Studying is a pretty hot topic these days…though, to be fair, it’s a pretty hot topic almost ALWAYS…except for maybe the first week of school.

If your studying skills are a little less than ninja, it might be worth exploring some of these. Not everything is going to work for everybody (or in every situation), but the more tools you try, the more prepared you’ll be to tackle anything that comes!

Here are 17 proven strategies that will help you study like a pro!

When you’re learning at home, it’s common to feel pretty alone. You are, after all, SORT OF alone - there’s nobody else in the same room taking the course with you. This feeling of loneliness can sometimes feed the desperation to understand everything right away.

Are you totally screwed if you don’t understand everything when it’s first given to you? If you DO need help, how are you going to get it? You can’t necessarily get on the phone and ask a teacher to read the whole lesson to you and explain it.

This simple process will help you find comfort in the learning process and figure out when to get help.

In a classroom, you can just ask questions in the moment, and solve any little confusions before they become big misunderstandings. When you’re learning from home, however, those quick little hand raises are less easy to come by, and getting off track is certainly more possible.

Be patient - learning takes time, and it doesn’t take the same amount of time for everyone.

When you’re learning from home, it feels way more scary and alone when the thing in front of you doesn’t make sense. It’s only natural to feel defeated when you don’t understand everything right away…but it’s really not a sign of anything more than “this section is challenging”. You tackle challenges in a group setting, too, it’s just more convenient to ask questions there, and you have a visible team around you for support…so it SEEMS less daunting in that setting (if that’s what you’re used to).

When you’re learning from home, however, you get the opportunity to sit in that misunderstanding. While that in itself may seem like a negative, it is also of great benefit. You’re given the chance to work your way out of that hole - a process which will massively strengthen that knowledge in the first place. Confusion therefore doesn’t have to be a negative. Confusion is merely an obstacle that will add to your sense of accomplishment and understanding when things finally make sense!

Note-taking is one of those skills that’s not necessarily taught in school, but it’s somehow just assumed to be understood. Yes, in theory, you just pay attention and write down the important things…but how do you know what’s important? Why is it such a big deal to just use someone else’s notes? Don’t you only need to take notes during live sessions (aka the things that will disappear once they’re over)?

Many people assume notes are just a there to have something to study from…so if all of your materials are written down already in a textbook or something, it’s just a useless extra step. Why would you need things written out again when your textbook already explains everything?

There are two other useful side-effects of solid note-taking, though, and you’ll completely miss out on them if you skip this step in the process…

There’s no denying it - working alone in your room can be a lonely process. If you’re AT school or AT work, it’s just so much easier to find that community you crave!

How do you effectively combat the work-from-home blues?

Try these 13 ideas to stop you from withering away into the lonely, miserable cavern that is your room/home office.