The Real Reason Your Grades Don't Improve Even After Studying for Long Hours

In the previous article, I talked about how "learning is not about memorization, but about understanding."

Knowledge that is understood connects with other knowledge, making it harder to forget.
On the other hand, knowledge memorized by rote without understanding its meaning is quickly forgotten once the exam is over.

That is why true learning is not about "memorizing," but about "understanding."

So, should you study for long hours to deepen your understanding?

Many people believe that "the longer you study, the more your grades will improve."
Because of this, many people sit at their desks from morning until night, even sacrificing sleep to study.

However, in reality, while some people study for hours without seeing the improvement they expect, others learn efficiently in a short amount of time and achieve great results.

This difference is not due to a difference in ability.
It is a difference in how one thinks about studying and whether one is learning in a way that suits the brain's mechanisms.

When I took the Customs Specialist exam, I didn't study by memorizing the laws article by article.
Of course, reading the articles is necessary, but what I focused on even more was understanding the intent behind them—asking, "Why does this law exist?" and "What is the purpose of this system?"

When you can understand the intent, the individual articles no longer look like scattered pieces of information, but rather like they are connected by a single thread.
As a result, I was able to grasp the big picture without having to memorize everything, allowing me to learn efficiently even in a short period.

Also, I did not force myself to study for long hours.
I focused when I could concentrate, and rested when I was tired. Then, I got enough sleep and reviewed again the next morning.

Repeating this process helped me truly make the knowledge my own.
Studying does not yield results just because you keep doing it for a long time.
What is important is to create a state in which your brain can learn most easily within a limited amount of time.

This time, I will talk about the mindset for learning efficiently, with the theme of "the reason why your grades don't improve even if you study for long hours."

<Chapter 1> Study Time Does Not Equal Results

"I studied for 8 hours today."
When I hear that, I want to say, "You worked hard."

Conversely, when someone says, "I could only study for 2 hours today," some people might panic and think, "I have to study more."

Since we were children, we have naturally acquired the idea that "the longer you study, the better the results."
Even at school, while we are told to "study more" or "increase your study time," we are rarely given the opportunity to learn "how to study efficiently."

Because of this, many people think that "sitting at a desk for a long time" is studying itself.
But is that really true?

For example, have you ever had the experience of being distracted by your smartphone while your book was open, or reading the same page over and over without the content sinking in?

Or, you might think, "I studied all day today," but find that you can barely remember anything the next day.

This is by no means rare.
This is because "the time spent sitting at a desk" and "the time the brain was learning" are not the same.

What is truly important in studying is not how many hours you sat at your desk, but how much you concentrated and how much you understood.

As an extreme example, it is not uncommon for someone who studied with focus for 2 hours to have learned more than someone who sat at their desk for 8 hours while tired.

In other words, "time spent studying" and "amount learned" are not necessarily proportional.

Of course, a certain amount of study time is necessary.
Knowledge doesn't just appear without doing anything.
However, even if you just increase the time, if your concentration is gone, learning efficiency will drop significantly.

You might feel satisfied with studying for a long time and feel relieved, thinking, "I studied this much today, so I'm fine."
But what you really need to check is not "how many hours you studied," but "what you understood and what you are now able to do."

Studying is not about stacking up hours.
It is about understanding knowledge and stacking it up as your own ability.

People who improve their grades do not just chase study hours; they value "what I learned today."
This change in mindset is the first step to significantly changing the efficiency of your learning.

<Chapter 2> If You Understand, You Can Reduce the Amount of Study

One of the biggest reasons why study time becomes long is the attempt to "memorize everything."

At school, it is common to read textbooks from beginning to end, underline important parts, and memorize them by repeating the process over and over.

Of course, there is knowledge that must be memorized.
However, if you try to memorize everything in the same way, studying becomes a painful task with no end in sight.

That is where the perspective of "understanding" becomes important.

When I took the Customs Specialist exam, I didn't study by rote-memorizing the laws article by article.
There are many legal articles, and if you include detailed exceptions, it takes a huge amount of time just to try to memorize everything.

So, what I focused on was understanding the intent: "Why was this law created?" and "What is the purpose of this article?"
Every law has a purpose.
When you understand that purpose, you can see "why it is set up this way."
Then, the articles that previously looked scattered can be understood as a single flow.

For example, it is the same when looking at a map.
It is difficult to memorize every single road, but if you understand the terrain of the whole town and the connections of the main roads, it becomes easier to naturally remember the small streets.

Studying is exactly the same.
When you understand the big picture, each piece of knowledge begins to have meaning.
Then, while the amount you need to learn doesn't necessarily decrease, the "amount you have to force yourself to memorize" definitely decreases.

This is because knowledge turns into "knowledge you can recall" as it connects with other knowledge.

This is not limited to law.
In mathematics, it is understanding why a formula holds true.
In English, it is understanding the rules of grammar and the meaning of word order.
In history, it is understanding the background and causal relationships of events.

In any subject, those who understand "why it is that way" can retain knowledge longer and more deeply.

Understanding is not just a technique to reduce memorization.
It is a way of learning that connects knowledge not as points, but as lines, and further expands those lines into a surface.

That is why you can learn efficiently without unnecessarily increasing your study time.

Instead of trying to "memorize everything," think "let's understand it first."
That shift in awareness is the major turning point that turns study time into results.

<Chapter 3> Human Concentration Has Limits

"I'll study for 10 hours today."
There are people who have set such goals.

Of course, there are days when you have to study for a long time, such as before an exam.
However, sitting at a desk for a long time and learning with concentration are not the same thing.

Our brains are not built to maintain high concentration for many hours.
Even if your brain is working well when you first start studying, as time passes, fatigue accumulates and your concentration gradually declines.

Then, even if you are reading a book, the content doesn't enter your head, you read the same page over and over, or you make more careless mistakes while solving problems.
Even so, there are many people who force themselves to continue because "I haven't studied enough yet."

But was that time really high-learning-effect time?
Rather than continuing for hours in a tired state, taking a break and refreshing your head can sometimes result in understanding more in a shorter amount of time.

In my own study for the Customs Specialist exam, I didn't focus on just sitting at my desk for long hours.
I learned in bursts when I could concentrate, and took bold breaks when I got tired. In exchange, I focused on thoroughly understanding the content while I was studying.

I valued "studying with concentration," not "studying for a long time."

Studying is not like running a marathon at a constant pace.
Rather, it is like repeating many short-distance sprints.
I was in the track and field club in junior high school, but I wasn't good at long distances like marathons, and I was strictly a sprinter.
Maybe that's just my constitution.

Learn with concentration, rest appropriately, and then concentrate again.
Because of this rhythm, the brain can maintain high performance.

Instead of setting a goal for "how many hours I studied today," try setting a goal for "how much I was able to concentrate and understand today."
That small change in awareness should significantly change the efficiency of your study.

<Chapter 4> Sleep Is Part of Study Time

"The exam is coming up, so I'll study late into the night today."
There are many people who have had that thought.

Certainly, it seems that if you increase your study time, your knowledge will increase by that much.
However, sacrificing sleep to study is not necessarily an efficient learning method.

In fact, our brains are working even while we are sleeping.
They organize what we learned during the day and consolidate the necessary information so that it can remain as long-term memory.

In other words, sleep is not time spent interrupting study.
It is an important time for consolidating what you have learned.

Conversely, in a state of sleep deprivation, concentration drops, and the ability to understand new things weakens.
A problem I could understand yesterday, but for some reason, I can't solve it today.
Even if I read the text, the content doesn't enter my head.

For those who have had such experiences, sleep deprivation might have been the cause.

When I was studying for the Customs Specialist exam, I also tried to ensure I got enough sleep.
I experienced many times that rather than forcing myself to study late into the night, sleeping well that night and reviewing again the next morning helped the content enter my head better.

There is an idea that "the harder you work, the more you should cut back on sleep," but the truth is the opposite.

People who achieve results value the state in which their brain can perform at its best.
Getting enough sleep is by no means being lazy.
Rather, it is an active strategy for learning efficiently.

Studying is not determined only by the time spent at a desk.
Understand, concentrate, and sleep.
Only with this series of flows does knowledge become your own.

Instead of "sacrificing sleep to study," "study by making sleep your ally."
That shift in thinking will significantly change your learning efficiency.

<Chapter 5> Reviewing the Next Morning Consolidates Memory

So, after understanding, studying with concentration, and getting enough sleep, what should you do?

What I would like to recommend isreviewing for even a short time the next morning.

When it comes to studying, people tend to focus only on "learning new things one after another."
However, what is truly important is to consolidate what you have learned as your own knowledge.
Reviewing the next morning is effective for that purpose.

When I was studying for the Customs Specialist exam, I made it a habit to check the content I learned at night again the next morning.
Then, strangely enough, there were many times when the content was easier to understand than the previous night.

It was not rare that I could easily understand the meaning of articles that felt difficult the night before, or naturally recall how to solve problems.

This is not a special talent.
It is because recalling the memory that was organized by sleep once more makes the knowledge even more firmly consolidated.

Also, reviewing the next morning has another major benefit.
That is, you can identify the "parts you thought you understood."

Even if you think you "memorized" it at night, if you cannot recall it when you try to explain it the next morning, it means you haven't understood it well enough yet.
Conversely, if you can explain it in your own words, that knowledge is definitely acquired.

In other words, reviewing is not just reading over again.
"Recalling," "explaining," and "checking your understanding" is true reviewing.

The learning flow I recommend is very simple.

↓* Understand new content on the night of the first day.
↓* Don't push yourself that day, and get enough sleep.
↓* And the next morning, it doesn't have to be long, but review while recalling the content you learned the previous day.

Just by repeating this cycle, knowledge will gradually and surely accumulate.

People who are good at studying do not have special talents.
They are just continuing to learn in a way that suits the brain's mechanisms.

Rather than studying for a long time, understand, sleep, and review the next morning.
This habit is the first step to learning efficiently and creating knowledge that is hard to forget for a lifetime.

<Conclusion>

"The longer you study, the more your grades will improve."
This idea, which many people believe as a matter of course, is not necessarily correct.

Of course, a certain amount of study time is necessary to acquire knowledge.
However, what is truly important is not how many hours you studied, but how effectively you used that time.

* Learn while understanding.
* Study thoroughly during times when you can concentrate.
* Get enough sleep.
* And review the next morning to consolidate memory.

Accumulating learning in this way turns knowledge from "something you memorized" into "something you can use."

When I challenged myself to the Customs Specialist exam, I also valued "learning by understanding" more than "studying for a long time."
As a result, the legal articles became knowledge connected by purpose and intent, rather than independent pieces of information, and I was able to learn efficiently even in a short period.

Studying is not determined only by the amount of effort.
Making an effort with the right method is the shortcut to results.

In this series, with the theme of "learning methods that schools don't teach," I am sharing understanding-based learning that anyone can practice.

Studying is not a talent; it changes significantly depending on how you learn.
If you have been worried that "my grades don't improve even though I study for long hours," from today, instead of just chasing study hours, try to be conscious of "how much I was able to understand."

That small change in awareness should significantly change your learning from now on.
Next time, with the theme of "common points of people who are good at studying," I will explain the mindset and learning habits that people whose grades improve have in common.

Let's look together at "learning methods for those who improve," which anyone can practice starting today, not based on talent or special ability.
Thank you for reading.
I would be happy if you could give me a like, follow, or tip.
I look forward to your continued support.

#StudyLog