Summary: 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades by Thomas Frank

A brief, prag­mat­ic guide for schol­ars on enhanc­ing pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and study­ing more effi­cient­ly by expe­ri­enced stu­dent-suc­cess author, Thomas Frank of Col­lege Info Geek.

STEP 1 – BE MORE ATTENTIVE IN CLASS

Avert exhaus­tion by main­tain­ing good health:

• Eat nutri­tious meals 90% of the time.
• Engage in reg­u­lar exercise.
• Ensure a min­i­mum of 6 hours of sleep every night.

Par­tic­i­pate with intent and act con­scious­ly in class:

• Occu­py a seat at the front.
• Con­tribute to class discussions.
• Take copi­ous notes.

Take ample notes by dis­cov­er­ing meth­ods to com­pel your­self to do so:

• Make an inter­nal commitment.
• Estab­lish a note-shar­ing study group.
• Uti­lize a habit-track­ing tool (like Habitica).
• Pub­li­cize your notes.

Reduce willpow­er-deplet­ing hin­drances by prepar­ing in advance:

• Achieve next year’s lodg­ing arrange­ments 7 – 8 months beforehand.
• Orga­nize for the next day the pre­vi­ous evening (charge devices, pack bags, syn­chro­nize files).
• Employ notes (phys­i­cal and dig­i­tal) and alarms to prompt your attentiveness.

Be solu­tion-focused but uti­lize the Professor’s office hours if you are gen­uine­ly stuck:

• Ini­tial­ly, chal­lenge your­self for 15 min­utes to solve a problem.
• Through­out that time, doc­u­ment all your attempts to resolve the issue.
• Only then, if you are still stuck, should you seek help.
• But not before hav­ing a clear response to the query:
  “What is it [pre­cise­ly] that I don’t com­pre­hend?”         

STEP 2 – MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE NOTES

Tran­scrib­ing word for word will divert you from ded­i­cat­ing time to com­pre­hend­ing the content.

Instead, con­cen­trate more on the essence than the expres­sion when tak­ing notes

Explore the fol­low­ing 5 note-tak­ing tech­niques to assist:

1. The Out­line Method– a con­ven­tion­al hier­ar­chi­cal approach. 
   • Uti­lize bul­lets and sub-bul­lets to orga­nize your notes
   • Advan­tages: sim­ple to implement.
   • Dis­ad­van­tages: can lead to thought­less note-tak­ing (see above).
2. The Cor­nell Method– divide each page into three columns: 
   • Cue col­umn– Ques­tions derived from the main ideas and vital details.
   • Note-tak­ing col­umn– Con­tains your reg­u­lar notes dur­ing class.
   • Sum­ma­ry col­umn– End of class sum­ma­ry of your notes column.
   • Advan­tages: orga­nizes notes for effi­cient study­ing as you take them.
3. The Mind Map Method (a superb web app is Coggle) 
   • Pen down a sin­gu­lar “umbrel­la term” in the mid­dle of a blank page.
   • Write words sur­round­ing it that elab­o­rate on the idea and addi­tion­al words around those.
   • Employ lines, col­ors, doo­dles, and dia­grams to link all the words.
4. The Flow Method– a holis­tic approach that com­pels active note-tak­ing and is best used for sub­jects where ideas nat­u­ral­ly connect. 
   • Jot down impor­tant terms as they arise.
   • Con­nect them with arrows to dis­play connections.
   • Syn­the­size things in your own words (avoid repetition).
   • Cre­ate back­links to ear­li­er sec­tions of your notes
5. The “Write on Slides” Method– anno­tate your slides instead of jot­ting sep­a­rate notes (ensure to remain engaged and don’t become sluggish!).

STEP 3 – EXTRACT MORE FROM YOUR TEXTBOOKS

Refuse to cov­er all your des­ig­nat­ed reading.

• Many top­ics will be addressed in class; and
• You won’t be exam­ined on a con­sid­er­able portion.

Instead, assess your class­es and par­ti­tion your read­ing into:

• Pri­ma­ry read­ings– mate­ri­als you must peruse (such as the gen­er­al­ly oblig­a­tory text­book); and
• Sec­ondary read­ings– mate­ri­als it would be ben­e­fi­cial to read (com­pact books, arti­cles, case stud­ies etc…).

Adjust your read­ing approach to the method your knowl­edge will be assessed e.g.,

• Mul­ti­ple Choice– Mas­ter facts and pre­cise details; or
• Essays– Detect and sum­ma­rize the prin­ci­pal ideas.

Read active­ly, not pas­sive­ly uti­liz­ing these 6 strategies:

• Pseu­do-skim– Quick­ly move through filler text, slow down for the cru­cial content.
• Read the chap­ter back­ward– Ini­ti­ate your brain with any sum­ma­ry points, glos­saries, and questions.
• Cre­ate ques­tions– While read­ing, rephrase the details into ques­tions you can uti­lize to quiz your­self later.
• Pay atten­tion to for­mat­ting– e.g., bold, ital­ics, and lists
• Mark up and take notes in your book– Employ sticky flags if you can­not deface the book, alter­na­tive­ly use a pen­cil or highlighter.

Write syn­opses of what you read as if you were instruct­ing it to others.

• Sum­ma­rize what you’ve just read from mem­o­ry prompt­ly after com­ple­tion (active recall).
• Sim­pli­fy it and eval­u­ate your under­stand­ing by envi­sion­ing teach­ing it to some­one else.

STEP 4 – STRATEGIZE LIKE A COMMANDER

Dis­tin­guish plan­ning from executing.
This will enable you to con­cen­trate on car­ry­ing out tasks with­out hes­i­ta­tion ren­der­ing you more efficient.

Devise and revise a long-term plan for your edu­ca­tion from the beginning.

Sched­ule your week on a Sun­day and align your tasks with your vital­i­ty levels:

1. Com­pile a list of aca­d­e­m­ic and non-aca­d­e­m­ic oblig­a­tions for the week.
2. Cat­e­go­rize those activ­i­ties by “High” and “Low” cog­ni­tive-inten­si­ty work.
3. Orga­nize and adjust your tasks through­out the week based on your ener­gy levels.
4. Famil­iar­ize your­self with your typ­i­cal peak ener­gy times and adapt accordingly.

Plan your day the pri­or evening or first thing in the morning:

1. Review your sched­ule and task lists.
2. Cre­ate a list of tasks that need to be accom­plished the next day.
3. Pri­or­i­tize your list by plac­ing the most cru­cial activ­i­ties at the top depend­ing on: 
   • Pos­i­tive impact– What will pro­pel you clos­est to your objectives?
   • Neg­a­tive impact– What will pre­vent your life from descend­ing into chaos?
   • Willpow­er– What will demand the most willpow­er to finish?
4. Esti­mate the dura­tion required for each task (adjust for your fudge ratio*)
5. Com­bine this with your start­ing time to estab­lish a tar­get end for the day.
6. Com­mence from the top of the list and progress down.

* To deter­mine your fudge ratio (the amount you tend to under­es­ti­mate timings):

1. Esti­mate your task dura­tions for the day (e.g., task A: 1 hour).
2. Record your actu­al times (e.g., task A: 1h 37 mins).
3. Divide your actu­al times by your esti­ma­tions (97 mins / 60 mins = x1.62).
4. Uti­lize your fudge ratio to refine your estimates.
5. Rely on your intu­ition once you have a bet­ter grasp on set­ting durations.

Decon­struct projects by:

1. Seg­ment­ing the project into tasks.
2. Group­ing the tasks into contexts.
3. Deter­min­ing exact­ly how and when you will allo­cate resources to them.

STEP 5 – CREATE A SUPERIOR STUDY ENVIRONMENT

Inten­tion­al­ly craft your sur­round­ings to reduce obstacles.

• Enhance your loca­tion and back­ground music.
• Decrease phys­i­cal and tech­no­log­i­cal diversions.

Regard­ing location:

• Oper­ate in spaces where oth­er indi­vid­u­als are also engaged (e.g., libraries, cof­fee shops, and col­lab­o­ra­tive areas).
• Explore uncon­ven­tion­al options (e.g., par­tic­i­pate in inten­sive work­shops or ded­i­cate week­ends to a spe­cif­ic subject).

For music: exper­i­ment to deter­mine what is most effec­tive for you…

• Sam­ple var­i­ous music gen­res for dif­fer­ent tasks.
• Test white, pink, or brown noise.
• Try ambi­ent sounds (e.g., rain, cof­fee shop ambiance, etc.).
• Com­bine them for a unique blend.

To min­i­mize real-world disturbances:

• Avoid dis­rup­tive envi­ron­ments – As men­tioned ear­li­er, this is a mat­ter of per­son­al preference.
• Avoid dis­tract­ing indi­vid­u­als – Col­lab­o­rat­ing with friends may not always be beneficial.
• Learn to decline to engage in enjoy­able activities.
• Make it chal­leng­ing for oth­ers to reach out to you (refer to above and below).

To reduce dig­i­tal diver­sions: estab­lish bar­ri­ers that make pro­cras­ti­na­tion more trou­ble­some than productive:

• For your mobile device: 
  • Pow­er it down.
  • Dis­able most notifications.
  • Enable the “do not dis­turb” mode.
• For your computer: 
  • Uti­lize appli­ca­tions like Stay­Fo­cusd (Chrome), Focal­Fil­ter (Win­dows), Cold­Turkey (Win­dows), or Self­Con­trol (Mac) to block access to time-con­sum­ing websites.
  • Unin­stall time-con­sum­ing appli­ca­tions (e.g., games).
  • Hide the book­marks tool­bar in your browser.
  • Cre­ate a sep­a­rate user pro­file on your com­put­er for work-relat­ed activities.
  • Uti­lize a dif­fer­ent com­put­er alto­geth­er (e.g., in a com­put­er lab­o­ra­to­ry) to com­plete your tasks.

STEP 6 – COMBAT DISORDER AND MAINTAIN STRUCTURE

Arrange your files effectively:

1. Install and set up Drop­box/Google Dri­ve – allow­ing access to your files from anywhere.
2. Estab­lish an orga­nized fold­er sys­tem – orga­nize your life into log­i­cal sec­tions initially.
3. Cre­ate your uni­ver­si­ty fold­er – cat­e­go­rize it by year > class > assign­ments, and include addi­tion­al sec­tions for clubs.

Estab­lish a swift method for cap­tur­ing ideas using tools such as a phys­i­cal note­book or appli­ca­tions like Drafts (iOS), Ever­note, Scan­bot, Trel­lo, Google Cal­en­dar, Todoist, or Pinboard.

Employ Ever­note (or Drop­box) as a sec­ondary resource.

Use a task man­age­ment tool: “Select a task man­ag­er that aligns with your preferences.”

Some viable options include: Wun­derlist, Remem­ber the Milk, Google Tasks, Todoist, Pro­ducteev, Omni­fo­cus, and Asana.

Com­bat dis­or­der and resis­tance by uti­liz­ing a check­list to main­tain orga­ni­za­tion with­in your life and sys­tems each week.

STEP 7 – OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION

Refuse to suc­cumb to pro­cras­ti­na­tion by adding “but I am going to do it any­ways” after say­ing, “I don’t feel like it.”

The Pro­cras­ti­na­tion Equa­tion is a valu­able way to approach moti­va­tion. It suggests:

• Moti­va­tion= (Expectan­cy x Val­ue) / (Impul­sive­ness x Delay) where
• Expectan­cy– your per­ceived like­li­hood of suc­ceed­ing in the task;
• Val­ue– how much the reward means to you;
• Impul­sive­ness– your sus­cep­ti­bil­i­ty to dis­trac­tions; and
• Delay– the time required to obtain the reward.

To boost motivation:

1. Acknowl­edge when you are procrastinating.
2. Iden­ti­fy the aspect of the equa­tion that is lacking.
3. Resolve the issue. For instance, 
   • Enhance expectan­cy – refine your con­fi­dence in accom­plish­ing the task;
   • Enhance the task’s val­ue – ampli­fy the reward or make the process more gratifying;
   • Min­i­mize impul­sive­ness – bet­ter evade dis­trac­tions (ref­er­ence tip 5); and
   • Embrace delay – reward your­self with small treats (e.g., chocolate).

Cul­ti­vate pos­i­tive habits with Habitica

• Your willpow­er has limits.
• Habits enable you to act with­out exert­ing willpower.
• Con­struct­ing ben­e­fi­cial habits sim­pli­fies dai­ly commitment.
• Habit­i­ca facil­i­tates habit-build­ing by ren­der­ing it enjoy­able and communal.

Grant your­self the flex­i­bil­i­ty to con­sol­i­date enjoy­able activ­i­ties (e.g., games, social media) into con­cen­trat­ed inter­vals that moti­vate you to com­plete your tasks.

Adopt the Pomodoro tech­nique to con­cen­trate sole­ly on the forth­com­ing 25 minutes:

1. Com­mit to a sin­gle task.
2. Set a 25-minute timer.
3. Uti­lize the time efficiently.
4. Take a brief 3 – 5‑minute break.

Make pro­cras­ti­na­tion (fail­ing) unpleas­ant using tools like Beeminder

STEP 8 – STUDY STRATEGICALLY

Pre­pare for assess­ments by sim­u­lat­ing test con­di­tions dur­ing your study ses­sions. To do this:

1. Col­lect your mate­ri­als – syl­labus, hand­outs, notes, assign­ments, textbooks.
2. Iden­ti­fy the like­ly test top­ics – pri­or­i­tize these in your study plan.
3. Cre­ate study aids for each top­ic – devise ques­tions that test your recall on the subject.
4. Engage in study­ing – draft respons­es to the questions.
5. Quiz your­self – prac­tice until answer­ing those ques­tions under test con­di­tions is effortless.

Pri­or­i­tize active learn­ing over pas­sive learning.

• Pas­sive learn­ing – expos­ing your­self to mate­r­i­al and hop­ing for absorption.
• Active learn­ing – chal­leng­ing your­self to rec­ol­lect infor­ma­tion inde­pen­dent­ly through testing.

Uti­lize spaced rep­e­ti­tion (see Anki) to enhance learn­ing effectiveness.

• Encour­ages recall specif­i­cal­ly when reten­tion is like­ly to falter.
• Focus­es on rein­forc­ing knowl­edge in areas where improve­ment is required.

For dis­ci­plines like Mathematics:

1. Rec­og­nize con­fu­sion pat­terns – pin­point uncer­tain­ties (refer to step 1), and address gaps by work­ing on prob­lem sets.
2. Com­pre­hend, not mem­o­rize – per­sis­tent­ly dis­sect con­cepts until reach­ing moments of clar­i­ty, and assess under­stand­ing by explain­ing con­cepts to others.
3. Embrace the prac­tice – Mas­ter con­cepts by solv­ing numer­ous problems.

STEP 9 – ENHANCE YOUR ESSAY WRITING SKILLS

1. Con­duct an unstruc­tured brain­storm­ing ses­sion – Com­pile knowl­edge, ques­tions, key points, sources, and quotes.
2. Devel­op a focus and for­mu­late ques­tions to address – Break down your research and pro­vide it with direction.
3. Main­tain a sys­tem­at­ic and focused research approach
   • Source mate­ri­als – Ref­er­ence Wikipedia, text­books, and Google Schol­ar for research outlets.
   • Cre­ate a per­son­al archive – Save or scan con­tent to plat­forms like Ever­note or Dropbox.
   • Anno­tate the sources – Sum­ma­rize read­ings with notes link­ing back to spe­cif­ic page references.
   • Decide on com­ple­tion – Con­clude once you have at least two sup­port­ing facts for each main point.
4. Write a rough ini­tial draft – Trans­fer your ideas onto paper with­out reser­va­tions, prefer­ably in a sep­a­rate doc­u­ment or appli­ca­tion like Ever­note or Byword (Mac, iOS).
5. Thor­ough­ly edit – Sup­ple­ment nec­es­sary details, rearrange con­tent, rec­ti­fy errors by evaluating: 
   • Is there a cohe­sive nar­ra­tive flow?
   • Are the pri­ma­ry ideas clear, per­ti­nent, and effec­tive­ly delivered?
   • Do the sec­tions sub­stan­ti­ate the cen­tral theme?
   • Is there enough research to val­i­date the facts provided?
   • Could I elim­i­nate or express it differently?
6. Enhance the writ­ing– Ver­i­fy spelling, gram­mar, lay­out, tem­po, and con­ti­nu­ity by: 
   • Print the paper and iden­ti­fy the mis­takes manually.
   • Read the paper vocal­ly to yourself.
   • Observe your fre­quent mis­takes (e.g., spelling, punctuation).
7. Request feed­back from pro­fes­sion­als and non-professionals.
   • Select each poten­tial eval­u­a­tor once only.
   • Spec­i­fy the type of feed­back (elab­o­rate, over­all view) you need.
8. Per­form a final inspec­tion– Ques­tion your­self “Is it pre­pared?” When you are con­tent, release it.

STEP 10 – ENHANCE GROUP PROJECTS LESS DULL

Uti­lize the ini­tial gath­er­ing effectively:

• Famil­iar­ize all group members
  • Engage in casu­al con­ver­sa­tion and exhib­it gen­er­al amiability.
  • Col­lect names, phone num­bers, emails – dis­trib­ute these to the whole team dur­ing the meeting.
  • Encour­age every­one to share insights about them­selves (strengths, weak­ness­es, pref­er­ences, aversions).
• Estab­lish tar­gets and antic­i­pa­tions – “When unsure, lead the way.” 
  • For­mu­late and arrange check­points for the project.
  • Assign each duty to a par­tic­u­lar indi­vid­ual based on capa­bil­i­ties and incli­na­tions (nev­er pre­sume a task will be completed).
  • Sched­ule the sub­se­quent meeting.
• Con­struct robust com­mu­ni­ca­tion path­ways– explore Slack

Des­ig­nate an edi­tor whose respon­si­bil­i­ty is to com­pile and inte­grate all com­plet­ed segments.

Employ excep­tion­al tools to stream­line tasks:

• Trel­lo– For mon­i­tor­ing and assign­ing tasks.
• Slack– For team interaction.
• Google Docs– For con­cur­rent doc­u­ment collaboration.

FINALE – WHAT TO DO NEXT

1. Select 1 – 2 key focal points.
2. Doc­u­ment a tar­get for that realm.
3. Cre­ate a plan of action to accom­plish it.
4. Com­mence!