Psychology says STOP highlighting in books. Do THIS instead!

Toppers study smarter, not just harder. You might be wasting hundreds of hours of your life that you will never get back. Stop highlighting pages and pages with no real learning. Ever felt this looking back at your notes and books, all coloured in different neons, and saying to yourself, "Wow! I read and worked really hard, but I don't remember any of it." Then you have been studying the wrong way.

Well, that's because highlighting is not an effective way to study. It is a classic example of passive reading, where you feel you are doing something productive but actually aren't. Highlight only key terms, dates, formulas, and important facts. You may use different colours for different topics. However, research shows that it is not helping you actually learn anything. 

If you are studying for hours, highlighting your books and notes without any actual progress, then it's time to change your approach. Here is a proven technique that will psychologically hack your brain into learning more efficiently and studying like a topper.

Psychology says STOP highlighting in books. Do THIS instead! 

Stop studying like this. This is why nothing sticks. You are reading again and again, highlighting everything, and feeling productive.

Do this instead. STICKY NOTES. Sticky notes make studying more fun and easier. Some of the essential uses of sticky notes are summarising a topic in key points or bullets, jotting important definitions and formulas, and noting important points for revision.

Everytime an important fact emerges while reading, put a sticky note on that page on a corner with the important details and points. This is also a handy way of creating notes right from the source book. They are also easily removable.

You may also use the sticky notes as bookmarks. Sticky notes help you keep track of the important pages you have marked to come back to revise and look up while making notes. You may use different colour of sticky notes to colour code your chapters or subjects. 

Sticky notes also are a versatile study tool in noting down one per note. You may stick them on your walls, desk, or bathroom mirror even and quiz yourself while brushing your teeth. 

You may also arrange them to group related ideas, create a flow, or build connections between concepts. Plus, since you will be actively writing the important points on a note, it will strengthen your active recall.