The Halcyonite

For the first year ever, Halcyonite has created a DP Advice Corner! This is a space for MYP students to ask for advice from DP students about school life. Me and a fellow DP student picked out 8 questions from the submissions that we’ve received and came up with the following advice to help answer them. If you’re looking for advice on something you submitted yourself, it might be paraphrased or joined into another response. We hope everyone is able to learn something that they can bring to their life at Halcyon 🙂

Question 1: “What are some study strategies you use?”

Throughout the MYP, you will constantly adopt new study strategies and learn what works best for you and all your subjects. Personally, I use slightly different study strategies for each subject and I know the way I work is very different to how some of my friends work. Here’s some key points that are particularly helpful, however always explore how you work best and constantly reflect on how study strategies work for you. It’s good to explore now so that when you reach the DP you’re ready for the workload!

Scheduling

One of the best strategies is to plan out your work ahead of time. This will stop you from feeling overwhelmed and either working too hard or not setting out enough time to work during the week. I find weekly, subject specific schedules very helpful. I do this by setting out specific times in the week where I will work on specific subjects. This helps me form a routine and it means I generally give each subject a roughly equal amount of time per week. It is effective to have a weekly schedule, however you should also adjust this week by week so that you are able to complete all your assignments. An example would be maybe you work on mathematics every Sunday for 2 hours, however one week you have 4 hours worth of maths homework. In this circumstance, you will need to rearrange your schedule so that you can complete this in time and everything is still balanced. 

Top tips:

• Try to do this week-by-week scheduling at the beginning of the week; when you know what homework you have for that week. 
• Try evaluating what homework you have been assigned and what study you need to do every week. By doing this, you can allocate specific assignments to specific study sessions. 
• To complete your work in time, make sure when you are working through your plan you are focused on one specific, small task. If you are going through a very long assignment, leave yourself checkpoints that you can check off as you reach. If you have trouble concentrating, try switching tasks at these checkpoints. Maybe do a shorter task that you find less difficult, then come back to it when you’re more focused. 
• You should always be flexible with homework schedules and reshuffle your work through the week.  A lot can mess up your schedule: sometimes events come up, homework is added, etc. I personally need to re-plan my homework schedule at least twice throughout the week because there is always homework that takes longer than I anticipate it will.

If you plan your work well, it will feel more rewarding to finish work and it should help you order your week and workload. Schedules will also prevent you from running out of time for everything or needing to ask for extensions/working very late. 

Extra tips:

• Make sure to keep track of your homework all in one place
  • This way you can plan everything at once
  • Your slots for work might overlap if you are making homework plans at different times
  • You might forget about an assignment if you are making homework plans at different times
• Try to keep track of how long types of assignments normally take you
  • This will help you when deciding how much time to dedicate different types of work
  • You can categorise long, critical thinking tasks and shorter, more repetitive tasks
    • Or any other category you find more helpful
    • You can mix and match these so you don’t end up working on many long tasks on the same day

Workspace

When you are doing schoolwork, make sure it is in a space you work well in. Do not work in your room — especially not on your bed. It is very tempting and I know me and many other DP students do this, however I know that for most tasks I definitely do find it better to work somewhere else. Especially over lockdown. Try to find a space you can separate from home, so that you aren’t relaxing in the same space you work. It will help you focus while doing homework and help you relax while not working.

Also make sure to move all distractions away from your workspace. Move your phone into a different room, open up a new window on your computer/close all irrelevant tabs, don’t work somewhere with lots of people coming in and out or somewhere where there are people trying to talk to you. If it helps drown out distractions,  listen to some soft instrumental music on a low volume. Find a quiet space where you will be able to focus on your work. Make sure to work somewhere functional with room for everything you need — like your computer, notebook, etc. Try to find somewhere with a desk or table so you can lay out your work in front of you. If you don’t have a quiet, functional space at home: look for a local library or stay a little extra after school. You can get very creative with spaces to work, so explore many different accessible areas. You could even write a Halcyonite article about some creative spaces you find effective to work in 😉

Extra tips:

• Your work environment should be somewhere you feel relaxed, but not distracted
• In summer, working outside can be very psychologically beneficial
• If you get lonely while you study but have trouble focusing when you work with others (speaking from experience), bring a pet into your workspace to help you work without overly distracting you 

Breaks

In order to effectively complete homework, breaks are very important. By setting yourself a plan, you can also plan breaks in. Breaks should be well thought out and varied. Don’t watch YouTube or go on TikTok, take a break that will properly rest your mind. Something I learnt from 10th grade (especially over lockdown) is the importance of setting aside time to take successful breaks. If you’ve got a slot in your week where you have a short break, do something easy like go for a walk around the block or prepare yourself a snack. However, in bigger blocks, make sure to work on a passion. This could be something like sports or arts. Book a class or start a mini project. If you don’t have something you do weekly that’s completely separate from school: start searching now! MYP is a great time to discover what you really enjoy and what makes you feel happy. Aside from doing a passion for yourself, you should also try to meet up with others throughout the week outside of school. (Some of my introverted friends disagree with this but) I think it’s extremely beneficial to take some time to socialise and talk with friends or family. This can be a short walk with someone who lives nearby, but you should also try and continuously make fun plans with friends like doing a sport together or joining each other for lunch. You will feel so much more relaxed after taking these breaks and by focusing on something that’s not academic, you will feel much fresher and inspired when you come back to your schoolwork.

Extra tips:

• Always go outside at least 20 minutes a day
• Try to plan for at least one proper outing per week
  • This can be meeting up with someone, going out with family, attending a sports class
  • It doesn’t have to be expensive or very time consuming, just try to have something different that you can look forward to each week where you are completely taken away from schoolwork for some time
• Explore what you’re passionate about and try different things within that passion
• Prioritise happiness
  • No small school assignment is worth your health, always make sure you are happy about what you’re doing and have things in your life that bring you joy

Ask around!

This list was compiled by two DP students, but there’s an infinite network of people you could ask if you’re still unsure! I know many other DP students who would be thrilled to share their personal study strategies. Teachers are also always pleased to see students engaging with their learning and taking initiative in their education, many of them can give you subject-specific study tips. You can also just ask the people directly around you. I got many of these tips from classmates and family members and they’ve all now become part of my weekly routine. There are also infinite ideas and tips that can be found online.