Good study habits
S.S.M.R: Measurement

Measurement is the key to developing good study habits.  We all like to believe that we'll remember accurately what we've done and how well we've done it.  Unfortunately it seldom happens that way.  Often we tend to remember things as being a bit better than they actually were.

If you want to have good study habits you need to measure!

Starting to Measure

Measurement ensures that you get an accurate picture of how well you are doing as you progress through your studies.  It lets you see and feel progress and success really helping to keep you motivated.

However measurement is not just about tests and checking that you can answer questions correctly.  To use measurement to its fullest effect you need to use it to ensure you are developing good study habits.

If you've been following SSMR you should have developed a strategy and a study plan already.  These plans are great for ensuring that you have good study habits.  However as the term progresses you'll find that you'll forget what you did at the start of the term.

You need put in place measurements that will ensure that you are progressing at the right rate through your plan.  This is really quite simple to achieve.

Start with your study plan for an individual topic.  You should have that list broken down into an effective task list of topics to work your way through.

Week	Topic part	Hours scheduled	Hours completed
1	Differentiation basics	1 hour
1	Derivatives	2 hours
1	Continuity	1 hour
1	Higher level derivatives	1 hour
2	Notation	1 hour
2	Proofs	3 hours
2	Newton	1 hour

You can see that I've built a sample table which lists the topic parts and which week they'll be undertaken.  To the side I've added a column that shows the hours scheduled and one that shows the hours completed.  You will have planned the number of hours scheduled for a topic which is the figure shown in that column.  All you need to do is complete the hours completed column every time you complete some study.

This table will really help to enforce study habits.  By filling in the table you are committing to completing that amount of work on a topic.  When you fill in the hours completed you immediately become aware of your position.

Interpret Your Measures

If you've completed less hours than planned then it's probably safe to think that you might need to put in more hours.  This might not always be the case.  It is always possible that the topic was easier than you imagined.  The topic being easy, however,  is likely to be the exceptional situation rather than the normal situation.

If you've completed more hours than planned then it is probably safe to think that the topic was harder for you than imagined.  If that's the case you should take the information and ensure that you add in extra plans for reinforcement.

Good study habits don't happen by chance.  You need to work hard to develop them.  Taking time to measure how you are doing against your plan will make a big impact on your success.

Remember that measuring the time spent studying is only one aspect of measuring.  I deal with some of the others in the second page on good study habits.