5 Great Hacks to Improve Your Grades without Studying Extra Hours

How to improve your grades without studying extra hours?

Getting good scores in exams doesn’t require to make any dramatic changes in life. Instead, students must look for ways to score well, which are the best and unique for them. Whether you are in high school or college, grades play an essential role. Don’t let anybody fool you by saying otherwise. Good grades on your resume open several doors for you in the future. Studying regularly is the best way to score high marks. However, it is not the only way. There are several other ways by which students can score well in any exam.

Have you ever wondered how some students have it all?

In every school and college, you will encounter such students who are exceptionally good at academics. Even though they don’t spend their entire day studying, still they can manage to score high in almost all subjects. However, the number of such students is relatively low compared to the majority who struggle very hard.

Are you spending too much time on your studies and still not getting fruitful results?

Even after putting so much effort and study hours, many students don’t get their desired results. Imagine a situation where you are putting in your 100% efforts in the wrong direction. What will be the result? You will get the opposite of what you intended to achieve. However, if you put in merely 20% of efforts in the right direction, you will get what you want to achieve.

Through this article, we have brought you 5 strategies to get high grades with studying less. The tips will challenge your traditional concepts of studying and scoring well. Any student who wants to achieve good scores or improve their current grades can utilize them.

1. Classes are important: Attend them

• Understand the subject outline

The subject outline holds the secret of cracking the exams. It does not just contain the content of your subjects, but it tells you the breakdown of marks between tests, assignments, exams, etc. You need to understand what to study. If you give equal importance to all the subjects and try to study each topic with same dedication, then you will end up getting more confused. There are always 20% of topics that guarantee to appear in the exam. Give your 80% focus on those topics and the remaining 20% to the other topics.

• Stop mugging up your textbook

Study shows learning things by heart or mugging up the entire book is the least effective way to study. You must understand the topic, merely just going through it will not help you retain the knowledge in your long-term memory. Re-reading it without understanding is an even bigger mistake. Stop fooling yourself and understand the topic rather than simply mugging up.

We are not suggesting that you completely keep them aside. Textbooks are an excellent source for reference purposes. Make sure that you take out the key points from the book and make notes. So, when the exam comes, you don’t have to go through the entire textbook.

• Make every mark count

No excuses here! You must be aware of the marks allocated to each assessment. Typically, the scores are divided between attendance, tests, assignments, practical examinations, projects, etc. It mostly matters which field of study you belong to. Find out if there is a negative marking in the exams. This changes the whole ball game. In case there are no negative marks, never leave a question blank and if there are, then be absolutely sure before attempting any question.

2. Prioritize and plan

If you are committed to learning and scoring well, then you have to plan everything meticulously. All the toppers are also thorough planners.

• Make a priority list

It is not possible to learn everything when there is hardly any time left for exams. You have to choose wisely, which are the scoring points and how well you know them. Take help with your friends or instructor to create a priority list.

• Set a weekly and monthly plan

To get you started, create a plan for the day, then a week, and later month. Be realistic with your plans. Understand that you can’t have it all. You will have to fit in each activity in an already busy schedule of yours. While creating a plan, take into account all the commitments and tasks.

• Execute your plan and make an adjustment

Now, this is very important!

It is often seen many students go overboard and create a highly ambitious study plan. Soon they realize that it is not possible to keep up with the plan. That is the time when you go back to it and make readjustments. All the plans go through this process, even the most perfect ones.

3. Focus on what is important

• Stop panicking

It is natural to have overwhelming emotions when exams are around the corner, and you are not well-prepared for it. Stress and nervousness are common in even the toppers. Stop and take a deep breath and try relaxing exercises to calm your nerves. You can also check our article on Handling Exam Stress.

• Figure out what’s going wrong

If even after studying well, you are unable to get desired marks, then it’s the time for evaluation. Maybe you are doing something which you shouldn’t, or you are not doing something which you should. Rather than panicking, find out what’s going wrong and try to fix it.

• Be positive

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

~ Willie Nelson

 It is obvious to get disheartened by bad results. However, since you are reading this article, we firmly believe that you have the desire to turn around your results. You may not receive any results instantly, but keep trying, and you will get the marks you desire.

4. Change learning strategy

• 80/20 principle:

You must have already come across this principle in the previous section of this article. So, what is the 80/20 principle? Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto gave the principle of 80/20, popularly known as Pareto’s Principle. The principle gives a fascinating insight into how to be productive in life. According to the principle, 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. In simpler words, 80% of your results depend on the 20% of the efforts you put in. Rather than spending hours studying with a half-hearted approach and procrastinating, you need to be a focus on being productive for a lesser duration and derive maximum output. You can apply this principle in several aspects of your student life like, minimise distraction, time management, choosing topics to study, choose a place to study, etc.

• Mind diagrams/map

Mind mapping is an exciting technique to store information in our brains. It all begins with visualization, where you visualize the graphs or a diagram in your mind and try to connect two images. Step by step connecting different images in your mind so, when you recall any one of them, all of them come floating to your mind.

• Teach someone

Teaching someone is the best form of revision. Teaching the study material to someone else requires you to prepare first. You will have to categorize the full information in your brain first to be able to teach someone. You will also need to ensure that it makes complete sense, and your friend will easily understand it. It is a proven fact that teaching boosts a student’s memory and recall.

• Pair-up with a study partner

This is another excellent way of learning efficiently. A good study buddy can help you stay on target. Some of the amazing benefits of having a study partner are:

• Remind each other about upcoming tests or assignments,
• Switch papers and grade each other,
• Can get notes for you on sick days, and
• Mutual motivation

5. Don’t burn yourself out

• Sleep well:

The majority of students believe sleep as a luxury than a necessity. But what do researchers say about it?

The study shows that if you get enough sleep, your mind works at optimum potential. It keeps you more focussed and helps you learn faster.

• Eat well

An average student is often pressed on time. They mostly prefer eating on the go. Any advice on eating healthy is not taken amicably by them. However, you fail to understand that eating healthy can help you in many ways. A well-balanced, healthy diet can make you feel better, boost memory, improves concentration, and you perform better inside and outside the classroom. So, remember these 5 golden rules about eating well.

• Eat a good breakfast
• Always have healthy snacks handy
• Drink lots of water
• Eat your veggies
• Most importantly enjoy your food

• Exercise well

Not just for the body, exercise is also very good for your brain. Exercise has a miraculous effect on your body and mind. If you think exercising daily is a tough task to achieve, then do it at least 3 times a week. If possible, play a sport which will fill in the need for exercise. A good workout makes you more energetic and helps you remember your lessons in a better manner.

Focus on the process, not the outcome

We know this was a long read, and you might be quite overwhelmed by now. Altogether, these 5 simple tricks may feel like a humongous task. However, if you start with one step at a time, these techniques will be part of your daily routine.

One bit of time is the key feature of practicing goal setting. There is a 99.9% chance you may start following all these exercises together and leave them soon when the initial excitement subsides.

During this process, don’t make scoring well in the exam your obsession. Education should be a constant pursuit of excellence rather than a one-time challenge. Don’t make your studies tedious and tiring; make it fun. We know that there is hard work involved, but we also know that you are also up for the challenge. So, all the best and we hope you will score your desired marks in all the exams.