15 tips that will help you become a better student this year

Do you want to become a better student this year?

We all have regrets. We wished we studied harder, taken our studies more seriously, or even stopped watching so many TikTok videos. These regrets are there to teach us an important life lesson. We can’t go back in time. If you’re reading this, then you probably didn’t do your best in this academic year and you want to become better. That alone is a huge step you’re about to take and I’m proud of you.

In this post, I will be sharing 15 tips that will help you to become a better student. They are simple changes you need to make and a few tips you have to follow. I’m about to share the secrets that helped me to finally become an A* student so make sure you read all the way to the end.

How to become a better student

1. Have a goal

Having a goal is what will keep you motivated. You should list down all your academic goals this year in a planner or an app like Notion and work every day towards achieving those goals. Some great examples of academics goals to work on could be:

• Get at least 5 As
• Study everyday
• Apply for internship 
• Improve GPA 
• Have a productive study group

These are just some typical goals but the list is endless. Find out what are the biggest issues you’re facing in your academic life and try to set your goals around them so that you can improve them. I have a detailed post on how to set great goals that you can achieve so make sure you check that out for tips.

2. Start planning 

I love planning. Planning is what helps your mind to stay clear and focused. When you plan your semester out, you will not feel overwhelmed and you will get a lot of things done in such a short period.

One of the most important things to plan is your week. How you want it to go and what you want to achieve that week should be written down. I wrote a detailed post on how to plan your most productive week ever here so make sure you check it out.

Planning out a study timetable will also help you a lot. You should give difficult courses more priority and those with more credit. Without a study timetable, you will find yourself reading a few courses more than the others probably because they are easier or you just enjoy the most but that’s very wrong as all courses are equally important. Having a study timetable will make sure you touch each course you’re offering every week and that way, you will not be lacking behind.

When it comes to planning the school year and my life in general, I use notion. I absolutely love how customizable it is and it makes planning so easy and fun. This is the current notion template I’m using and if you will like to learn more about notion, here is my aesthetic notion template for students and how to use notion as a student.

3. Give up on early morning sleep

This might be a deal-breaker for you but did you know that your brain works a lot better in the early morning? That is one of the best times to read and I will advise you to add that time to your study timetable.

When you wake up early, you have a lot more time in the day than those that wake up pretty late. I normally wake up around 6 am and the amount of things I get done within that period is unbelievable. It has also been proven that we are the most productive during that time of the day so why not utilize it fully? Here is a great post about 10 things you can do before 10 am if you need some inspiration.

4. Study every single day

This is self-explanatory. Studying every day will help you to stay up to date with all your course work and you will be more prepared than the rest when the exam period comes because you have been studying since the beginning of the semester.

You don’t have to make overwork yourself. Studying At least a page of your note each day is far better than studying nothing. We are all different when it comes to studying. Some can cover a lot of topics in a short time while others might take a whole week to cover just a topic and that’s completely okay. Figure out the kind of learner you are and work accordingly.

This is why a study timetable is very important. Make sure you create one.

5.Less outing 

If you go out every weekend to have fun, try and make it after every 2-3 weeks. The amount of time we spend outside alone is enough for us to do a lot. Don’t get me wrong, it is not a bad thing to go out. It’s a great way to relax and relieve yourself from all the stress but it shouldn’t be all the time.

Go out when you feel like you need to and not make it a routine to go out every weekend even if you don’t have anything to do.

6. Practice self-care

you are the most important person and you should always remember it’s not selfish to put yourself first. Take care of your body and mind. That’s why it’s always advisable to have a hobby. That could be painting, drawing, writing or anything that makes you happy. Don’t let school make you depressed. 

There is more to life than school and studying.

I have an entire day for self-care and that is Sunday. Here are some Sunday selfcare ideas and what I do during my lazy Sunday morning routine.

7. Stop spending a lot of time on your phone and laptop

Our phones and laptops consume so much of our time without us even realizing it. If you want to be a better student this year then you need to cut down the amount of time you spend on your phone and social media.

8. Stop skipping classes 

This should be number one! No matter how boring or useless you feel a class is, never skip it. The lecturers usually say a lot of important things that you will not find in your note and they usually reward marks to those that don’t skip their classes. It’s a very great way to gain extra points that will help you to boost your grade. Don’t you want that?

9. Change your reading environment 

Changing the reading environment will help you to feel more motivated to study. I love to study in a very very quiet environment so I always look for places where they are fewer people around like the garden or any open space.

10. Learn to prioritize 

you have to know what is more important to you and you should learn to work around those things. If you want to be a better student this year, then your college work should be one of your priorities. 

11. Have a study schedule

12. Start asking for help

13. Create a study group

14. Have routines

• Study routine
• lazy sunday morning routine
• Skincare routine
• Monthly reset routine

15. Take care of yourself

If you don’t choose a day to rest your body will choose it for you.

Final thoughts on how to become a better student

I hope you enjoyed this post and plan on making changes this year.

Which of these tip(s) are you going to try to help you become a better student? Let me know in the comments section below.

Don’t forget to share it on Facebook and Pinterest. It will mean a lot to me. Let’s help students from all over the world!