How to study like a Topper.

Part 1 Cheat Sheet

Step #1. Manage Your Time in 5 Min/Day

• Jot down to-dos and deadlines on a list whenever they

arise.
• Transfer these to-dos and deadlines to your calendar every
morning.
• Plan your day each morning by labeling your to-dos with
realistic time frames and moving what you don’t have time for
to different dates.

Step #2. Declare War on Procrastination

• Keep a work progress journal, and every day record what
you wanted to accomplish and whether or not you
succeeded.
• When working, eat healthy snacks to maximize your energy.
• Transform horrible tasks into a big event to help you gather
the energy to start.
• Build work routines to make steady progress on your
obligations without expending too much of your limited
motivational resources.
• Choose your hard days in advance to minimize their impact.
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Step #3. Choose When, Where, and How
Long
• Try to fit as much work as possible into the morning and
afternoon, between classes and obligations.
• Study in isolated locations.
• Take a break every hour.

Part Two Cheat Sheet

Step #1. Take Smart Notes
• Always go to class and try to take the best notes possible.
• For nontechnical courses, capture the big ideas by taking
notes in the question/evidence/conclusion format.
• For technical courses, record as many sample problems
and answers as possible.

Step #2. Demote Your Assignments

• Read only the favored sources on the syllabus in detail. To
decide how much time to spend on supplemental sources,
remember the importance hierarchy:

Core books.
readings that describe an event or person, which are
more important than
readings that only provide context (i.e., speech
transcripts, press clippings).

• Take reading notes in the question/evidence/conclusion

format.
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• Work in groups on problem sets, solve problems on the go,
and write up your answers formally the first time.

Step #3. Marshal Your Resources

• Figure out exactly what the test will cover.
• Cluster your notes for nontechnical courses.
• Build mega-problem sets for technical courses.

Step #4. Conquer the Material

• Embrace the quiz-and-recall method. It’s the single most
efficient way to study.
• Spread out memorization over several days. Your mind can
do only so much at a time.

Step #5. Invest in “Academic Disaster

Insurance”
• Eliminate the question marks for topics covered in class or
from the reading that you don’t understand.

Step #6. “A+” Attempt

• Look over the whole test first.
• Figure out how much time you have to spend on each
question (leaving a ten-minute cushion at the end).
• Answer the questions in order of increasing difficulty.
• Use any and all leftover time to check and recheck your
work.

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