Mastering the art of studying involves more than just reading, and managing your time well. You have to know how to pull the information from the page, and fix it in your mind.

First, go over the material you will learning by looking for headings, bold notes, and reading the first sentence or two of each paragraph. If the chapter has a review at the end, look this over as well.

This will allow your mind to focus on the overall topic, or theme of what it is you are about to stick in there, and provide you with an overview.

If you were going on a trip, you would get a map, and locate the starting point, and the destination. Then you would look for the best route to get you there.

This is the same process that you will use for studying your assignments.

As you create an overview of the material, break it down into blocks of information by identifying the key points of the material. This will help you to sort out the information into meaningful groups, and help you remember more of what you read.

The second step is to read the material thoroughly. Quickly, but thoroughly. Look for the key points and ideas, and write them down on your note paper, just like you learned in the previous section on note taking.

You will find that since you did a preview of the material, reading it, and locating the important information will go much faster than if you were to simply start reading and taking notes as you went along.

The third step in studying is review. Not just rereading your text, or going over your notes, but actually sitting back and thinking about what it is you've just covered.

What questions might come up in class, or on a test?

What parts of the material seem to stand out as important points to the overall lesson?

Let these bits of information sink into your mind.

Ask yourself questions about the material. Form your questions as though they were the questions on the test. Answer them as though you were answering on the test.

Making these study habits work, takes time. You will have to train your mind to function this way. For some it will take longer than others. One thing you can be sure of though, is that you will find it easier to locate the important information more easily, understand it it quicker by fixing it in your mind easier, and improve your grades.

Keep your study sessions frequent, and short. Avoid cramming for a test. Studying for 30 minutes each day will benefit you far more than three or four hours of cramming.

Remember to pay special attention to introductory paragraphs, bold or italic print, anything that is presented in a numbered list, or a special column, the first two sentence, and the last sentence of a paragraph, and any summary review or questions that appear at the end of the chapter.