STUDY LESS, SLEEP MORE, AND GET BETTER GRADES - ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER

STUDY LESS, SLEEP
MORE, AND GET
BETTER GRADES
14 Simple,
Practical
Techniques That
Will Help You to
Study Smarter,
Not Harder
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
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DEAR STUDENTS
I’m happy that you have come across this book
because I believe that it will help you a lot.
My name is Ajarn Albert.
You can also call me Ajarn Elisha.
I have a lot of teaching experience.
I’ve been teaching part-time at the English
Department of Chiang Mai University for
over 15 years.
This means that I have been teaching for over
30 semesters.
I have taught a lot of English classes and met
many thousands of students.
I love my students and really would like them
to study well and have success in their student
life and the future.
This is my heart.
I have written already two books for teachers
about teaching methods and strategies that will
help them to teach in a more effective studentcentered
way.
In short, to teach in a way that will benefit the
students the most.
But this book is for you—the students.
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Hi there!

I will share in this book some tips and
strategies that will help you a lot to study
more effectively.
Please enjoy reading, and I hope you will
also put into practice what you are learning
through this book.
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YOU NEED THE RIGHT
TOOLS AND STRATEGIES
Imagine that you wanted to cook, and you
needed to cut up this piece of meat.
But all you have is this breakfast knife.
Would you be able to do it?
Maybe.
But would it take you long?
Would it be awkward?
Yes.
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This will do the job properly.

But now imagine that you have the right tool.
A very sharp kitchen knife.
Then cutting the meat would be very easy for
you.
It is the same when you are studying at school.
You need to have the right study tool and
strategies so that you can study effectively.
You don’t need to study hard.
If you can study smart.
If you have very effective study methods and
tools.
Then you will be able to study less and at the
same time get better results.
Study less.
And get better grades.
How does that sound?
Good, right?
I will share with you some useful techniques
so you can become a brilliant student.
By studying less.
And getting better grades at the same time.
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A CONVERSATION AT A
COFFEE SHOP.
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EXAM WEEK
About two weeks ago, I went to one of the
computer rooms of Chiang Mai university
near the main library.
I worked for a couple of hours, and then I went
to grab a coffee in the Amazon coffee shop
next door.
As I entered the coffee shop, three students
caught my attention.
They were huddled together on a table: one
girl and two boys. The girl was entirely
coverred by her hoody—you could only see
her fondling a mobile phone. One boy was
reading a book (his phone was right next to
the textbook). Aand another boy who was on
his phone and the textbook lay on the table.
The name of the game is to study
more effectively—not harder.
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“I can’t let you go.”

After I got my cafe Latte, I walked up to
them and talked to them a bit.
They were all preparing for an upcoming
exam.
I had just finished writing my other book,
“How to teach EFL at a Thai university with
Minumum Efforts but Maximum Results” .
In this book I talk about how we need to be
able to manage the way we use social media
if we want to be effective in any way.
All three of them were aware that the way
they were preparing for the exam was not
the best.
When I suggested that they could turn their
phones off while they were studying—or
leave them at home —one boy fully admitted
what he was completely addicted.
He said,
“No, I couldn’t do that.”
Even as we were talking, he kept looking at
his phone, and checking some updates.
The other boy was agreeing with me.
He said, “Yes, I will do this. Tomorrow.”
The girl also was letting me know that she
was fully aware that what she was doing
had more to do with killing time than with
studying.
All these three students were ‘studying.’
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They were getting ready for an exam.
But they were not doing it effectively.
Maybe another student who was studying
effectively for 2 hours in the morning, and
then spend the whole afternoon playing
football with his friends could do better than
those students at the exam.
So you need to learn how to study effectively.
Not hard.
But how to study smart.
In this book I will share with you some
simple but effetive study strategies.
For example,
- Learn to unhook from social media
- Create your own learning space
- Focus,
- Use Parkinson’s Law
And others.
She is smart—she is turning it off.
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CONTENTS
YOU NEED THE RIGHT TOOLS AND STRATEGIES 7
A CONVERSATION AT A COFFEE SHOP.
EXAM WEEK 13
SIMPLE, PRACTICAL, STRATEGIES
1 LEARN TO UNHOOK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA 27
2 CREATE YOUR OWN LEARNING SPACE. 31
3 FOCUS. 35
4 FOCUS ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT. 37
5 USE A NOTEBOOK. 41
6 WRITE THINGS DOWN. 43
7 LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’. 45
7 FIRST THINGS FIRST. 47
8 SLEEP. 51
9 USE PARKINSON’S LAW. 55
10 HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR
TEACHER. 61
11 ADOPT A CHANGE MINDSET. 63
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12 PLAN YOUR SCHEDULE WISELY. 67
13 PRIORITIZE. 69
14 ADOPT A BIRDSEYE VIEW. 73
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To study well,
you need
to learn to
unhook from
social media.
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So you can
focus.
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Cracking these nuts can be fun
and easy—if you have the right
tool.
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SIMPLE, PRACTICAL,
STRATEGIES
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Unhook, first.

1 LEARN TO UNHOOK
FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.
TO BE ABLE to study effectively, you need
to learn to control social media.
And not let social media control you.
Put the phone aside when you are studying.
Completely.
Put it in another room.
Turn it off.
So you can’t hear any notification sounds.
Why is that?
Every time you allow social media to break
your focus, it is harder for you to get back to
the same level of attention than before.
I recently had a chat with my friend Daniel.
Daniel is a Thai student who is, at this
moment, doing a Ph.D. program.
As part of the program, he has had to study
in France last year for a few months.
Daniel enjoys what he is doing, and he is a
keen learner who understands the change
mindset. (I will talk about this a bit later.)
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This creature will bite you severely if you let it.

I had a chat with Daniel a few weeks ago
around exam time.
I was telling Daniel that I am writing this book
for students, and I tell them to put social media
aside when they are studying.
Daniel was doing the same thing in his classes.
He put his phone aside and focused on the
teaching.
So that when exam time came, he just needed
to review his notes.
He already knew what was essential for him
to focus on because he had paid attention in
class.
That is key.
If you put your phone aside and focus on
learning in class, and take notes, then you will
need to study less later.
But those students who are constantly on their
phones in class needed to study much harder
later.
And it was not so clear for them what they
needed to focus on as well.
So their grades were not so good.
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This does it for him.

2 CREATE YOUR OWN
LEARNING SPACE.
WHEN YOU are studying, make sure that you
do it somewhere where you are not distracted
by anyone.
Create your own learning space.
Maybe you like to study in a library.
Or at home.
Make sure that you create an environment
where other people cannot disturb you while
you are studying.
So that you can fully focus on what you are
doing.
Then you will be much more effective.
You will need to study less.
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This does it for her.

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She is good to go.

3 FOCUS.
FULLY FOCUS on what you are doing.
So when you are studying, fully focus on that.
Don’t try to do many things at the same time.
Like multi-tasking.
Scientists are now saying that multi-tasking
(doing many things at the same tine) is not so
effective.
You are more effective if you focus on one
thing at a time, and do it with all your heart.
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Luckily, the bull hasn’t figured out yet that he
should focus on blue and not red.

4 FOCUS ON WHAT IS
IMPORTANT.
IT IS KEY that you focus, yes.
But it is also critical that you focus on what is
essential—on what is most important.
For example, when you are preparing for an
exam, make sure that you know exactly what
the exam will be about.
For example, in some courses, you may be
tested on English vocabulary a lot.
Then you should focus on learning vocabulary.
Write down key vocabulary in a note-book and
then make sure that you learn those words.
(We will later talk about that it is better to use
a physical note-book where you write things
down by hand than just writing it in an i-pad.)
You need to focus on your clear goals.
So, find out first what it is that you need to
study.
Then you have a clear goal.
There is a good story about rafting.
A good rafting teacher will always teach
people who are learning how to raft one
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This way.

principle first.
He will say,
“When you are in the boat, I will always point
to where I want the boat to go.”
“Don’t worry about any rocks or sticks that
you will see in the water.”
“I will not point to these rocks or sticks, but I
will always point to where I want the boat to
go.”
“So you need to paddle exactly int he direction
I tell you, and not worry about the rocks or the
sticks.”
This is so important.
In life, we need to have clear goals.
Then we can focus on reaching our goals.
We should not focus on what we don’t want
to have.
We need to focus on what we want to have.
Then our chance to get it is higher.
So when you are studying, you need to focus
on what you want to achieve.
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Oh, no!
Good!
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5 USE A NOTEBOOK.
THERE is something about using a physical
notebook.
You can take notes on a laptop or iPod as well.
Yes.
But, it is more effective to use a physical
notebook.
We remember better when we are writing
things down physically.
Not just type.
But write.
(I will talk more about this in the next chapter.)
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6 WRITE THINGS DOWN.
WHEN WE write things down with a pencil or
pen, we remember things best.
When we type a word on a phone, laptop or
a computer, our brain does not need to work
much.
Because we are only pressing on letters.
But when we write actual letters down on
paper, then the brain has to work harder.
So we will remember better.
For example, the word ‘day.’
If we type it, we just need to press on the letter
‘d’ ‘a’ and ‘y.’
But if we write the same word by hand, we
need to create the letter d, a, and y
For example, day.
When we are writing something, the brain
needs to work harder.
That is why we remember better.
That’s why I would like to suggest to you that
you write things down in a physical note-book.
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Knowing how to say ‘no’ is as
important as knowing how to
say ‘yes.’
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7 LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’.
THIS IS so important.
To study well, you need to learn to say ‘no.’
First, decide what your priorities are, and then
you can learn to say ‘no’ to things that do not
fit with your priorities.
Learning to say ‘no’ is as important as learning
to say ‘yes.’
If you know what you clearly say ‘yes’ to, then
you will also be better able to say ‘no’ to things
that lie outside your focus.
This does not mean that you should only do
things that are entirely relevant to you.
You can do other things, yes.
But only if you have done the important things
first.
We will more talk about this in the next chapter,
‘First things first.’
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You have the most mental energy in the
morning.

7 FIRST THINGS FIRST.
YOU NEED to learn to prioritize.
Do the most important things first.
Don’t do other things yet that are less important,
if you haven’t yet done what is most important.
This sounds simple, right?
But it is so important.
Otherwise, you will run out of energy and time
to do the things that matter much.
That’s because our mental power is limited.
It is full in the monring.
And then as we go through the day and do
things where we need to think, our mental
power goes down.
That is why it is so improtant that you don’t
allow social media to steal energy from you.
If you always look at social media, especially
in the morning, it will steal mind power from
you.
You are like a battery with a limited amount
of energy.
So use the best time of the day, when you have
the most energy for the things that are most
important.
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Your amount of mindpower is limited.

Do them first.
Later, do other things that are less important.
When you have less power.
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This cat is an excellent sleeper.
This does it for me.
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8 SLEEP.
SLEEP WELL.
This sounds simple.
But it is essential.
When you rest well, then you can run well.
There is only so much that our brain can absorb
when we are learning or studying.
That’s why we need to learn to rest well.
Sometimes I tell my students, “If you want to
get better grades, sleep more!”
When I say that, they are always laughing.
But in a sense, this is true.
Especially when it comes to the night before
an exam.
My advice to you is this.
Finish up your studying, let’s say at 10 PM and
then go to bed.
Make sure you have a good night’s sleep
before you take an exam on the next day.
Don’t keep studying until late at night.
Because it is not effective.
Study when you have a lot of mental energy.
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For better grades, sleep more.

Use your energy up for important activities.
Then, when you are tired and feel fatigued,
rest.
Sleep.
Do something that refreshes you.
If you like, you can study again when you feel
refreshed.
Repeat the same cycle.
But don’t study when you are tired or cannot
concentrate because this kind of studying is
not useful.
When you are full of energy, then study
effectively.
Otherwise, rest.
Because studying for a long time ineffectively,
doesn’t benefit at all.
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Having a deadline will
help you to get things
done.

9 USE PARKINSON’S
LAW.
THERE was a person named Cyril Northcote
Parkinson.
He discovered a powerful principle.
It goes like this.
People tend to complete tasks, depending on
how much time they have to do them.
So, if they have a lot of time to do a task, it
will take them long.
But the quality of the work will not be higher.
So if you have to do something, set yourself a
reasonable deadline.
But do not give yourself too much time to do
something.
Otherwise, it will take you that long.
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If you understand parkinson’s law, you can
get a lot of work done in a very short amount
of time.
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It’s like there is a little fire.
If the fire is still little, it is not so dangerous,
and you might not react so quickly when you
try to put it out.
But the bigger the fire gets, the quicker and
more forceful you need to be to put it out.
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So, image you have a deadline.
By that deadline you need to have finished
some work.
If the deadline is still far off, you are not so
motivated to get the work done.
Because you still have enough time.
But when you get closer to the deadline, you
will feel that it is more and more critical that
you get it done.
Because you don’t have much time left.
And when you have very little time left, then
you will feel that now you must get it done
quickly.

And you usually can get it done quickly.
Because you focus all your energy and attention on getting
it done.
This is called ‘Parkinson’s law.’
So if you understand this, it can help you.
You can look at the deadline by when you need to have
finished a task.
And just before the deadline (in a short amount of time),
you work with all your energy and focus on the task.
And get it done within a short amount of time.
Usually, you will do well.
Even better than your friends who might have spent a lot of
time on the same task.
But when they were working on it, they didn’t focus as
much as you did.
So, if you know this technique, you can get a lot of work
done in a short amount of time.
Remember
Parkinson’s law.
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Smart students. They are thinking ahead.

10 HAVE A GOOD
RELATIONSHIP WITH
YOUR TEACHER.
TRY TO establish a good relationship with
your teaching.
Make sure he or she gets to know your name.
If your teacher asks for volunteers to do
something, be the one who volunteers.
Help willingly.
Ask the teacher some questions.
In that way, your teacher will remember you
and have a good impression of you.
This will have a positive effect on your grade.
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11 ADOPT A CHANGE
MINDSET.
AS A STUDENT, you are a learner.
A learner is someone who learns things by
trying and making mistakes.
It is essential to understand that you cannot
learn anything without making mistakes.
So, when you understand that, you will feel ok
about making mistakes.
You will ok about trying.
Because you understand that you can only
learn something by making mistakes and
improving.
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When Thomas Edison invented
the lightbulb, he didn’t
give up when it didn’t work
straightaway. He kept trying
and trying. Edison finally got it
right after trying more than a
thousand times. He understood
that there is only one way we
can get better at something:
by keep trying, by making
mistakes, and by learning from
our mistakes.
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We can only improve in a skill if we keep
practicing.
The more we practice, the better we will get.
So, if you understand that principle, you will
feel good about learning.
Because you will no longer be afraid of making
mistakes.
Because you understand that making mistakes
is part of the learning process.
You learn from your mistakes.
And you keep improving.
You understand the cycle of success. (See
below.)
That’s it.
The cycle of success
SUCCEED.
IMPROVE + FAIL AGAIN.
IMPROVE + FAIL AGAIN.
FAIL.
Failures are stepping
stones to success.
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This man is a famous architect. His name
is Aguste Perret. He developed amazing
skills in planning. He was a pioneer in the
use of reinforced concrete.

12 PLAN YOUR
SCHEDULE WISELY.
BE SMART in planning your schedule.
Do important things early in the morning,
when you have a lot of energy and mind power.
Do less important things later in the day.
When your energy level and mindpower has
gone down already.
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Some things are more important than others.

13 PRIORITIZE.
SOME THINGS are more important than
others.
So if you do a ‘to-do-list’ some things on that
list will be more important than others.
Do those more important things first.
And when you have them done, then do the
less important things.
Maybe you can’t finish everything that you
were planning to do.
That is ok.
But if you start with the most important things
first, and get them done first, then it doesn’t
matter much if you didn’t get the less important
things done.
So look at your ‘to-do’ list.
Decide what is most important.
You can even rank the items.
Put a # 1 next to the item that is most important.
Put a # 2 next to the item that is second-most
important.
And so on.
Then do what is most important first. After
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Aim at doing what brings success.

After that, do what is second most important.
And so on.
This is a simple method.
But very powerful.
It will help you to get the important things
done that really matter.
If you don’t do that, you might start to do
something that is not so important.
Then you get tired, and your time runs out,
but you still haven’t done what is the most
important things yet.
Don’t do that.
Use this simple principle to do what is most
important first.
And you will get better results.
With less efforts.
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I see you.

14 ADOPT A BIRDSEYE
VIEW.
BEFORE you start anything, try to get a
birdseye view.
Try to get an overall picture.
For example, when you start to study in a new
class.
Try to get an overview what the class is about.
Ask yourself,
- “What is the textbook about?”
- “What are the course objectives?” (In other
words, what am I going to learn in this course.)
- “How will I be evaluated?”
- “What are the important deadlines for
assignments (like projects, presentations,
etc.)?
- “When will the exams (like the mid-term
exam, the final exam, and in-class exams)
take place?
- And so on.
This will help you to get a birdseye view of
the course.
And when you have a good birdseye view of
the course, then you can plan much better.
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THIS BIRD HAS A
LOT OF OVERSIGHT.

Because you are aware of the whole picture.
Then you know how the individual parts (like
exams) fit into the whole picture.
You will be like an eagle that rises up high into
the sky and gets an overview what is going on
down below.
You will, too, be like a bird that is pecking for
food on the street level from day-to-day.
This bird doesn’t even know that not far from
where it is pecking, there might be a better
place to look for food.
So if you have a good overview of a course,
then you will also know which activities and
projects are more important and which are less
important.
So you put more effort into the projects and
assignments that are more important.
Then you will get better results.
Without needing to work harder.
THIS BIRD
HAS LITTLE
OVERSIGHT.
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By learning to get a bird-eye view first before
you start anything, you learn to do things
smartly.
More effectively.
With less effort.
Imagine the two birds again.
If only the second bird could rise above the
level of the houses and get an overview, it
would help a lot.
Because then it could say,
“I will move to this location instead of picking
for food so hard in this place all the time.
“In that other place, I can get more food by
working less.”
So if you learn to apply this principle of
getting an oversight first before you start
doing something, it will help you to study less
but get better results.
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Study Less, Sleep More, and Get Better Grades: 14 Simple,
Practical Techniques That Will Help You to Study Smarter,
Not Harder
Copyright 2021 © Albert L. Oberdorfer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronical, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written
permission of the author.
PICTURE CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of Pexels.
com and Pixabay.com. The images on page 2-3, 60, 61, and
63 are by the author. Any inadvertent omissions can be
rectified in future editions.
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