1) Pace yourself. Cram studying rarely ever works. You need less study time if you break your studying up into many days. Find your sweet spot. Some people can only study for half an hour before feeling distracted and others can push through for an hour. Whatever your sweet spot is, a week of studying in a small time length is more impactful than a full day of studying non-stop.
2) Quit memorizing! Unless your test is to literally recite a memorized poem, stop trying to memorize information. Instead, learn concepts. Understand the foundation of those concepts and why they work. If you don’t understand enough about the concepts you are studying, google is your friend.
3) Teach others. The highest level of understanding a concept comes from teaching that concept to others. Don’t be afraid to study in a group and become a leader. As you teach your friends, you’ll realize that the topics become ingrained in your own mind.
4) Keep yourself accountable. If you plan on studying consistently, you need to have ways to be accountable to your daily study plan. Allow yourself a reward for staying on track, like video game time, watching a movie, etc. Withhold something fun until your studying is done if you are avoiding it (make sure it is a WANT, not a NEED like food, sleep, etc.).
5) Be humble. Don’t shy away from help. Ask your teacher questions and see if they have office hours or extra time to help you. Get tutoring or assistance from friends who are excelling at the topic you are struggling with. Look up videos that explain concepts in different ways. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Take every advantage you can when it comes to learning.
Don’t let studying become a waste of your time. Be efficient and effective in your methods so your studying gets the best result possible.