The funny thing about school is that everyone expects you to study, but you never take a class called, “How to Study Effectively.” You’re just expected to pick this important skill up on your own.
It’s no wonder that so many students — whether in high school, college or even graduate school — have such lousy study habits. They also do a lot of things that common wisdom suggests are effective. But research suggests otherwise.
There are three common study habits in particular that a lot of students do, but which may not be particularly effective for most of the people who use them.
Why don’t these three study habits work very well for most people who employ them?
Every college student and high school student believes he or she has honed a set of highly effective, useful study skills. I used re-reading, lots of summarizing, note-taking (and outlining), and taking the little tests you would often find at the end of a chapter to help me remember the material I just read. 
It’s that time again if you’re a college or graduate student — time for finals. It’s also time to self-sabotage, to get in your own way in terms of effective studying. We stress out more than usual, even when we’re on top of the material, because of the anxiety surrounding test-taking.