Fortunately, by taking regular breaks, you can keep your mind fresh so when you get back to writing, your ideas will flow. Here are some classic games to play for a quick study break.

Spider Solitaire 

Spider Solitaire is a very popular two-deck game. This game was invented in 1947, and it got its name because of the eight piles that need to be sequenced in the game, reflecting eight spider legs. Spider Solitaire is considered one of the most fun and challenging solitaire games because of its potential to make an in-depth analysis. If you want to play this game, you need to remove all the cards from the stockpile, and sequence them in order from Ace to King in all eight piles. You can play with one suit, two suits, or four suites. Try to play spider solitaire.

FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell Solitaire is different from Spider Solitaire. The game has all 52 card decks faced-up from the beginning of the game. Microsoft released this game in 1995, and it comes with every release of their operating system. This game has four open foundations and four open cells. The top card of each downward fanned pile can be moved within the tableau underneath a card of a different color and a high number. They can also be moved into one of the free cells, helping you move and sequence cards around the tableau. You win the game once you place all the cards in their foundation piles. Try playing FreeCell

Mahjong

Mahjong is an entertaining tile game invented during the Qing dynasty in China and became popular around the world in the early 20th century. The physical board game can be played with 3 or 4 players, and there are 144 tiles with Chinese symbols and characters. There are plenty of variations for this game, but each player begins with 13 tiles in most cases. The computer game is a single-player game and is played differently than the board game. In this version, you get 144 tiles arranged in a four-layer pattern and are faced upwards. Your job here is to match identical tiles that can be seen. Once you match all of the identical tiles on the pattern, you win the game. Test your luck by playing Mahjong.

Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a puzzle video game invented in the 1960s and later made for Windows and other platforms. It has a lot of variations, and each one of them contains hidden mines. Your job here is not to detonate them with help from the surrounding numbers. They are indicators of how many bombs or mines are around. This game is fun and requires you to use your brain because you can’t make mistakes. Once you detonate a mine, you lose, and you will have to start over. 

Conclusion

There are a lot of ways to take a break while studying. Try one of these games. You’ll not only have fun, but when you return to your paper, you’ll be ready to write.

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With the Internet, information literacy skills help you assess fact from fiction, allowing you to research more effectively and create better arguments for your papers. For example, understanding that Wikipedia should often not be cited because it is a reference resource that anyone can edit, is an important information literacy skill. Recognizing that Quora has answers from non-authoritative sources is another example of a skill good writers should develop. 

With all the information on the Internet, you need critical thinking to find and discern the best sources for your paper. These skills will help you pick up things like bias or if a publisher has a hidden agenda, which can then be used appropriately in your paper. 

Well aware of the importance of information literacy, the team at Solitaired put together an information literacy solitaire game where each card provides pointers on how to develop these skills. We hope you enjoy the game, and learn to be an even better writer!

The post Try This Information Literacy Game and Become a Better Writer appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

Still, they are pretty important in determining things like grades, class placements, and even graduate school admissions. Using these tips to overcome your test stress will leave you more confident in tackling whatever assessment comes your way. Here are a few tips to help!

Do you have a research paper due? Are you stressed about potentially being flagged for accidental plagiarism? Try the EasyBib Plus grammar and plagiarism checker for help reviewing your paper before you turn it in. While there, you can also read our grammar guides to brush up on the basics of verbs, pronouns, and other parts of speech.

Before the test:

1.     Establish a steady study routine

If you have a big exam, there is no better way to boost your confidence than to know without a doubt that you have a good grasp on the material. Make a study plan early and stick to it! It’ll help you make it through all of the content that will be on your test, leaving time for practice tests.

2.     Ask your instructors for help

Professors are often open to helping students before exams. They typically hold office hours or review sessions, and you can usually email them if you’re struggling with a concept. Asking for general advice for creating a focused study plan can be a good idea, too. Many schools often have special resources for bigger tests like the GRE or the MCAT as well.

3.     Take care of yourself

A big part of test performance has to do with how your body is feeling. This means that getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising are all practices that can help you on test day and reduce your anxieties.

4.     Practice mindfulness

If a test has you majorly stressed out, try practicing mindfulness. This means taking a moment before the exam to meditate, focusing on your body and clearing your mind. There are even many apps that you can download to help you incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine!

5.     Make sure you are prepared

The day before an exam, gather all of your materials and ensure that you know the exact testing location. Take a walk there if you have never been before, and become familiar with the environment. Organize everything you will need, like pens or a watch, and make sure that things like calculators have batteries and work correctly.

During the test:

6.     Think about time management.

Make sure you are pacing yourself during the exam. Often, students become stressed at the end of exams when they realize that they do not have enough time to finish answering every question. Keeping track of how much time you have throughout the exam will help you finish with fewer troubles.

7.     Keep water and gum nearby

Drinking or chewing on something during an exam can help to relieve stress. Water will help you stay hydrated and be refreshing, and gum can allow you to relieve some tension while you’re working.

8.     Take a break if necessary

If it is a long exam, such as a course final examination, you will probably have more time than you need to finish. If you feel yourself getting tired and need a break for a minute, go to the restroom or take a quick walk to re-energize.

9.     Check your work

Taking a moment to go back through your work can allow you to leave the exam with a clear picture of how you did, and it will ensure that you didn’t make any silly mistakes that you didn’t intend to make. Even if you only have five minutes, quickly skimming your answers can really help with post-test confidence.

After the test:

10.  Rest!

You’ve earned it! Even if you don’t feel that you did perfectly, it’s good to rest your body and not worry too much about the exam. If you really feel that the exam was really hard even after a lot of preparation, there could be a low mean score, making your relative performance better than you thought. Don’t stress, and be proud of the work that you put into the exam.

Test anxiety is normal, but don’t let it control you. Read through these tips before your big day, and use them to control your worries before, during, and after your exam.

For citation help, EasyBib.com should be your first stop! You’ll find help with MLA citation format, APA citations, creating an MLA annotated bibliography, and much more!

The post 10 Ways to Fight Test Anxiety—and Win! appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

And yet, you may find yourself thinking, “I’ll just check my notifications for a minute.” The next thing you know, it’s been five hours, and that study guide you swear you were going to make is non-existent. Yikes!

But don’t worry! With these five strategies, you’ll find yourself with enough time to finish that study guide, run your papers through a spell check, AND check Instagram.

Make a Game Plan

When you have a bunch of test dates and essay deadlines to juggle, it’s easy to feel too overwhelmed to start. By making a game plan ahead of time, you eliminate any concerns you might have about what needs to get done. Therefore, you won’t waste time on figuring out what you need to study or do.

One way to make a game plan is to make a master calendar of key dates (i.e. final exams, essay due dates, etc). Once you have those jotted down, take a close look at each date and determine how many days you’ll need to study, research paper topics, write, prepare, etc. After that, determine what you’re specifically going to do each day. Your calendar will look crowded, but by working out all those key details, you can spend each of those days doing work instead of figuring out what you’re doing.

Give yourself an hour to make your game plan. If you front-load this work now, it’ll be easy to be productive moving forward!

Study With Friends

Studying with friends can be a blessing and a curse. It’s fun to hang out, but it can also be distracting. Here’s a way to ensure that studying with friends is a blessing:

Before you all get down to work, have everyone share what they want to get done during your time together. Be specific so that everyone can hold each other accountable. For example, if you have an essay you need to write, you can say, “I will write two pages by the time we’re done” or “I will read the assigned grammar guides in the first hour, and then begin writing an outline in the second hour.”

Once everyone shares their tasks, come up with a reward that you’ll do together only if everyone gets what he or she said done. If one person doesn’t meet his or her personal goal, then you all don’t get ice cream. It’s harsh, but it’ll motivate you to not be that one person.

Visualize!

Before getting down to business, close your eyes and visualize yourself getting all your work done. Imagine what it’ll be like to be done making that study guide by the end of the day. It feels good, doesn’t it?

Visualization is a powerful tool because it allows you to mentally rehearse what it’ll be like to have a certain experience. By visualizing being productive, you’ll want to recreate what you saw in your mind’s eye in real life. Because you’ve already witnessed yourself get everything done, you’ll know it’s doable and thus you’ll stay on task.

Visualize before the start of every study session. See yourself understanding concepts. See yourself getting through every problem. See yourself being productive.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to manage your time. The technique is simple: determine the task you need to get done, work on it for 25 minutes, and then take a five minute break. Then work on the same (or different) task for another 25 minutes, and then take another five minute break. After two hours, take a longer break (i.e. 20 to 30 minutes).

This technique is helpful because it forces you to rest your brain for at least five minutes in between bursts of productivity. If you work too long on trying to memorize terms or doing practice sets, your brain will burn out. Let yourself take breaks with the Pomodoro Technique!

Plan Your Procrastination

Let’s be honest: you’ll probably procrastinate on studying at some point. That’s okay! What’s awesome about planning your procrastination is that you’re acknowledging that it’ll happen. Though it may seem counterproductive, knowing you’ll procrastinate will actually help with your mindset. Instead of wasting your time feeling guilty, you can give yourself a pat on the back and say, “It was fun to procrastinate; now let’s get back to work!”

There are two ways to plan your procrastination:

1. Productive Procrastination

Make a list of ideas, concepts, or formulas that each take five minutes to review. Write them down on individual notecards. Whenever you get tired by the task at hand and feel the itch to procrastinate, simply pick up a notecard and spend five minutes reviewing it. Once you’re done, you’ll feel ready to get back to work AND you’ve just done a bit of studying. Nice work!

2. Genuine Procrastination

This is similar to Productive Procrastination, but instead of class material, make notecards of songs, YouTube videos, or apps you like. When you feel like procrastinating, pick a notecard, set a timer for five minutes, and go on Snapchat guilt-free.

Both of these types of procrastination are equally valid. As long as you know which one you’re going to be doing ahead of time, your overall productivity will remain constant.

Try out these five strategies and see which ones work best for you! Now go be productive!

For any paper that needs an MLA format works cited page, APA reference page, or citations in general, try EasyBib.com. You’ll find tools and guides for creating an MLA annotated bibliography, generating a Chicago style citation, building in-text citations in MLA, and more!

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1. Exercise

Scientists universally agree that exercise is a great way to calm down, as it lowers the body’s stress hormones. While your time during finals season may seem crunched enough anyway, taking a half hour to go to a yoga class or to take a quick jog around campus will actually make you more productive. Most universities have exercise classes that are free of charge to students, so take advantage of it and try to pencil one in. You will help out your mind, body, and studying!

2. Don’t Forget to Eat

Even when it’s the middle of finals week and all you can think about is studying, you still have to eat. Meals are one of the prime times to be social during college, and scheduling meals with your friends can be a great way to build in a fun study break. Laughing over pancakes with three of your best friends or grabbing dinner with your roommate is the perfect way to ensure that you take breaks, get social support, and receive nourishment all in one go!

3. Make a Study Plan

Studying for finals without a plan is like going on a road trip without using a map. At the start of finals, make a note of the date and time of each exam using your planner or an online calendar. Then, fill in some of your remaining time with study sessions. Think about which classes will take the most preparation, then set goals for each class each day of finals.  Here is an example of what your day’s study goals might look like:

Monday Study Goals 

• Chemistry: Read textbook chapters 1-3
• English: Finish the MLA bibliography for my research paper
• Math: Do practice problems from lessons 2-6
• Physics: Study lecture notes from lectures 1-4

Leaving a day or two before the exam to do practice problems or to brush up on hard concepts is always a good idea, and it will prevent you from scrambling. This will keep you super organized, and having a plan will make you feel much less stressed.

4. Declutter

When you’re knee-deep in work and are trying your best to get everything finished, taking a break to clean doesn’t always sound like the most fun or worthwhile alternative to studying. However, taking the time to clean up your room will make you feel so much more on top of things. Going to bed with books and clothes strewn all over the floor can just add to the weight of all that you have to do. So, take a few minutes and hang up your clothes, straighten up your desk, and take out the trash. You will thank yourself later when you can focus on your work and not the crumpled-up laundry pile right next to you.

5. Get Enough Rest

Everyone seems to think that cramming for tests has to be a big part of the college experience. Staying up until 3 a.m., waking up at 6 a.m., and chugging coffee all day is not super sustainable when you have final exams almost everyday.

Studies show that sleeping well will help you maximize your test scores, so staying up late might not be helpful after all. If you really cannot get the seven recommended hours of sleep a night, treat yourself to a nap during the day. Getting rest will help your performance and make you feel less stressed. You will be more focused and better able to knock out your studying tasks.

There is no doubt that finals period is the most stressful part of the semester. It may sound weird, but part of effective studying during finals involves self-care, socializing, and setting your priorities. As a whole, it all prepares you for the exams more than just studying alone. Taking the time to destress can help boost your scores and make this time just a little more enjoyable.

Starting on a paper? Try EasyBib Plus for access to citing tools for MLA, APA, Chicago, and additional citation styles. You can also sharpen your writing skills by reading our free grammar guides on what is a verb, adjectives, pronoun basics, and more! Turning in your paper soon? Give yourself more peace of mind with a quick spell check from EasyBib Plus.

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The good news is, a few changes to your habits can make a significant difference in your grade point average. Here are five simple things you can do to help improve your GPA and finish the academic year with zero regrets!

1. Pace Yourself

It might feel like you have plenty of time before your next exam or essay deadline, but procrastination can quickly kill your academic progress. Spreading your study out more evenly across the semester will give the information time to embed itself in your brain, ready to be retrieved with a last-minute study session.

Choose to spend weeks without working hard outside class and you’re setting yourself up for a very stressful period of ineffective cramming and rushed paper-writing—neither of which will give you the greatest results.

2. Set a Schedule

Setting a schedule is key to perfecting the pace of your study. Wait for inspiration to strike, and the weeks will fly by until you’re suddenly faced with an exam, a paper, and a reading list, all at the same time.

Ensure that your schedule works for you by noting the times of day that you’re most productive at completing different types of academic tasks. You can also try coordinating your study schedule with your class schedule to maintain focus on a specific subject area on a particular day of the week.

3. Learn to Love the Library

With pretty much all information now easily accessible online, it can be tempting to skip those traditional library research or study sessions in favor of opening the laptop at your favorite coffee shop (or in front of Netflix).

However, making yourself a fixture at your college library has numerous benefits. It’s designed to be conducive to study, with minimal distractions and carefully ordered materials. Helpful librarians can personally assist you in a way that no search engine can compete with, whether it’s with finding the right sources or creating an annotated bibliography. The bookshelves and archives can be a great place to find inspiration, and surrounding yourself with other committed students is a fantastic motivator. You’re also likely to find that simply stepping into a space that’s dedicated to study puts you in a productive frame of mind that you just don’t get anywhere else.

4. Ditch the Digital Distractions

Where you study can eliminate some physical distractions such as chatty roommates or the latest episode of your favorite show, but digital distractions can be harder to avoid. Your smartphone offers instant access to music, movies, and social media, and will make you easily contactable via numerous different apps. This time-sucker can cause pretty much constant temptation, as most of us carry them with us wherever we go.

The simplest solution is to either leave your phone elsewhere or switch it off completely. If you feel unable to do that then there are apps that you can install on your smartphone that will block your access to selected apps or functions, or even lock your phone completely, for a time period that you determine.

5. Strike a Balance

It’s great to be focused on your studies. However, leading a balanced life is important to your mood, health, and general well-being. Sleep, exercise, and good food should also be a priority, as well as making time for socializing, seeing loved ones, spending time on hobbies, and doing other things you enjoy. Sometimes a day of doing nothing at all is exactly what you needed to recharge, sending you into a new day refreshed and ready to study effectively.

Getting into good study habits from the start should help you to fulfill your GPA potential with a minimum of stress. Don’t forget about the little details that can lose you points on your papers. Properly formatting your work (in APA style, MLA style or Chicago style format, for example), double-checking spelling and grammar, and ensuring that you correctly cite all your sources on your works cited page are three simple things that EasyBib can help with, freeing you up to focus on getting those grades where you want them to be!

The post Five Simple Habits To Help Boost Your GPA appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

The Cornell Method

This method not only makes note taking quicker and easier, it also serves as a great tool for memorizing and revising your notes efficiently.

How To:

Add a left-hand margin to your page (around a quarter section). Take notes in the larger section, leaving a gap between each point. After class, review your notes, adding a cue word in the left-hand margin for every significant bit of information. When revising, cover your notes and use the cue word as a memory aid. The aim is to be able to recall all the information that relates to the cue word.

Going forward, you can even use your cue words as a short-hand when taking notes, saving you from having to recopy the same information. These cue words will also make it easier to identify and pull out the concepts and ideas that you need for the task in hand.

For example:

Tip: You can also use a margin method to note your research sources. This will make creating in-text citations in apa style or mla style much easier. These notes will also help when creating an annotated bibliography at the end of your project.

The Outlining Method

This method uses indenting to group related points by relationship and importance.

How To:

List the main points closest to the left side of your page as headers. Then use indentations to order the related points underneath — with the more important points sitting closer to the left.

This method allows you to easily see related points and their importance, at a glance. However, it can be tricky to order your notes like this in a fast-paced lecture.

For example:

The Mapping Method

Mapping is great for those who like pen and paper/freehand note taking, as it uses a variety of graphic tools to link related points.

How To:

Use arrows to connect ideas to a central point. You can also use bullets, numbers and color-coding to develop a mapping system that works best for you. It makes it easy to show relationship and points can be covered over to test your memory.

For example:

Box and Bullet Method

The Box and Bullet Method is pretty straightforward and emphasizes main ideas and supporting evidence for those ideas.

How To:

A box is drawn for every main idea. Under each box are supporting points that are written next to bullet points.

Sources

https://asc.calpoly.edu/ssl/notetakingsystems

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespearean_comedy

The post 4 Note-Taking Systems To Consider appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

1. Try timeboxing

Timeboxing is time-management system that focuses on tasks accomplished, not time spent. So instead of saying, “I have one hour to study one million paintings for my Art History final,” you’d say, “I have one hour to memorize the titles and artists of 30 Renaissance paintings.”

There’s a reason most of us focus better the night before a paper is due. It’s because we have to focus and get it done! Turn that principle into a smart study tip. Timeboxing allows you to apply the same focus to any task, no matter when you’re completing it.

2. Try space repetition system (SRS) learning

Space repetition is a tactic that has been long used by language learners, especially for character-based languages like Japanese. But it can also shave serious time off of memorization for any subject, from foreign languages to anatomy to those million paintings.

Here’s how it works: instead of mindlessly flipping through flashcards, you rate each card from 1 to 5 for how well you remembered the answer. Then in subsequent study sessions, you review your less-confident cards more frequently. Luckily there are plenty of apps available that make creating your own SRS deck super easy. There are some good ones listed here.

3. Put your phone away. Far, far away.

Research shows that just having your phone with you can deplete your focus and gnaw away at your concentration. Or, as the Science People put it: “The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity.” Think of it like this: it’s not a matter of discipline. Your brain becomes so conditioned to checking your phone, you literally can’t stop yourself if the screen is within grabbing distance. Scary? Slightly. Reality? You bet.

So just do yourself a favor and give yourself some space. Give your phone to your mom, your RA, your neighbor, or just leave it at home when you go to the library. And make sure those frisky push notifications are switched off!

4. Don’t multitask.

Bad news for all of you who are reading this while watching a video while texting a friend while writing a paper: research finds that “heavy media multitaskers” (people who tend to have several screens or windows up) have worse working memory and long-term memory. That means it’s harder to retain information when you’re working on something (say, studying for a test) and when you’re trying to call it up later (when you’re taking the test). Eep.

The solution? Stick to one activity at a time. Oh, and put your phone away.

5. Use online tools.

If you can find an online study hack, why not use it? As long as all your work is original, there are so many tools out there that can help you manage your workload. If you need to make a works cited page, an annotated bibliography or even an APA title page, try EasyBib’s free and easy citation generator. Save time making citations and spend it on polishing your paper!

There are also lots of interactive textbook solutions available online that can help you make sense of problem sets and tough information. Remember, no one has to struggle alone!

Welcome to the new era of studying. With these pro study tips, you’ll be ready to hit the books, hit the sack, then hit the ground running. You for president!

The post 5 Pro Study Tips to Try Right Now appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

Tip 1: Study outside

When the weather gets nice, you might find yourself staring out the library window, wishing you weren’t cooped up studying. Instead of wistfully looking outside, find a bench or a picnic table where you can study. Bonus tip: Scope out a spot in the shade (and near an outlet) if you’re planning to use a laptop or tablet.

Tip 2: Take small breaks

Staying focused for long chunks of time can be difficult, especially when you’re anticipating summer vacation. Build some small breaks into your study schedule: try studying for 45 minutes uninterrupted, followed by a 10-minute break. Set a timer to avoid constantly staring at your watch or phone.

Tip 3: Make a to-do list

Even if you’re not typically the to-do list type, having clear guidelines for what you need to accomplish can be helpful as winter turns to spring. Students often find themselves in pinches at the end of the year as big exams, papers (with APA style or MLA style citations), and projects approach. Although deadlines can sneak up on you, you can ensure your success by planning in advance. For longer term assignments, try creating mini-deadlines for yourself before the big due date approaches. That way, you won’t have to scramble at the last moment.

Tip 4: Have a refreshing drink

Staying hydrated is important throughout the year, but it becomes even more important as temperatures increase. If you don’t feel like sipping flat water, try flavored sparkling water to add a summery element to your study session. For a more filling alternative, swap out your usual drink for a fruity smoothie.

Tip 5: Work with friends

Studying can be better with company. Ask a friend to be your study buddy, and promise to hold each other accountable until semester’s end. If you prefer to work alone, you can still check in with each other periodically to make sure your studying is going according to plan.

Tip  6: Reward yourself

Building small breaks into your schedule is important, but what’s even more important is to reward yourself for a job well done. Keep the ultimate goal—good grades for the semester—in mind, but don’t neglect to have some fun, too. If you want to go out for ice cream or go shopping, do it! But tell yourself, “I can go get ice cream after I read Chapters 2 and 3 in my textbook.” The promise of a treat will lead to higher productivity—and ensure that your work plan stays on track.

Before turning in final papers, make sure to check your in text citations or works cited page to make sure your citations are accurate!  

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