Welcome to our Weekly Study Tip post! This week is about creating routines to build up your skills over time, showing real gains if you stick with them. This week we will be highlighting Microhabits as a technique to set you up for a productive workday, cultivate positive routines, and ultimately boost your performance in STEM courses.
You can check out our weekly YouTube video on this topic here! But here's some information below:
1. What are Microhabits?
Microhabits are small changes that you make to your daily life in order to see large gains later. They are simple and easy to accomplish, but over time, like investing your money, the returns build up exponentially.
2. Why are Microhabits Effective?
Microhabits work due to spaced repetition. This is when we intentionally study in shorter bursts with time in between to allow the material to settle effectively into our working and then long-term memories. TL;DR: the more we sleep between studying, the better we remember things!
3. The Two-Minute/Two-Problem Rule
It's really easy to do anything for two minutes, so start with that. Do two minutes of your habit - maybe that's reviewing your Anki flashcards for BIOL, or answering reading guide questions.
For problem-based courses like chemistry, math, or physics, do two problems. That's all! You'll often find that once you get started, it's easy to keep going, but just commit to two minutes a day.