← The Psychology of your 20s
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- [00:00]
Gemma Spa
This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
- [00:04]
Jemma Spa
I'm Jemma Spa, the host of the.
- [00:06]
Gemma Spa
Psychology of your 20s.
- [00:07]
Jemma Spa
Have you ever been at the pharmacy counter and your mind goes blank when the pharmacist asks any questions?
- [00:15]
Gemma Spa
That is why you need to listen.
- [00:16]
Jemma Spa
To beyond the script from CVS Pharmacy and iHeartMedia. Hosted by Dr. Jake Goodman, this podcast answers the questions you'd wished you'd asked, like which meds may not work well together, what. What vaccines you might need before a.
- [00:30]
Gemma Spa
Holiday, and even some of the questions.
- [00:33]
Jemma Spa
You'Re too embarrassed to say out loud. Listen to beyond the script on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:42]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband Mike was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever.
- [00:52]
Michael Levengood
I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately the mask came off.
- [01:00]
Saskia
You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband.
- [01:05]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:12]
Mandy B
Over the last couple years, didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of what happened in Alabama? This Black History Month, the podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandy B Unpacks black history and culture with comedy, clarity and conversations that shake. The status quo. Act in New York was signed in July of 2019 and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B. From the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:45]
Jemma Spa
Before all of the algorithm fed, Bilar and the endless sea of dupes, shopping used to feel more fun. But here's a confession, Podlings. You can find that fun feeling again all on ebay. It's not mindless scrolling. It's a fashion pursuit. I recently found a dress I've been looking for since I was probably 19 that I saw on a show many moons ago.
- [02:04]
Gemma Spa
And the feeling was exhilarating.
- [02:06]
Jemma Spa
There's always more to discover on ebay. Ebay has millions of pre loved finds from hundreds of brands backed by ebay. Authenticity Guarantee Ebay things people love.
- [02:19]
Ben Higgins
You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins and if youf Can Hear Me is Where Culture meets the Soul. Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people. Some have answers. Most are still figuring it out and if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [02:54]
Gemma Spa
Hello everybody, I'm Gemma Spike and welcome back to the psychology of your 20s.
- [02:59]
Jemma Spa
The podcast where we talk through the biggest changes, moments and transitions of our 20s and what they mean for our psychology.
- [03:14]
Gemma Spa
Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast. It is so great to have you here back for another episode as we of course break down the psychology of our 20s today. Guys, I'm going back to uni. I'm going back to the time when I was a full time student. I'm taking a trip down memory lane to talk about the academic and study tips that I absolutely swore by when I was a student that I would use again if I was back there, or if I wanted straight A's, if I wanted to be valedictorian, if I wanted my transcript to be the best it could be by the end of the year. I'm honestly surprised. I've never done an episode like this because when I was still getting my degrees, I genuinely loved the art of studying. Also, I know there are so many of you who are getting their diplomas, getting their undergrad degrees, getting their masters. Some of you are even getting your PhDs. And you are still trying to find the most time, cost effective and successful study tips to become the academic weapon you always dreamed of being. So this episode feels very necessary. These tips aren't going to be boring. I'm not going to tell you to use flashcards or to read the lecture notes or the pomodoro technique. We know that those are tried and true. We are talking instead the really strange things I would do based on research. Because when you understand the psychology of how to study well, everything changes. You end up studying less, you have more time for you, you get better grades because you essentially understand how to tune your brain to absorb knowledge efficiently. If you just take notes in class and you highlight them and you know, you repeat them to yourself, that's level one. I want to take you to level 10 of the study game using the science. So I have, I think, six tips for you today. Things that the exact things I did to be high school valedictorian, to get a National Merit scholarship, to maintain a near perfect GPA when I was at uni. I know these work. I have the evidence to back it up. So without further Ado, let's get into the best psychology hacks for studying. Stay with us. So when you're studying whatever the subject is, the ultimate goal is to convert information from your short term or working memory to your long term memory. And then I always like to think of another layer of this, which is your application memory. Not just being able to recite, but to integrate into everyday experiences. Seems like a simple formula, right? But getting it to that long term application storage basically requires integrating the information in a significant way. And what I mean by a significant way is that you have to show your brain this information is important and worth remembering either through repetition, recall, practical application, applying it to your personal circumstances, or any number of techniques that you may have used in the past or still do use. Your brain receives hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pieces of information every day. So your brain needs a signal for what is important. And that signal is a deliberate behavior. Like study methods, like repetition, like any of those things that is saying to your brain, hey, this is something we care about, we want to learn this. The thing is, there is a hierarchy here, and the more personal significance you can apply to new information, the better and the further up the hierarchy. The method will be basically recall like repetition is pretty low. But when you start to apply personal information to what you are learning, you start to move up the ladder. In fact, a 2024 study from Rice University titled why People Remember found that information that has emotional significance and personal significance has a longer, essentially like memory shelf life. And that makes sense. You don't forget. You don't forget your dog's name. You don't forget the girls who bullied you in the fifth grade or your favorite songs. You don't forget the lyrics to those because those memories are often encoded differently. This hack, the hack is encoding the information you're studying in the same way as that personally significant information so that you can recall it easier. Most people again will do the following. They will take notes. They will read those notes, they will highlight those notes, they will repeat the information in the same form as much as possible. And they will hope that they will remember it. And they will probably get a nice 75 on the test. Here's the technique that I would use instead. First, obviously still take notes, but take notes as if you are writing the textbook yourself with chapters, with headings, with formulas, with visuals, and keep it all in the same document. On your computer. Pretend you are literally the author. Someone is going to. Your notes are going to be what informs the the next cohort. So you Want to make it look good. You want to make it very, not complex, but in depth. And you want to structure it so that it's coherent. When it comes time to study for an exam or midterm, whatever it is, up the font size of that document to 16. Double space the whole document, print out those notes, staple them together, or bind them as if they are a book. This is what I always did. I wish that I had like a picture of what this looks like. I just feel like it looks so much better visually so you can understand it. But your notes should almost look like a movie manuscript, like a big bound book. Now, we're still going to use those tried and true recall or study methods. Step one, obviously, like you have to go through and highlight and I know I said that's not an effective method, I know, but it's just stage one of integration. You obviously just need to know what information is crucial. Stage two, I want you to go through and in those lines because you've double fonted it in those margins. I want you to write text, interesting tidbits, facts, underline. Draw pictures around your notes, make them really personal. Step three, read through your notes again and tell yourself the story of what you're reading by applying it to something you see in your own life or in the world. For example, if you are studying, I don't know, psychopathology and the section you are reviewing is on schizophrenia, write out the symptoms like you're describing a movie character or you're telling the story of someone's behavior that you know. Or somebody in the news or somebody. Yeah, or a character in a movie. If you're studying systems of voting or politics and you have a big chunk of notes that are or very theoretical about voting systems, imagine your friends as candidates in each of those voting systems. Any kind of personal association is going to work amazingly. The final step is to take your notes, take your research and do one of three things. Either explain it to someone else in your life or prepare like essentially a small lecture on your topics. This is known as the Fenman technique. Research has shown it's one of the most effective study techniques you can use. When you can teach it back to somebody else, you know it at a depth that is hard to come by because it asks you to almost be the expert. It asks you to adopt the skills and knowledge you'd need to be an expert. So teach it to somebody else to turn it into something creative. I used to do these big mind maps and like diagrams and doodles on it. I used to actually get, like, a massive poster board to remember psychology concepts back at uni. And I would make, like, this poster in high school. I would get a whiteboard marker and I would write my notes, and I would, like, draw diagrams and all that stuff on my windows and on my mirrors. So process it creatively or write down your notes as personal questions and do at least 20 of them and answer them. So questions like, if I had to choose the biology concept I knew the least about from this year, what would it be? And then describe that concept. Or like, what's another one? Like, what term did I find most interesting? What applies most to my life? What area am I most fascinated by? Make the questions personally relevant, then answer them again. All these methods work because we are trying to encode on a deeper, more specific, personally relevant level. It's like when you do this, when you adopt one of those final three methods on top of those other methods, you are solidifying an idea in concrete, not in paper. Another element to this is to understand your learning style. Research says there's eight learning styles, and each of these learning styles was adapted from Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. So basically, he developed this idea back in the 80s to essentially argue that IQ is just one specific type of intelligence. Intelligence, It's a general intelligence. But real intelligence comes in many different forms. There's many different understandings, and your natural inclination for a specific form is what's going to help you excel in a certain area. Basically, people are smart at different things. People are good at different things, but these forms are visual or spatial. So some people have a visual or spatial learning type. That's a preference for things laid out in maps, laid out in graphs, laid out of. In terms, charts. Auditory. Like an auditory learning style. So you like to absorb knowledge through sound, song, rhythm, beat, kinesthetic learning through movement. Having a, I guess a natural intelligence for how your body moves and what it does in space and what it can do. Verbal, the use of speech and speaking concepts or ideas aloud. This is my learning style, obviously. No surprise, I run a podcast. But another one is logical. There are people who really enjoy learning or absorbing information by laying them down in a very mathematical and logical format. Interpersonal and intrapersonal, two different ones. Interpersonal learning through collaboration, conversation, connection. Intrapersonal learning through reflection, alone, time, deep devotion, solitude. And then finally, naturalistic learning through the world by seeing patterns, by connecting things to one's surroundings. Hopefully you got all those, but there's eight. And the theory goes that this also aligns not just to how you best process information, but also what job might suit you best? We don't have time to get into that because that theory is very wild and wacky. But I think again, it's important to know your preference and tune into how you can better absorb information based on how your brain best sees information. And when you can do that, it becomes so much easier. I feel like it's like falling into a stream. It's hard to explain, but when you start learning and absorbing information in your brain's one of your brain's preferred ways, there is just so much less cognitive friction. Here is how to figure out what yours is, because I feel like I gave you all of that and I didn't give you the answer to how to Find out four Questions when you have to explain something you care about to someone, how do you prefer doing it? Do you immediately grab a pen? Do you draw them a map? Do you connect it to a personal experience? Do you use your body? Do you use your hands? Do you work through the logic with them? Question 2 When someone explains a complex idea to you, what makes it click for you? Is it examples? Is it metaphors? Discussion? Is it seeing it in action? Is it getting to just sit and just process it and wiki it and research it? Third question Think back now to your school or uni days. If you are not still in those places, what kind of classes felt easiest to stay engaged in even when the content wasn't that interesting? That's another clue. And finally, if you had unlimited time to learn something purely for enjoyment, what would that learning environment look like? How would you want to learn about the thing you are choosing to learn about now? The thing to know Our style isn't always consistent, and there's not just one for you, like there's often quite a few. Or as in, like, they're interchangeable. I feel like I've been giving the impression there's like one specific one you can have multiple, and everybody can in some way learn through each of those things. There was a recent University of Michigan article that called into question the legitimacy of learning styles altogether, because the idea that we can only learn in one way is kind of preposterous. But the psychology does provide heaps of evidence for this fact. When you enjoy the methods you are using to learn, you engage more, you absorb more. Therefore you develop an enjoyable method for studying and enjoy the studying in itself, even if it looks weird, even if you feel like nobody understands it. Having a method that relates to you personally and that you enjoy is always going to be more effective than a traditional method that bores you or doesn't interest you. This kind of brings me to my next tip, which is use unconventional ways of learning. Because I guess the more novel, the more memorable and the more likely you are to integrate the information. The one I loved the most, which I'm now thinking about. And I'm realizing this has a lot to say about me. But I used to record my notes as a voice note on my laptop and I would convert it into an MP3 part, MP3 file for my phone so I could listen to the concepts as a podcast. How I did not realize this was going to be my career, I do not know. I cannot tell you. That was obviously a sign. Um, but that was really effective for me. And I also put classical music behind it. Sometimes I used to play it to fall asleep because. And this has no evidence for it. Let me just say there's no evidence for this. But I used to be like, oh, yeah, if I listen to it while I'm sleeping, that's more time for it to be absorbed into my memory, like overnight. It's going to like infuse into my mind. That didn't work. I can tell you that now. But novelty of any kind, any method, primes your brain to learn. There's evidence for this. There was a 2020 study done with a bunch of high school students in Argentina that put students either in a novel environment or their school environment and showed them a geometrical shape, a geometrical object, a really random object and ask them to memorize. Well, the researchers asked them to memorize it and then they asked them 45 days later if they remembered it. They asked them to draw the shape and those in the novel situations had much better recall. Study in new locations, use different colored pens, have a unique playlist for each subject. Tie or new concepts to a new flavor of gum. Anything that's again going to give a concept another dimension means it's going to be integrated differently and better, I guess. Okay, we are going to take a short break here before getting into my four final tips for studying effectively. Stay with us.
- [20:17]
Jemma Spa
I'm Jemma Speg, the host of the psychology of your 20s. Have you ever been at the pharmacy.
- [20:22]
Gemma Spa
Counter and the pharmacist asks you, do.
- [20:24]
Jemma Spa
You have any questions? And suddenly your mind goes blank? That is exactly why you need to listen to beyond the script from CVS Pharmacy and iHeartMedia. Hosted by Dr. Jay Goodman, a board certified psychiatrist and health educator. This show takes you behind the counter to answer the questions that you'd wish you'd asked, like what medications might not mix well, what vaccines should you consider.
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Gemma Spa
Before a big trip?
- [20:51]
Jemma Spa
And even those questions you're a little bit too embarrassed to say out loud. Each episode bust myths, decodes health trends, and gives you real trustworthy advice from the experts you see the most. Your neighborhood CVS pharmacist. No white coats, no lectures. Just real talk, real answers and maybe a few laughs. Listen to beyond the script on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The end of 2025 has been chaotic, to say the least. I moved to London. I've also been dealing with some huge work changes, calls, decision making, and I want to be focused. You guys also know me and caffeine don't mix well. But Nature's Sunshine's Brain Edge has been my go to solution. It combines hand harvested yerba mate with powerful nootropics, focus, memory and cognitive performance. Without that same crash, it's a clean, plant powered drink you can enjoy hot or cold. So you have a shortcut to basically help your focus, your alertness, your memory, anytime you need. It's been really helpful for me during stressful periods like this one, where it feels like my to do list is growing by the second and I want to be mentally sharper. I want to feel more cognitively capable and it's just a nice ritual to add to my daily routine. It enhances focus, it enhances clarity. Clarity supports memory learning and delivers smooth, sustained energy. So don't fight through feeling foggy and lethargic. Ignite your mental performance with Brain Edge. Nature's Sunshine is offering 20 off your first order, plus free shipping. You can go to naturesunshine.com and use code Psych at checkout. That's code psych@naturesunshine.com.
- [22:41]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband Mike was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever.
- [22:54]
Michael Levengood
I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately the mask came off.
- [23:04]
Saskia
You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband.
- [23:09]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
To keep this secret for so many years.
- [23:14]
Gemma Spa
He's like a seasoned pro.
- [23:17]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
This is a story about the end of a marriage. But it's also the story of one woman who was done living in the dark.
- [23:25]
Michael Levengood
You're a dangerous person who preys on.
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Gemma Spa
Vulnerable and trusting people. You're a predator.
- [23:30]
Michael Levengood
Michael Levengood.
- [23:32]
Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [23:40]
Jemma Spa
Before all of the algorithm fed Bala and the endless sea of dupes, shopping used to feel more fun. But here's a confession, Podlings. You can find that fun feeling again on ebay. Because on ebay it's not just shopping, it's a full on fashion pursuit.
- [23:58]
Gemma Spa
And when you find the thing that.
- [24:00]
Jemma Spa
Adrenaline hit is real.
- [24:02]
Gemma Spa
I recently found a dress I had been looking for since I was 19.
- [24:06]
Jemma Spa
I saw it on a TV show and and I swear it called out to me.
- [24:10]
Gemma Spa
And it has been something I have.
- [24:12]
Jemma Spa
Come back to time and time again.
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Gemma Spa
I have searched everywhere, every single secondhand.
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Jemma Spa
Store until finally I found it in my size. On ebay. It's about the thrill of finding pieces.
- [24:25]
Gemma Spa
Just like that.
- [24:26]
Jemma Spa
And I want you to find pieces that feel like you as well. There's always more to discover. Ebay has millions of pre loved finds from hundreds of brands backed by ebay. Authenticity guaranteed. Ebay things people love.
- [24:45]
Ben Higgins
What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins and if you can hear me is where culture meets the soul. A place for real conversation. Each episode I sit down with people from all walks of life. Celebrities, thinkers and everyday folks. And we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you Purpose when success isn't enough. Peace when your mind won't slow down. Faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [25:43]
Gemma Spa
So this is a tip I wish, I wish I learned sooner but only kind of grasped. I would say in like my last two years of university, not all times are good times for studying. Your peak productivity hours may not be the same as others or the same as the even the typical workday which is based around what we like a human circadian rhythm. Yes, we might all have the same circadian structures, but your peak productivity depends on your individual biology and it depends on your individual rhythm. When I was in like the early days of university, I remember going to this. I don't know what it was like a module or like a lecture. It was like on studying effectively and in it, the lecturer, like the person leading it was like your best Study time is 9am to 12pm and 3pm to 7pm I don't know where she got that from. And I tried to stick with that for ages. I'd be like, no, I need to study 9am I got to be at the library. Until I realized like I was not getting a single thing done during that whole time. Like I'm a night out. I like working, I like studying, I like writing, creating after 7pm when after 7pm I can focus for hours. I know my mum is the same. And we were actually having this conversation recently where I was like, how did you get so much work done when we were kids, like she had three kids and she was working like multiple jobs and she was telling me how her peak performance hours were always for her like 10pm to 2am so she would be working when we were asleep. And I was like, huh, that's where I get it. But there's another name for a person like this, obviously a night owl in comparison to those like 5am Club early birds. And I just feel like if I tried to do those 5am Wake ups, I could never get anything done. That's not how I am programmed. You have to figure out how you are programmed. Researchers in 2021 tested participants on this with a series of cognitive tasks and they found that learning, memory, attention, they were all significantly better when people worked during their preferred time of day. A separate meta analysis looked at over 7,000 evening people and morning people and they also looked at what they called their diurnal preferences. And a diurnal preference is basically when you prefer to be awake versus asleep. And what they found was that when they let people naturally work during their preferred time, their cognitive ability, their academic achievement, their memory, their problem solving all improved. Even in school children, even in little tiny school children. This study even actually it has a self report questionnaire you can take. What is the study called? I think it's called Chronotype Cognitive abilities and academic achievement from 2011. If you want to look it up and in like the appendix they'll have this so you can figure out what your diurnal preference is when the best time of day is for you. I think you probably already know. I think it's the time when you feel least tired doing work, whether that is 1am or 1pm I think a crucial step to this is also being okay with not being productive when everyone else is being. A lot of studying at least I found was sometimes like appearance based Especially when you're like, in a big college or in a big high school or in a big uni. And so sometimes like that, there was pressure to sort of appear like you were busy, even if you weren't getting anything done. So again, with this, like, body clock method, if you know you can get seven hours of work done in four hours, if you start at 1am, you don't need to be starting at 9am Take the morning off. Remember, efficiency is personal. It's not externally dictated. It's incredibly individualized. And if your goal is to get great grades, do it when it suits you best. Here's another reason why I loved working and I love studying late. And I guess it kind of makes up team number five. It's because it was romantic. And I believe, like, the more romantic or sentimental you make studying, the better.
- [30:10]
Jemma Spa
You are at it.
- [30:12]
Gemma Spa
You have to romanticize study. You have to make it glamorous, you have to make it charming. I don't know what other episode I spoke about this, and I'm pretty sure I did, but I loved working late and I loved thinking about like, all the other great. All the other. I just like thinking about, like, the great thinkers and writers who, who I admired, who'd be like, up by the candlelight, who'd be like, diligently working back in the day. And like, that was so. I don't know, I love the intimacy of it and how dedicated it felt. And I think it's important to find an image, a mental image of studying that is attractive to you and embody it when you are studying. Some other examples, like, I know people who like to imagine themselves as scholars, intellectuals, founders who are like, working like, that's a common one, who like to imagine themselves as an. As an artist when they're up early in the morning. Whatever it takes to make you fall in love with the process of studying, not just the outcome, you've got to do it. And that's another psychology hack for you.
- [31:18]
Jemma Spa
It's actually called the effort paradox.
- [31:21]
Gemma Spa
Fall in love with working hard. A lot of psychology will say we avoid effort because it's costly and we want to choose the path of least resistance. But the more you pursue effort, the more it feels innately valuable and the more it actually increases the value of the thing that you are working towards. People may value a goal more when they work really hard for it. It's why we like IKEA furniture. That's why we. Because we have to work hard for it, because there's a personal investment. The things we Put effort into. Yeah, like furniture we assemble or like a cake we make ourself. You know, it feels more meaningful and valuable than an identical thing that requires no effort. Effort creates meaning, which is more powerful than motivation. You don't start studying because you love it. You start studying because you're. Because you've invested effort and because that feels important. And so then the meaning follows the meaning and the motivation follows effort, not the other way around. Does that make sense? You can read the paper. I think it's literally just called the effort paradox from 2018, if you want to understand this better. But effort creates meaning, not motivation. It's one of the best things I read when I was studying, when I was at university. It's basically another way of saying, again, like, fall in love with hard work and pursue consistency. Basically, it's another way of saying consistency matters and consistency works. But just saying that in a different way, I guess. Let me move on to tip number seven. I think this was my most unhinged study tip. I used to pay myself to study. I'm going to explain this, but I knew from high school psychology that our brains respond to reward and regular positive enforcement. So when I would get paid, or specifically when I would get tips, when I was working at the Hawaiian bar or when I was working at the steak restaurant, I would have these envelopes in my drawer, like, in my university desk drawer, and I would put, like $20 bills, $5 bills, $10 bills in these envelopes. And I wouldn't label them. I wouldn't know which had which. And every time I went to study, I would bring a single envelope with me. And only when I'd done a certain number of hours would I be allowed to open it. And I would be allowed to spend whatever money was in there or, like, add it to my wallet because I didn't know how much money was in there. It kind of also tapped into principles of intermittent reinforcement or random reinforcement as well. And let me just say, like, it worked. It truly, truly worked so, so well. Like, I was basically bribing myself normally by, like, the time I think I'd done, I think I would give it to me myself, like, after three hours. Normally after, like, I would have done two hours, and I'd be really hungry or really bored and I'd want a snack. And my university had this, like, little basic grocery store. And at two hours, I'd be like, I'm ready. But I would force myself to do that other hour because then I would get the reward. And obviously it was My money. Like I could open it at any time, but it would like really motivate me to just like push to that third hour. And I would obviously have breaks in between. Like I'd go to the bathroom. I wasn't like sitting there with like those metal prongs, like opening my eyes. Like I would let myself get. Get up and go around. But I wasn't allowed to leave the library or I wasn't allowed to go back to my dorm before those three hours were done, or the next three hours after that because I couldn't open the envelope. Which again, super strange. Tell me if you do this. I don't know anybody else who does this, but it worked. Okay, I don't know what tip we are up to here, but next, another big psychology hack that's very simple but very necessary is eliminate all distractions. Do not believe that you can study if your phone is right next to you. I used to use this self control website blocker. I think I literally still have it on my computer. I would also give my, me and my friends, we would give each other our phones and like put them in our bags so they couldn't access them and like give them back when we were kind of ready to go. Anything to keep a distraction away from your desk or away from your study space is crucial. I cannot stress enough how much you need to be doing this. No matter how think you, how good you think your discipline is. We really do like to believe that discipline is like a personality trait. That some people are just more motivated or motivated enough to be able to sit there with their phone face down and not touch it and just simply not do anything with it. But psychology says that's not true. Your brain is not designed to coexist peacefully with distraction. Every notification, every open tab, every buzzing phone noise triggers what is called attention capture. Even if you don't consciously check it, a part of you is still aware that something's going on. Just knowing your phone is nearby is actually enough to reduce your working memory and cognitive capacity. There is literal research showing that performance improves simply by putting your phone in another room. Simply by giving it to somebody else. Not putting it on silent, not putting it face down. Gone. Putting it away. This is why externalizing self control works so well. Website blockers app limits a friend. That's not a sign that you have weak discipline. Like they're signs of psychological intelligence. You are removing the need for constant decision making and constantly needing to stop your brain from doing what it wants to most, which is to take the Quick dopamine, which is to take the distraction. Finally, and I should have said this one earlier when I was talking about my money envelope reward scheme, but study with other people as a reward. Now I wouldn't do this all the time, only when I was really serious and in like a real crunch period. But I knew that as much as money was a fantastic treat, as an extrovert, as a social butterfly, especially at university, being around other people and having a little chit chat, that was a much greater reward for me. So I manipulated that, I manipulated that desire to force myself to work harder. There is a powerful dopaminegenic reward loop at play when you're studying alone, followed by letting yourself study with other people as a treat. Your brain begins to associate effort with anticipated connection, making the initial work feel more tolerable, maybe even motivating. If I knew I'd get to go sit with my friends at the end or like go and annoy them or hang out with them, it just made me want to work harder to get through the time. That's the whole point of having, of having that reward. So those are my tips. Those are my study tips that I swore by. I'm going to quickly summarize them for you now. Firstly, the biggest thing you should be doing. If you're not doing anything else on this list. Encode information with personal significance. Use my note taking manuscript method. Figure out your preferred learning style. Not your exact learning style, we know there's not a single one, but your preferred. Utilize novelty in whatever form. Study during your most productive hours. Not even if they're not necessarily the socially applauded hours. Romanticize studying. Romanticize studying to activate that effort paradox that we were talking about. Pay yourself to study. Eliminate distractions. Use social study as a reward. And one final, one final one as much as you can. Integrate the information into your conversations. Teach other people. Teach your parents. Slip it into like calls with clients or like when you're serving somebody coffee, anyone, anything, anyone who wants to listen. Get them involved in your learning. This is literally in a small way how this podcast started. I wanted to talk more about psychology to integrate my understanding and I wanted to talk about it in reference to my friends lives and my family's lives. And that's this is how we're here. Look how that turned out. So thank you so much for listening. I hope these tips are helpful. Let me know if you use any of them and if they are useful. If you have made it this far, great attentional skills. Thank you. Leave a comment down below, what is your most unhinged weird study hack? I want the weird ones. And if you pay yourself to study like I did, I want to know because I think I've only. I think I know like one other person who did that and I'm pretty sure when she said she was paying herself, it was her parents. So I want to know if you do that and if it works for you. I guess people don't really use cash anymore, but yeah, those were the good times. I miss it. I really miss studying you guys. Like, if you're still studying at the moment as well, like, don't take it for granted. There was something so fun about your only job for the evening being just to sit with your friends or just to sit and learn. Genuinely. Dream job. Dream job. So thank you again for listening. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Make sure that you are following us wherever you are listening right now, that you are subscribed or that you have notifications turned on so you know when new episodes come out. You can also follow us on Instagram at thatpsychologypodcast if you wanna see behind the scenes. You want episode summaries, you want to know when new episodes are coming out and when we want people's listener contributions. That's a great way to get involved there. You can also follow us on Substack for full episode transcripts if you are looking for those. But until next time, be safe, be kind, be gentle to yourself. We will talk very, very soon. A Dog's Love Letter to His Squeaky.
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Jerry (Pet)
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Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever.
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Michael Levengood
I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately the mask came off.
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Saskia
You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband.
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Narrator (Betrayal Podcast)
Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Mandy B
Over the last couple years didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of what happened in Alabama? Montgomery Brawl this Black History Month, the podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandy B unpacks black history and culture with comedy, clarity and conversations that shake the status quo. The Crown act in New York was signed in July of 2019 and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B. From the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
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Ben Higgins
You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins and if you can hear me is where culture meets the soul. Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people. Some have answers. Most are still figuring it out. And if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Gemma Spa
Have you ever thought, wow, I wish I could watch the Psychology of your.
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Jemma Spa
Twenties on my TV or my phone whilst you're cooking dinner, doing your chores.
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Gemma Spa
It would be like having a friend in the room with you. Well, have I got news for you.
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Jemma Spa
The Psychology of your 20s is now on Netflix in the US. Go to your Netflix app, search us up and remember, remember to tap the bell to get reminded when new episodes.
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Gemma Spa
Of the psychology of your 20s are available. This is an iHeart podcast.
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Jemma Spa
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