Learning. Life.

Test season is upon us again! This is the first in a series of posts to help you study easier, not harder.

The single best thing you can do to study easier is to learn using your own preferred learning style.

Are you visual? Do you learn best from pictures, color and shape?

Maybe you’re auditory – you learn best by listening?

How about read/writing – from looking at words, and/or writing them?

Or kinaesthetic – you learn best by doing something always?

When learning to do something physical, like use a hammer or a computer, doing it is the best way. But when given a choice, would you prefer to dive in and do it, or maybe talk about it, read about it or look around first?

Have a think about the things you choose to do in your spare time – do they involve looking at things or creating images; listening to people or music; reading or writing; or doing things? You may have two or more preferred styles, or you may have a significant preference for one style.

Your preferred style doesn’t mean you can’t learn in the other ways – just that you’ll learn easiest and best in your preferred way. I’m highly auditory, so I learn best by going to classes and from discussions. Skipping class is therefore a really bad idea for me. I remember something I’ve heard much better than something I’ve just read (although I have a secondary preference for reading and writing). I certainly remember words better than images, because I’m not at all visual.

On the other hand, my husband is visual and kinaesthetic. Because learning styles have a wider impact than just in study, this creates interesting problems for us!

Take this learning styles test to find your own learning style, then browse the information on the website to find out more about how you learn best, and how to do that when studying for a test.

In the next few posts we’ll get in to what you can actually do to study easier, not harder.