How to Become a Straight-A Student

by Cal Newport

If you remember one lesson from this book, it should be the lesson of this case study: A little organization goes a hell of a long way.

Over time, these extended responses began to paint a clear picture. When the straight-A students answered “I don’t defeat procrastination,” they really meant to say “I don’t defeat the urge to procrastinate.” And this makes perfect sense. To put it simply, some work just plain sucks, and you, like the straight-A students interviewed for this book, will want to procrastinate on this sucky work.

Therefore, the goal in this step is not to teach you how to love all work and never feel like procrastinating ever again. Instead, I’m going to describe some targeted strategies to help you sidestep this unavoidable urge when it arises—not destroy it altogether.

They don’t rely only on willpower and good intentions, but instead deploy an arsenal of specific, tested rules that help them short-circuit...

The nutritional rules for maximizing your mental energy while studying are simple:

1. Drink water constantly.

2. Monitor your caffeine intake carefully.

3. Treat food as a source of energy, not satisfaction

4. Don’t skip meals.

The idea is to build a routine in which you use the same reserved time slot each week to do the same thing, with the goal of transforming these slices of work into a habit, something you no longer have to convince yourself to do.

QUESTION: When is the best time to study? ANSWER: Early.

QUESTION: Where should you study? ANSWER: In isolation.

Identify a number of isolated study spots spread out across campus and rotate through these hidden locations when you study.

QUESTION: How long should you study? ANSWER: No more than one hour at a time without a break.

Through trial and error, dozens of high-performing students have individually stumbled across this same technique—study for an hour, then take a break—so you should trust it too.

The key to doing well in these courses is straightforward: Identify the big ideas. That’s what it all comes down to. Exams in nontechnical courses focus entirely on big ideas—they require you to explain them, contrast them, and reevaluate them in the light of new evidence.

To refresh your memory, the core of this strategy is that all big ideas can be reduced to a question, evidence, and conclusion.

In a reading assignment, the question can usually be found in the title or perhaps explained in the first few sentences. Record this in your notes, and label it clearly.

Next, look for the author’s conclusion

Search the first few paragraphs; this is typically where the conclusion is hidden. Also check the final few paragraphs. Often a thesis is proposed at the beginning of an article but then refined slightly at the end once all of the supporting evidence has been presented. When you feel confident in your understanding of the conclusion, record it carefully in your notes.

Now comes the easy part: Skim the entire reading. Don’t take notes yet. Instead, use a pencil to make checkmarks next to important paragraphs that jump out at you.

You don’t need to capture everything. Your goal is simply to mark a few solid examples that justify the conclusion as the answer to the question.

Once you have skimmed through the entire reading, go back and find your check marks. For each mark, record in your notes a concise summary of the corresponding point. Label each point in your notes with the page number where you found it.

the most effective way to imprint a concept is to first review it and then try to explain it, unaided, in your own words.