Don't make this big mistake!

I was recently approached by a worried student who was struggling to remember his theory. He was spending hours reading the CIMA Study Text but simply couldn't remember what he'd just read - nothing was going in! He talked me through his revision technique and basically we soon released that he didn't have a strategy. He simply spent hours reading through the CIMA Study Text over and over again. 

His biggest mistake was that he was not taking notes. I suggested that he should spend one hour on a specific subject annotating the text and capturing the key points as he went along. I am pleased to say that he was quickly able to take me through the CIMA subject in great detail much to his own surprise!

Sometimes it isn't enough to simply read through a piece of text - in my experience you have to take things a step further like this student did. Take notes as you go along. The process of reading a portion of text and then translating this into a written note helps your brain to consume and understand the information. It also helps you to remember it at a later date.

To help you do this really well, here are 8 simple but effective note-taking tips:

1. Don't write down every word - be selective and aim to capture the key points 

2. Keep your notes well spaced - clutter is difficult to read and learn 

3. Identify the relationships between topics - think about these links as you learn new subjects 

4. Be an active reader - concentrate and stay focused 

5. Don't be strict on your handwriting, spelling and grammar - as long you can understand it later! 

6. Revise as soon as possible after you've taken the notes - this will help you remember them 

7. Colour or highlighting is a useful way of breaking up your notes - it will make them memorable 

8. Don't write too many notes at the beginning and not enough at the end - consistency is key!

Note-taking is vital to success in the exams; it can make the difference between passing and failing. We offer our CIMA Study Text in a printable format as we know many of our students like to make notes on a hardcopy as they go.

Find out more about our free and printable CIMA Study Texts here - http://www.astranti.com/cima/strategic/ostudytext.html