You know what I like to do first thing in the morning?
After using the bathroom and knocking back a glass of water, I like to have a strong shot of espresso.
It gets me going, perks me up, and gets me ready for the day ahead.
In my weaker moments, I’ve often been known to drag my sleepy ass from my bed, shuffle over to the coffee machine, and bring my espresso shot back to my comfy bed with me.
I want you to have a shot right in the morning too.
But not a shot of coffee.
I’m talking about a shot of information.
A Study Shot.
You open your eyes and before you’ve even gotten out of bed, have a piece of information that you want to learn at hand.
It might be on your phone or written on a flashcard and left by your bed.
It could be a date you need to memorise, an equation, a fragment of poetry, or a fact.
Just ONE thing.
Grab it, gulp it down, and then you can get on with your day.
I like to take the things I’m struggling with the most and put them on flashcards waiting by my bed so I can knock them back each morning.
When I was learning the main Japanese kanji (over 2,000 complex characters integral to the Japanese writing system), there would always be a few characters I could never remember. Those were the ones I specifically put on flashcards and I had a shot of one first thing each morning.
By doing one thing you’re struggling with immediately in the morning, you make sure you remember it better (the primacy effect) and you ensure you kick your day off right.
No matter what you do that day, you know you’ve already studied one difficult thing – and you haven’t even gotten out of bed!
This sets the tone for the rest of the day.
You can now brush your teeth and make breakfast with your mind focused and aimed right at your studies.
Have a nightcap.
In addition, to a study shot, try having a study nightcap.
During my first year of university, my friends and I had a nightcap every night.
We were obsessed with single malt whiskey.
We went to whiskey tasting and each month we pooled our money to buy a new single malt, which we treasured and savoured together.
It was a lot of fun, but I’m not asking you to have that kind of nightcap.
This nightcap will not leave you with a pounding head in the morning.
This is a study nightcap.
In much the same way that you had a piece of information ready to gulp down first thing in the morning, you will also have some information (perhaps the same information as the morning shot) ready by your bed.
Instead of gulping this down, you’re going to savour this.
Run your eyes over what you need to learn.
Take it in.
Appreciate it.
Absorb it.
Say it out loud.
Say it off by heart.
Think about how it connects to your life or anything else you’ve learned.
Treat this one piece of information like a precious malt whiskey and really enjoy it.
You will then have a nice sleep and allow your unconscious mind to integrate it, absorb it, and work on it.
But man can’t live on shots and nightcaps alone.
Have a study sandwich too.
I got the awesome name “study sandwich” from polyglot and Japanese teacher George Trombley.
This is what a study sandwich looks like:
- 20 minutes of study first thing in the morning.
- 20 minutes of study last thing at night.
Literally the first thing you do when you wake up (after the bathroom and a glass of water maybe) and the last thing you do before you go to sleep.
Set the timer and make sure you ONLY study for these 20 minutes.
You want focused intensity.
This means for those 20-minute sessions….
- No texting.
- No Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
- No scrolling through news sites or clickbait websites.
By doing this, you will take advantage of your brain soaking up the information when it’s most absorbent and rested (i.e. when you wake up).
You will also give you brain the information right before you sleep so your brain can process it and store it throughout the night.
This is the quickest way to get info into your head.
It also takes advantage of anchoring the habit of study to two distinct times in the day.
I’ve always done this technique.
I did this for my studies at Oxford University.
And I’m currently doing this for my language learning studies.
I suggest you try it out too and let me know how it works for you.
By the way, this was an excerpt from my book 50 Life-Changing Study Hacks.
Want to see a bunch of other study tips to help you learn faster?
Tell me where’s good to send it and I’ll email it to you for free.
