Note: This will be for EXTREME studying, not for the light hearted or half willed.

• Remove all distractions. Do you REALLY need your computer/TV in front of you to study? Do you REALLY need music in your earbuds? Do you REALLY need people surrounding you on your left and right ordering coffee? Get rid of any extra external sensory input so that you can only focus on the senses that will help you study.
• Study with a purpose. Make a list of things you want to get done before your exam, and note those things you want to get done at your study session. Make sure these are feasible, tangible things. Don’t say: Study Chapter one. Instead, say: Read chapter 1 and make annotations, make outline of main ideas, make flash cards for figures 1, 2, 3, take chapter quiz, etc.

Well, that’s all you really need. No distractions and a study purpose. There are other tips and tricks, but if you practice FOCUS, then you’ll be studying like a pro in no time! (Disclaimer: I’m not really a pro at studying, still/always learning!)

• You can study any time. In line at the grocery store, in the shower… This is when study guides come in handy. (See #3.)
• Most information can be categorized into HAVE to know, SHOULD know, and TRIVIA. (To put it in perspective, there’s information I have to know as a doctor, some stuff I should know but not necessary, and some stuff that’ll be interesting to say at parties but isn’t vital to my medical career.) Always focus on the HAVE to know, rather than the TRIVIA. A lot of times we get caught up in the details.
• Make study guides, which is ALL the HAVE TO KNOW information about a topic. I usually do one topic per sheet of paper. Exams are usually mutli topic. For my last exam, I had 10 sheets of paper to commit to memory.
• If I’m sitting down to study for an extended period of time, I’ll usually commit a four hour block. I try to stay with a 25 minute study / 5 minute break cycle. During my 25 minute study period, I don’t check my email, listen to music, talk to anyone, pee, or do anything other than study. During my five minute break, I’ll pee, check my email, run to my bed for a four minute nap, put my laundry away, organize my desk, water my plant, wash my face, do jumping jacks and push ups, have a little dance party, or do a few sun salutations or handstands… Then I get right back to work when my timer goes off.
• Focus takes practice! As I said before, I’m still working on my focus. I find it hard to work even 25 minutes without checking my email. Sometimes I catch myself scrolling through Tumblr instead of scrolling through Wikipedia. But then I just give myself a ten second break to ‘like’ a post, then click over to wherever I’m supposed to be going.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Edit: I forgot to add this bit: Take a little bit of time to figure out what your learning style is. For me, I learn well by writing and drawing and speaking. Other people learn well by staring at a computer screen for an hour. Other people can close their eyes and listen to a lecture and know it by heart. I know someone who will go out of her way to find a youtube video / animation. Find your study style, and you’ll waste a lot less time doing useless things! (Like for me, making flashcards isn’t useful.)