Studying for any exam can be tedious, but it must be done. We’ve all heard so many ways to help us study more effectively, but they only sometimes work. If you are looking for a new study tool that is easy to create and utilize and is effective in helping you study, you’ve come to the right place! Let us introduce you to the cheat sheet.
Creating an effective and epic cheat sheet doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye, so you will have to put in some work. In this article, we’ll be discussing what exactly a cheat sheet is and why they are so helpful. We’ll even be giving you our top tips and tricks to create the most epic and functional study cheat sheets that you possibly can.
What are Study Cheat Sheets?
What are Study Cheat Sheets?Study cheat sheets are a simple and effective way of organizing the information you know to help you prepare for an upcoming test. Typically, cheat sheets consist of boxes or lists of information written out in short phrases or sentence fragments. Cheat sheets hardly even include full sentences and are designed to be quick and easy to make and use.
A hallmark of an exam cheat sheet is colorful boxes. Although there are lots of ways you can design your cheat sheets, most cheat sheets you will see online consist of various boxes of different colors filled with information you need.
You can make cheat sheets by hand using pens, paper, and pencils, but you can also make them online. The colors can help group boxes or make the really important ones stand out more to aid in remembering the information. Either way, they are likely to be colorful.
Does Making a Cheat Sheet Help You Study?
Making a cheat sheet is studying. It might seem more like an art project at first, but creating a cheat sheet requires you to go over all the information that will be on the test and organize it into categories to put into boxes or lists. Simply going over all the information is a great way to help kickstart your studying.
A cheat sheet is like a roadmap of what you should be studying. Once you have made a cheat sheet, you can use it to help guide your studying. You can focus on the information in one box each day and delve deeper into it.
Think of a cheat sheet like a mini version of a complete study guide. While a full study guide might include complete sentences and be a few pages long, a cheat sheet is short and to the point. It rarely ever goes over the front and back of one page.
What Should You Put on Your Study Cheat Sheets?
3 Tips to Create Epic Study Cheat Sheets
If you are wondering how to make a cheat sheet for an exam, you’ve come to the right place! We’re going to give you all of our favorite tips to create epic study cheat sheets. Regardless of if you are planning on making your cheat sheet by hand or online, we’ll have some tips for you.
1. Gather all your study materials in one place.
Make sure that you have all your study materials in one place to start. Include things like printouts from class, your notes, any books you use for the class, and any online resources associated with the class. This will make compiling the vital information easier since you know you won’t be missing anything.
Once you have everything in one place, you can start sorting out what material is important to include and figure out how many boxes or categories you will need on your cheat sheet. Think about going through your notes and numbering the major ideas or theories that you will need to cover on your cheat sheet. This can be a great way to figure out how many boxes or categories you will need.
2. Decide if you are going to make your cheat sheet by hand or on the computer.
Figure out if you are going to make your cheat sheet on the computer or by hand. There are benefits to each, but it really is up to you. Creating a cheat sheet by hand, like taking notes by hand, will allow you to form more neural connections associated with the material but is not always doable for every student. If you know you will be traveling when studying, it might be nice to have an online study guide to use, to minimize the number of random papers you’ll have to keep track of.
Making a cheat sheet by hand: Making a cheat sheet by hand will take longer than making one on the computer, but you are likely to remember the information better. You will need paper, pens or pencils of various colors, maybe some highlighters to mark important information, and all your study materials. Your cheat sheet doesn’t have to be a work of art, and it just has to be functional, so don’t be discouraged if your cheat sheet doesn’t look like the ones you’ve seen online.
Making a cheat sheet online: Making a cheat sheet online is the quicker option and is great for students on the go or who are taking online classes. You can find blank cheat sheet templates all over the internet, and some programs, like word or google docs, will even have templates you can modify. Figuring out how to make a cheat sheet on Google Docs will be super easy if you are already familiar with the program, but don’t feel like you have to do this if you’ve never used these online programs before.
3. Include memory tricks that work well for you.
There are tons of memory tricks out there for you to choose from. Take some time to figure out which memory tricks work best for helping you remember and recall information, and be sure to include those in your cheat sheet. This will help your cheat sheet be as effective as possible for you.
Association with color: If you are someone who associates most things with color, this is a great option for you. Maybe you think of orange when you think of a particular event, or the name of the event reminds you of the name of a color. Whatever the reason is, try finding specific reasons why things on your cheat sheet are written in specific colors. That way, when you need to remember something during the test, you’ll be able to recall the color and better build connections.
Write a mnemonic device: A mnemonic is a way to help you remember a pattern or order using letters or words. The most commonly used mnemonic is “Pink Elephants Must Dance And Sing” for the order of operations, but you can make up any that works for you. For example, if you need to memorize the order of different rulers, try thinking of a sentence or phrase where the first letter of each word is the same as the first letter of each name of the ruler. That way, all you have to do during the test is remember your mnemonic device.
Create visual charts and relationships: For a more visual learner, you can try drawing out diagrams, charts, or schematics showing the relationships between different sections on your cheat sheet. You can do this using arrows or give your cheat sheet a flow. That way, you can study the material in order, and you will begin to associate each section with those around it, making it easier for you to recall later.
These are only a few of the many, many memory tools that are out there. Finding a memory tool that works for you and can be integrated into your cheat sheet is a great way to help make your cheat sheet as effective and helpful as possible.
Wrapping Things Up: 3 Tips to Create Epic Study Cheat Sheets
We all know that studying isn’t that fun, but is essential to your success in school. Hopefully, you understand why we love using cheat sheets to help us study. Not only does creating a cheat sheet help kick start your studying, but using it is easy and customizable to your preferences. With our top tips and favorite tricks, we know you’ll be creating fantastic study cheat sheets in no time!
