General

• Take a few minutes every now and then to savor feelings of happiness and triumph
• It's perfectly normal to start a study session with negative feelings, even if it's a topic you ordinarily like. It's how you react to those feelings that matters.
• Keep yourself open to learning new things; don't just blindly follow your passion or what you think you may be good at
• Pretty much everyone suffers from Imposter Syndrome, albeit more secretly than others. Keep your chin up and your eye on every door that will potentially open for you after another closes
• Always recheck your work; don't be overconfident
• Studying in groups can help you see your gaps in understanding or get you out of your "left-brained, tunnel vision" way of thinking when using more of your brainpower by yourself just isn't cutting it. Make sure to study the material before you meet with the group
• Use the "hard start-jump to easy" technique when taking a test. Start with the hard problems first, take a minute to try to solve. If you get stuck, stop and go to an easy problem. This will allow your diffuse mode to go to work and help you come up with the solution to the difficult problems.
• If you are nervous or anxious before an exam - or a presentation - shift your mindset to a positive one (e.g., this test has me excited to do my best). Focus on your breathing by placing your hand on your stomach and slowly drawing deep breaths. Practice this breathing exercise in the weeks leading up to the exam so that it becomes natural for you

Long-term recall of the material

• Remember to take breaks to allow information to go from your short-term memory to your long-term memory
• Activate your diffuse mode by exercising or doing something else enjoyable
• Don't highlight or underline
• Never write your notes word for word
• Space your practice and don't cram
• If you can't solve a problem after a while, step away and allow your diffuse mode to kick in
• Interleave your studies by practicing with different problem sets to overcome Einstellung (i.e., practicing with different problem sets and solutions helps you overcome tunnel vision)
• Change up your environment when trying to recall so that your recall of the material isn't dependent on environmental cues
• Review your notes before you go to sleep and try to tell yourself that you want to dream about the material
• Don't re-read material without trying to recall them after reading it (i.e., avoid illusions of competence)