Setting goals is a crucial part of planning effective revision! Here are some of my top tips to set smart goals to maximise the efficiency of your work:
Include specific tasks on your to-do list
Writing to-do lists is something I swear by and has greatly improved my productivity! However, sometimes they can be a bit useless if I am not very specific about what I want to achieve. For example, if I have written ‘revise for ___ module’, this task can seem very overwhelming and wouldn’t motivate me to make a start… in fact, it would probably have the complete opposite effect.
I find it useful to have headings on my to-do list, and then be specific underneath about exactly what I want to do.
For example, the heading may be ‘revise for ___ module’ and underneath I would write something like:
1. Complete flashcards number 1-15
2. Complete flashcards number 16-30
3. Make a memory mind-map from lecture 2
4. Make a summary table for lecture 3
5. Watch a YouTube video on ***
6. Watch a Picmonic on ***
I love that there are short Picmonics and short quizzes for each topic – this way it is easy to be specific in your to-do list about exactly what you want to achieve.
Breaking large tasks into small and more realistic chunks is a great way to set goals and keep yourself motivated.
Have an idea of how long each task will take you – and include this in your to-do list
It can sometimes be easy to make a to-do list that will take an unrealistically long time, or one that you could complete in a couple of hours (and end up spending the whole day on it!).
Writing down approximate time limits for each task can be really useful when setting yourself goals and can greatly improve your productivity – this way, you won’t end up rushing tasks but equally you won’t end up spending hours and hours on a task when you don’t need to.
Of course, sometimes your time estimates may be slightly off and it’s completely okay to be flexible with your to-do list, but I think writing time limits is great as a guide!
One feature of Picmonic that I love is that it tells you approximately how long each task will take – for example, a specific Picmonic animation may take 1-2 mins. This feature also applies to the daily quiz – I currently have 79 facts on my daily quiz and the estimated time for this is 20 mins!
Keep track of your progress and achievements
One of my favourite quotes is “Look how far you’ve come… and then keep going”.
It’s important to keep track of your achievements in order to set new goals – this will help you to know where you’re up to and what still needs to be done in the future and will also help you maintain motivation as you can see how far you’ve already come.
Ways to keep track of your achievements:
· Crossing things off your to-do list
· Have a list of all of the topics/lectures etc that you want to revise and place a tick next to them once you have done certain tasks. For example, I always make a big table with all of my lectures in and place a tick in different columns once I have achieved certain things for example making flashcards, making a summary, reviewing the flashcards etc
· Writing a list of everything you have achieved already – this is helpful for motivation and setting new goals!
· Journaling and reflecting on what you have achieved and how far you have come
· Tell family and friends your achievements
When revising, set goals to help you remember information long-term (not just short-term!)
I think one of the most important things about revision is to make sure you are revising to learn things long-term, rather than just short-term. This is especially important when revising throughout the year in preparation for exam season!
Two of the things I value the most when I comes to remembering things long-term are:
1. Active recall – testing yourself rather than passively reading over content
2. Spaced repetition – repeating tasks at regular intervals
Credit to Ali Abdaal for inspiring my revision methods!
I always incorporate active recall and spaced repetition into my schedule – so typically I’d test myself on my resource (e.g. flashcards or exam questions on a specific topic) and then re-test myself the day after, a few days later and then about a week later to help me to solidify the information. And then once I am feeling more confident, I go over them whenever I can fit it into my schedule. This is what works for me but I am flexible with my revision and it’s important to figure out what works best for you.
My tips for incorporating spaced repetition into your revision:
1. Review your notes/flashcards (using active recall – testing yourself on the information) straight after you have done them – this forms the basis for short-term retention which you can develop into long-term.
2. Have a list of all of your lectures/classes/topics and place a tick and the date next to it every time you have revised it – this helps to keep track of how often you are reviewing the content.
3. If you use a planner/diary, write tasks into it at regular intervals – for example, if I reviewed some flashcards on the 1st of February, I might also write in the same task for the 2nd, the 5th and the 12th of February to make sure I repeat it at regular intervals.
4. Use a resource that incorporates active recall and spaced repetition whilst automatically monitoring your progress, such as Picmonic.
Picmonic’s daily quiz uses spaced repetition which is a feature that I find so helpful!
· The tool identifies your weak areas and repeats these in the quizzes to ensure you correct your mistakes
· The algorithm schedules the information to be reviewed at the correct time for optimal long-term retention
· The spaced repetition quizzes aim to help you retain information for weeks, months, or even years
· Increasing intervals are used between the repetition of a question which helps to optimise retention of the information
· The Picmonic home screen includes a performance tracker to help you see your progress so far
Click here (or copy and paste the link below) for more information about how spaced repetition works and how Picmonic incorporates this.
This post was kindly sponsored by Picmonic, which is an amazing resource aimed at all healthcare students.
For more information about Picmonic, visit: https://www.picmonic.com/
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*This means I get a small percentage for every purchase made – but every product that I recommend is one that I think will be beneficial for my followers 😊
I hope this post was helpful! #ad #sponsored
Jasmine x
