Accelerate Your Grades the Easy Way
Learning how to accelerate your grades ahead of the Leaving Cert exam next June isn’t rocket science and might actually be easier than you think.
Very often, bad study habits prevent us from reaching our full potential but the solution is easy:
Change your habits to change your results
In our signature study skills programme, the 6-Week Academic Fast-Track, we teach Leaving Cert students a wide range of evidence-based study methods that are proven to improve memory retention, cognition and exam performance but we always begin by re-examining our study habits to see what areas of our routine can be tweaked to achieve better results.
And the best part is, this process takes minimal effort.
Not sure where to start? Download our free Study Habit Checklist to find out exactly what habits you need to tweak to get better results.
5 Simple Steps to Accelerate your Grades
If you want to learn how to accelerate your grades the easy way, here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Write down a list of everything you know you should be doing but are currently not doing.
Step 2: Pick ONE item from that list that you’d like to implement into your study routine.
Step 3: Write down your intention to incorporate that item into your routine (studies show that you are significantly more likely to be successful if you write it down). For example, you might say something like:
“My intention is to make a study plan every Sunday evening for the week ahead.”
“My intention is to turn my phone off every evening before I sit down to study and do my homework.” This is a good one!
“My intention is to study for a minimum of one hour every evening after I complete my homework.”
Step 4: Use a habit tracker to track your progress. Research says it can take 30-60 days before this new behaviour becomes a habit, i.e something you perform automatically without thinking about it (that’s the goal).
Step 5: Rinse and repeat! Once the new behaviour has become a habit that you perform naturally as part of your daily study routine, pick another item from the list you made in Step 1 and go through the process again.
How I Accelerated My Grades
When I was a postgraduate student, I learned to accelerate my grades by following this exact process.
I found out that people who study for 2 hours completely uninterrupted (no phones or other distractions) get the equivalent of 10 hours of normal study done!
So I decided to schedule my timetable into two hour blocks and during those 2 hour time slots, I turned my phone off, stayed away from my emails and basically eliminated every possible distraction.
Now, I’m not saying you need to study straight for 2 hours with no interruptions.
I recognise that this can be challenging for many Leaving Cert students (I was a postgrad at the time with an undergraduate degree already under my belt) so instead, I tell my students to start smaller with 1 hour.
If this seems unmanageable, break it down further to 30 minutes. The key is to use your study time wisely by remaining completely focused on the task at hand and that means keeping off your phone completely.
Most of us are literally addicted to our phones. This is a big problem that’s affecting many people in our society. So this may not be easy for you in the beginning. But the payoffs are huge, I promise!
Want to know if your current study habits are holding you back? Use our free checklist to identify areas for improvement!
Free Study Habits Checklist
If you’re not sure what study habits you need to work on, download our free study habit checklist.
Simply tick “yes” or “no” for each item on the list. Whatever you tick “no” for is something that you should work on implementing into your routine.
Don’t leave your study habits to chance. Download our free Study Habit Checklist now and start accelerating your grades today!
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Enrolment for our signature study skills programme, the 6-Week Academic Fast Track, is now closed but we’ll be opening it up shortly for the next cohort.
Join the waitlist to be notified first when enrolment opens!