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8 ‘Secret Weapon’ Study Tips to Make Learning Easier
Ask almost anyone — young or old — about homework, and chances are you won’t get many glowing reviews. It’s often seen as time-consuming, stressful, and boring.
But according to Dr Selina Samuels from Aussie Edu Hub, there are clever, lesser-known strategies that can make study time far less painful for high school students. In fact, two of her favourites — the “Café Test” and the “90 + 20 Minute Rule” — have proven especially effective for studying, planning, and revising.
“You can search for ‘effective study tips’ online and find plenty of standard advice we’ve all heard before,” Dr Samuels says. “But there are other powerful techniques that students may not have encountered — my personal ‘secret weapons’. With many schools holding exams in Term 2, here are my top tips gathered from years as both a student and a teacher of high-achieving learners.”
1. Treat Everything as a Draft
Perfectionism can be the enemy of productivity, causing anxiety and slowing progress. If you view every piece of work as a draft until you submit it, you’ll give yourself permission to make mistakes — and learn from them. Feedback on those mistakes is one of the best learning tools you have.
2. Beat Blank Page Fear with the One Paragraph Rule
Never start an assignment at the very end of the evening. Even writing just one paragraph the night before makes it much easier to pick up where you left off the next day. Think of it as giving yourself a head start and removing the intimidation of a blank page.
3. Follow the 90 + 20 Minute Rule
Neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman suggests that 90 minutes is the optimal time to learn something new — enough to go from confusion to engagement before focus drops off. After that, follow with 20 minutes of rest to lock in what you’ve learned. The initial struggle is a sign you’re learning, so push through it.
4. Schedule Rest to Reduce Stress
Incorporate mindfulness practices like meditation or yoga nidra into your routine. These almost-sleep states boost brain plasticity and help you absorb information more effectively.
5. Walk to Reinforce Learning
Walking has been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, and mood. For maximum benefit, skip the music or calls and instead explain your key study points to yourself out loud while you walk. The movement and recall together help embed concepts — even if you look a little eccentric doing it.
6. Use the “Café Test” to Build Connections
When Dr Samuels taught literature, she’d have students imagine all the authors they studied sitting together in a café, debating their ideas. This playful exercise helped link ideas, themes, and contexts, making them easier to remember. You can adapt this for any subject by creating mental “connections” between topics.
7. Prioritise Sleep
It’s not new advice, but it’s one of the most important. Sleep is when your brain consolidates and stores what you’ve learned. Without enough rest, much of your study effort will be wasted.
8. Study with Someone
Studying doesn’t have to be a solo activity. Working with a partner, joining a study group, or getting tutoring from an experienced educator can significantly boost understanding, confidence, and motivation.
Final Word
If homework and revision feel overwhelming, remember that there are smart, effective ways to make studying easier — and help is always available. At Aussie Edu Hub, our expert tutors guide students through proven strategies to make learning less stressful and far more productive.