10/8/21, 1:28 AM 7 Habits Of Highly Successful Students: Effective Study Habits For College & High School - Exam

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7 Habits Of Highly Successful

Students: Effective Study Habits For
College & High School
by William Wadsworth | May 24, 2019

by William Wadsworth

The Cambridge-educated memory psychologist &

study coach on a mission to help YOU ace your
exams. Helping half a million students in 175+
countries every year to study smarter, not
harder. Supercharge your studies today with our
time-saving, grade-boosting “genius” study
tips sheet.

I had a long car journey the other day, and used it listen to the
audiobook for “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. It’s sold
over 25 million copies, and has been named one of the most
influential books of all time.

In it, Dr Stephen Covey, set out to distil hundreds of years of the

“success literature” – from the memoirs of Benjamin Franklin to the
findings of psychologists to what people think about on their
deathbeds – to figure out what are the fundamental character traits
that make people successful in their careers, and in life generally.

His list makes for pretty interesting reading (or listening),

and it set
me thinking. From my own years spent reviewing the literature

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about
what makes an academically successful and well-adjusted
student, from education
psychology to learning science, what would
the “Seven Habits of Highly
Successful Students” be?

If you happen to be familiar with Stephen Covey’s original seven

“habits”, you’ll spot some overlap – but there are also quite a few in
here which are unique to the circumstances students of all ages find
themselves in.

I’d love to know what you think – if you think there’s

something
missing, let me know in the comments.

For context – Stephen Covey’s original “seven habits” summarised:

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PE…

PE…

If you’re intrigued and want your own copy of the original, it’s
available here, otherwise let’s dive into my version of the Seven
Habits of Highly Successful Students: Effective Study Habits for
College and High School.

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1.    
They’re proactive
Successful students are architects of their own destiny: success isn’t
something that passively happens to them, it’s something they take
actively responsibility for, working proactively towards their goals.

They plan ahead, reducing risk and stress by avoiding last-minute

panics before assignments and night-before cramming for tests.

2.    
They know where they’re going…
Successful students have a plan for the future. This doesn’t
necessarily mean having an entire career mapped out in detail, but
certainly some firm ideas for for where they want to be in 2-3 years’
time. What do you want to be studying? Where do you want to go to
University? What do you need to achieve now to make that possible?

To answer these questions, it may be helpful to look further into the

future: what kind of life do you want to be leading in 20 years? What
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qualifications do you need to earn or skills do you need to cultivate

to get you there?

3.    
… And they focus on getting there
Successful students put first things first: prioritising
long-term
ambition over having fun in the moment. That doesn’t mean never
hanging out with friends, watching
TV or gaming, it just means
putting things in the proper order, doing studies
first, and relaxing
when the work is done.

And when they are studying, they avoid distractions and turn
the
phone off, to fully focus on the task at hand – as a result, often
getting assignments
done quicker as well as to a better standard.

4.    
They persevere
Successful students are “gritty” [book]: deploying deliberate,
sustained effort to get to grips with things that seem tough at first.

They use aspirational language [book] when talking to themselves or

others: “I can’t” becomes “I can’t yet”. They know there is always
room for growth, for barriers to be climbed.

5.    
They study smart
Successful students spend the bulk of their study and revision time
on high-quality learning techniques [book]. In particular, they use
retrieval practice [article], which means learning by bringing
information to mind, using a spaced learning schedule [article] to
revisit knowledge over time.

They know that these techniques may take a bit more effort than
lower-quality techniques like re-reading, highlighting or making
notes, but they know their efforts will be richly rewarded on results
day.

6.    
They’re helpful
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Successful students know that a rising tide lifts all boats: they make
good, supportive classmates, exchanging handy resources and
always happy to try and explain a tricky concept to a friend.

They also help their teachers by being open about what they still
don’t understand, despite making best efforts independently.

7.    
They sharpen the saw
Time invested sharpening a saw is time well spent: the tool
becomes
more effective, and it’s far easier to cut wood as a result. Without
any time looking after mind and body, any student, like a saw, will
gradually become
blunt and ineffective.

Successful students therefore take time to look after themselves, so

they can continue to be effective, day after day, year after year. That
means looking after physical health: eating a balanced, nutritious
diet; getting exercise through the week; and having a regular bed-
time to get enough sleep. That also means looking after mental and
emotional health, having some time to unwind, and cultivating kind,
warm relationships with family and friends.

Higher grades, less sweat

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Of all of these Seven Habits, I believe the one that can make the
biggest impact – virtually overnight – to the majority of students is
#5: study smart. Switching to effective study methods and better
revision techniques has been proven, over and over again, to have a
profoundly positive impact on grades achieved.

Even when students know about principles like retrieval practice,

they often don’t apply them well.

Fortunately, we have some detailed information to get you started:

check out our article on smart study methods and how to use
retrieval practice like a pro to set you on the right track right away.

About Latest Posts

William Wadsworth Follow me:

Founder and Director of Learning Science at Exam
Study Expert

William Wadsworth is a Cambridge University educated psychologist

and learning science researcher. He got top 0.01% exam results in
the UK as a student over 10 years ago, and ever since has been
obsessed with helping subsequent generations of students ace their
exams, through the science of studying smarter, not harder. Half a
million students in 150+ countries follow his advice through this site
and the Exam Study Expert podcast, and he’s the best-selling author
of the “ingenious” guide to test-taking strategy, Outsmart Your
Exams. To get in touch with William, including to find out more about
his transformational 1:1 coaching sessions, please click here.

4 Comments
Abhi on 31 Aug 2021 at 6:43 am

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This is the post I’m looking for. A well-written and useful

article.

Reply

maheshsea on 20 Jan 2021 at 10:22 am

Thanks for sharing the significant information. It helped

me and will help others a lot. Nice.. …

Reply

Anna Foxter on 13 Oct 2020 at 4:50 pm

I do not think that there are many such students. Still,

few people have all 7 habits. But the most important
thing is to know your goal and go to it. Planning is the
basis for success.

Reply

William Wadsworth on 13 Oct 2020 at 6:53 pm

Ha, yes! It’s definitely a rare young man / woman

that does all 7 of these brilliantly – I know it
sounds like an intimidating list, but I actually think
life gets easier the more of these habits you
stack…

They work well in tandem, together, as a complete

system – e.g. “sharpen the saw” gives you the
energy to work towards a goal, “focus on getting
there” and “persevere” makes sure you stay the
course, “know where they’re going” makes sure it’s
the right goal, and “study smart” shows them how
to get to that destination via the fastest route.

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