gave you which is space repetition and keep on practicing every single day.
Fourth tip that has helped me get my grades up. This again is a game changer. It has been to put my phone on do not disturb. Putting my phone on do not disturb has literally been amazing. Just because I am not distracted anymore by the notifications that I get and I'm just not worried about you know the texts that i get or the calls that i get just not distracted and putting my phone literally like across my room has literally allowed me to actually focus on what i'm doing and not be distracted by my phone so put your phone on do not disturb fifth tip is to get enough sleep i know you have already heard this but literally it has helped me so much last year was my junior year and as you know Junior year is probably the craziest, hardest, most challenging year that I have ever had.
Very hectic and I thought that by pulling all-nighters and sleeping at two in the morning would allow me to get all my work done and be able to study more, but no. Pulling all-nighters and sleeping at like two in the morning was the worst thing that I could have done for my body and my overall health, but also just for my brain. There has been a lot of research that says that you need to sleep your amount like seven to eight hours every single night in order for your brain to function properly and in order for your brain to actually be able to remember things. I have started to sleep, now you guys may think it's funny, but I have started to actually sleep at around 9 or 9 30 but I actually I wake up earlier.
I wake up at 4 45 or 5 in the morning. And I don't even feel tired. Like I honestly feel really energized and that is what allows me to be able to get my workout in, get my studying in, and get everything that I need done. So I recommend get some sleep. It will help you, I promise.
My sixth tip that I have for you guys is to plan your week accordingly to whatever test you may have, whatever assignments you may have. Just plan your week. Doing this allows you to give yourself more time to actually plan and give yourself time to study for whatever you need. Let's say you have three exams, you know, give yourself the time to study for the exams that you need the most work on. If you don't need as much time to study for English, then spend your time studying more for math or for whatever subjects that you are having the most trouble with.
And another thing is... plan for your assignments and if you can get ahead on your assignments just saying it'll save you some time but planning ahead really allows you to not procrastinate it allows you to get all of your work done to get all of your studying done to get all of your assignments done on time because you don't want to be procrastinating the night before and not finishing an assignment and getting it all turned in with no quality or work put into it. So yeah, I would say something that I started doing is I am always planning ahead.
I have my calendar open and I write out all of my exams that I have for that week, the assignments that I have to turn in that week. Also, another thing, get yourself a good homework planner. This is my planner that I have every single day at school. I write out of all of my homework.
I have my... From my first period to my last period, all of the homework that I have to do for that class, this is such a lifesaver. Get yourself a good homework planner. Seventh tip is don't leave any assignments for last minute.
I'm telling you that is so not worth it. Like I said in the last tip, turning in assignments late, it won't allow you to actually put in the effort, put in the quality that an assignment needs. in order for you to get a good grade on it obviously if you turn in things late obviously you're not even going to get the points for it second you're not going to be able to turn it in with the quality quality that you would have turned it in if you had turned it in on time so don't turn in your assignments late get it on time and the last tip that i have it's kind of obvious but I think it's a good tip. Use the resources that you have. I feel like there's sometimes, the reason why sometimes we don't get good grades is because we obviously don't understand the material that we are learning or that we are studying.
And so we kind of feel unmotivated to even try in those classes. I've been through it. I went through it last year.
But something that I have started doing this year is I have started watching a lot more videos. I started to look... online a lot more for resources if I need help.
There's some times when my teachers are not able to like answer my questions right when I need them to and so going online has really helped me just be able to understand the material a lot more. There's websites like Khan Academy, Google obviously, YouTube for so many classes that we are all taking so there should be no excuse to really not understanding a topic. because you have it online. There is literally thousands of resources, websites, YouTube channels that can seriously help you with anything that you are having trouble with.
Anything. I have used it a lot for my pre-calc class just because that pre-calc has been probably one of the most challenging classes that I've been taking this year so far and so yeah. I've also used it for just my tests and exams that I've had but yeah.
That is pretty much it for today's video. I really really really hope you guys found this video helpful. Let me know down in the comments below if you guys enjoyed this video, if you guys would like maybe a part two of how I study. Honestly I kind of show how I study in most of my videos.
All of these tips they have truly changed how I go about studying and how and just my grades in general. And bye guys have a great day!