50 Things that Top Students Do

study-like-you-mean-it:

1. Listen to everything they’re taught, not just hearing
2. Take notes
3. Listen to opinions they don’t like
4. Be open to having their minds changed
5. Don’t listen to music with words when studying
6. Practise
7. Commit
8. Keep a regimen of self-discipline even in the face of a lack
   of motivation
9. Take breaks
10. Sleep regularly and more than expected
11. Work very hard during the day
12. Exercise
13. Plan in advance
14. Get small tasks done when there isn’t time to do bigger ones
15. Engage
16. Take failures as a learning curve
17. Think positively
18. Do their best work at the start of the year so they get more
    slack later
19. Talk to those who teach them
20. Debate
21. Do a little every day instead of all at once
22. Ask for help
23. Help others
24. Drink water
25. Work hard but work smart
26. Know what study setup is their most productive
27. Hold themselves accountable
28. Figure out which work is a priority
29. Don’t waste time re-reading as a form of studying
30. Find out things they don’t understand
31. Test themselves frequently
32. Work backwards through things to understand why something works
33. Learn more than they need
34. Have more interests and hobbies than just academics
35. Find out the most important concepts in a course
36. Learn the most important 20% of the course to get 80% of the
    grade
37. Don’t complain
38. Tailor their courses to focus on what interests them the
    most
39. Play hard after working hard
40. Read in advance
41. Know how to say no but don’t say no unless they have to
42. Take every opportunity they can
43. Eat well
44. Defend their personal beliefs
45. Don’t use other people’s successes/failures as an excuse for
    anything they do
46. Don’t let studying become the main part of their life
47. Understand that everything is temporary
48. Set goals, short- and long-term
49. Put their phones away/on silent when studying
50. Don’t expect any results immediately

OK, quite a lot ….