Sticky notes are a great option that we can use to increase our productivity in almost every place like school, office, kitchen, etc. In addition, many students, including my friends and me, use sticky notes to study effectively and easily remember special facts.
As sticky notes come in various colors and shapes, we can use them in many tasks, such as making notes, study plans, flashcards, and reminders. We can also use sticky notes to make things like wall art to improve our creativity and make our environment enjoyable.
Nowadays, as computers and mobile phones have sticky note apps, we can also maintain sticky notes digitally. But using a computer can be a distraction during studying. So it's much better to use actual sticky notes than digital ones. So today, let's talk about how we can use these sticky notes in our learning process to study effectively.
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19 uses of sticky notes while studying
1. As bookmarks
One of the main benefits of using sticky notes as bookmarks is that they won't slide off the book even if the book falls. Besides our ordinary bookmarks, we can write important things we want on sticky note bookmarks. For example, if you find something you need help understanding, you may need to look it up on the internet. On these occasions, you can put a sticky note there as a bookmark so you remember to study it further.
Using just one bookmark can be problematic when multiple people use your book because not everyone knows which page they should be reading. In that case, you can use some Arrow sticky notes and write the names of each person on them and stick them on their respective pages. With this method, your page will not get mixed up with other's pages. For me, sticky notes are the best solution to my problems with bookmarks.
2. Use as flashcards
Sticky notes have two kinds of unique qualities for making flashcards. The first is that they are easy to carry anywhere since they are small. The other quality is that as sticky notes come in various colors, we can make colorful cards, making us more interested while studying. I remember the way I used sticky tabs to memorize hundreds of chemical equations in school. As they were easy to carry, I always kept them in my pocket. So I could study everything written on sticky notes by reminding them frequently. So if you are going to make flashcards, sticky notes are the best option you have.
3. Leave additional notes.
Actually, this was the main reason I started using sticky notes. When I studied my old notes, I didn't have much space in the notebook to add additional information. So I bought a pack of sticky notes and added extra details by writing them on a sticky note and pasting it into my book.
Before using sticky notes, I would write the things I wanted to add to the notebook on a piece of paper and stick them in the places I wanted with glue. But pasting an extra page is time-consuming and makes books untidy. So working with sticky notes is a great method as they are easy to use, and since they come in a variety of colors and shapes, they add more beauty to your book.
4. To summarize
One of the most effective ways to attach a summary to any of your books is to use sticky notes. We can paste them however we want, even one or more per page. My habit is to make summaries of every lesson in college textbooks. So I usually make summaries on sticky notes and then stick them on the first page of the lesson. So once I read the summary, I can clearly understand the whole lesson without reading all the pages.
5. To write questions
When we self-study, we may get numerous questions from various subjects. Whenever you get such a problem, it's much better if you can ask your friends or your class teacher about that question and solve it. But I sometimes cannot do that, so I use sticky notes to solve this issue easily.
I write the problems I cannot solve on a sticky note and put it in my school bag. So When I go back to college, I won't forget to ask my friends and teachers for further information. Otherwise, if you keep those questions in mind, you'll never be able to ask them because you're less likely to remember them with our other work.
If you can use a separate sticky note pack for this purpose, you'll be able to continue this as a habit. Share this article with your friends and also suggest them to use a separate pack of sticky notes for such occasions. So when everyone gets together at school, you can share questions, discuss with everyone, and find answers together. So It's more effective when you can try this with your friends.
6. As the to-do list
Many students use a computer or mobile phone app to manage their to-do lists, which can distract them from their studies. Because when you have your smartphone in your hand, your mind can force you to have small talk with your friends, browse social networks or play a game. Therefore, having your phone or computer nearby when you are studying is not a good idea, as it can waste your time more than you think. So sticky notes are the best way to keep your to-do list if you are willing to study effectively.
As shown in the image above, you can write your to-do list on a sticky note and stick it on your study table or anywhere you like. Similarly, you can cross it off or put a checkmark each time you finish each task.
If you can organize all the tasks you have to cover by writing them on a sticky note, you can spend the whole day productively without being messy.
7. As a label
We can label our studying tools like books, notes, and folders to manage them properly and find them easily. If you can separate the categories in our bookshelves by placing sticky notes as suitable, it might help you increase your productivity. In addition, you can also use sticky notes to label your other stuff, such as wires, tools, equipment, etc.
8. To make short notes
If you are good at thinking creatively, you can break down even a big lesson by making a mind map, chart, or graph, even in the small space of a sticky note. One benefit of these sticky notes is the sticky surface that allows us to stick them on any surface, such as a book, wall, or door. So we can paste them in a place our eyes tend to look at often instead of pasting them on a book. For example, when studying a subject like History, imagine you have to memorize great characters like artists, scientists, etc. In those cases, you can reserve a sticky note for each character, write their details as a list, and then paste them in a place you always look. Then, seeing them every time will save that data in your long-term memory effortlessly.
9. For corrections
We can find many errors if we go through an essay or a report we have written. It can even be a grammar, spelling, or any other mistake. But if we try to correct them by crossing them out or trying to add additional ideas to the document itself, it can end up being a mess. In such cases, my simple trick to solve that problem is to use sticky tabs. You can stick a tab where the error occurred and write what you need to fix on the sticky tab. This way, your paper will be protected, making your document look beautiful. You can use different sticky notes in various colors for different types of mistakes so you can easily review them later when you read them.
10. To highlight special facts.
When reading a book or a school textbook, we should highlight the important facts and phrases we want to memorize. In that case, finding the required page takes a long time, although we highlight those facts with various colored highlighters. But instead, if we can put an Arrow sticky note on that page with a written description, like in the image below, we can easily find what we want without going through the pages.
Using this method in your study sessions is better if you want to study productively. It also makes it more interesting to participate in learning when your notes become colorful and neat.
11. To organize tasks
To do this, you need to have several packs of sticky notes in some colors and a board or a place to stick them properly. As college students, we have numerous subjects to study, so we need different colors to categorize our tasks in each subject or any other criteria you prefer.
When you get an idea about a task you have to do, just write the task you have to do on a sticky note and stick it on your task board. So when you're done doing that job, you can remove it from the panel. If you're hoping to manage your jobs this way, practice checking your task board every hour, as it helps you work smoothly without missing any tasks you've planned to do.
12. To make a study plan.
I've seen some of my friends make beautiful calendars out of sticky notes. They summarized everything they had to do on each day of the month on sticky notes and creatively organized them like a calendar. But I did not go through this method because I didn't have much time to waste. But once I made a weekly study plan with sticky notes. In my weekly plan, I used seven sticky notes for the 7 days of the week and wrote down all the assignments and subjects I wanted to cover on separate sticky notes.
Suppose you can make a beautiful calendar or weekly plan to manage your study routine. In that case, it motivates you to participate in your learning process by bringing extra beauty to your study room. As I mentioned in the article on how to make a productive study space, a clean, tidy, and comfortable study space can allow you to study productively.
13. As reminders
Have you ever missed the birthday of your loved ones? Tell us about it in the comments section if that has happened to you. I have forgotten many special days like my sister's birthday. That's why I started using reminders abundantly.
Not only that, when we live our daily lives, we also have to do many special things, such as attend special parties and festivals. Examples include meeting friends, attending a friend's party, attending a wedding, or going on a trip. Even if we have a busy schedule with many studies, we have to set aside enough time for those events. So we should use special tricks to not forget those things. The most effective solution to remembering things is to use sticky notes as reminders. You can write all your special tasks on a sticky note and stick it on your door, mirror, or any other place you frequently stay. Because when you see something many times, you can remember it very well.
Suppose you are a person who forgets everything, including bathing and eating, when you are studying. In that case, you should use sticky notes or any other method to remind yourself of your daily activities.
14. To motivate yourself
It's typically hard to motivate yourself every day through the same motivational quote, Isn't it? Usually, if you can start your day with great motivation daily, you can keep working hard throughout the day.
Normally if we stick a motivational quote permanently on our wall, we cannot change it frequently. But if we can use sticky notes in the process of making motivational quotes, we can unstick or change them anytime.
You can also use this method to write your future goals. For example, You can stick a sticky note on your wall and write:
"I'll become the smartest student in my class in the term test."
So every time you see it, that encourages you to study with your aim. You'll get the feeling from your inside that "This is my goal, so I should work harder to achieve my goal."
But if you cannot achieve your target, you can take it off from that place, so it's not much of a shame. It's not a big deal if you didn't achieve your goal exactly as you expected, but it's really a shame if you didn't work hard to reach that goal. And don't worry about the target you didn't achieve, as you at least work hard to achieve your goal.
Try as hard as you can with simple targets by being someone who wins the life, not giving up on the targets. In the article, I further talked about how to stop procrastination and start studying. If you have time, you can also read that article to gain a clear idea.
15. To write topics that need further study.
I usually don't use the computer or mobile phone much when studying. If I have some work that needs to use the internet, I do those work together at a separate time. Because if I use the internet while studying, it can be distracting when I get a lot of notifications through my devices. It also lowers my study productivity and makes me feel lazy to study.
When we learn in class or read a book, we get a lot of questions and terms that we need to google and find the meanings of. Still, if we look them up at the time we are studying, they distract us from our studies, and also, if we try to memorize them until the end of the learning session, they can be forgotten at the end. On occasions like that, I write all the terms, questions, and websites that need further study on a sticky note and stick it to my laptop. So after the learning session, when I have free time, I can go back to my laptop and study the things I listed on the sticky note.
16. To learn vocabulary
My mother tongue is Sinhala, and I learned English as a second language. When I started learning English, I used a lot of sticky notes to practice my English vocabulary.
I wrote an English word on one side and a Sinhala meaning on the other side of the sticky note and memorized each word by checking all the words in my spare time. I then tried to guess and check those words to confirm if I understood the word correctly. So this method helped me increase my English vocabulary quickly and effectively.
So whenever you learn another language, you can try this method. As sticky notes are small in size, you can carry them even in your pocket or purse. So you can practice your vocabulary on the road, on the bus, or anywhere.
17. To write new ideas
Whenever I get an idea for a new article, I write it on a sticky note and place it on my task board. So it doesn't matter even if I forget about them as they are on my task board safely. So when I want to write an article, I just need to go through the task board and choose the ideas that I put there before.
You can also try this method in your learning process as a student. We all have new ideas to do, learn or try new things. Sometimes a great new idea can pop into your mind when you're in the middle of a study session. There is less chance that those new ideas will stay in our minds for long, so the best option you have this time is to write them on a sticky note. So after the learning sessions, you can think more about your ideas in one of your spare time.
Even in your college, you can set up a separate board to put new ideas with the help of your friends and the class teacher. Not only ideas, but you can also put new suggestions, complaints, and many more things on that board. This is also great for enhancing creativity and collaborative work among students.
18. To stop daydreaming
Even though you are ready to study, you mostly tend to daydream while looking at the walls or looking away. As a solution, you can use these sticky notes as reminders to keep studying. You have to draw crosses or write any text that reminds you to focus on studying, like "Hey, FOCUS on the lesson," and stick them in your room.
When you get distracted and start looking around your room, you snap back to reality once you realize you're daydreaming after seeing those crosses and notes. That way, you can also write down any motivational quotes or something that helps you to study so you don't get distracted from your lessons.
19. To decorate your room.
If you are good at creative thinking, you have a chance to beautify your study room or class. Beyond making lesson plans, and schedules, you can try different types of colorful art with sticky notes, like pixel art. Imagine a sticky note as a pixel when you are doing pixel art. Since sticky notes come in various colors, you can use them to make beautiful pixel art on your wall, and it's much easier with the sticky surface on the back.
If you're interested in making large pixel art, you should first sketch it using an online tool like Pixilart. Then you can get on with your actual project with your sticky notes. Otherwise, if you try to make your art without any plan, you will also mess up all your art and your walls by wasting your time.
Types of sticky notes
Square sticky notes
These are normal sticky notes we use all the time, which you can use to make reminders, study plans, and many more works.
Sticky notepads
As sticky notepads are originally printed with lines, you can take notes like writing in a book. These sticky notes are more beneficial than notepads, as we can stick them anywhere due to their sticky surface.
Transparent sticky notes
Normally, when we place a sticky note, we cannot see the content behind the sticky note. But by using transparent sticky notes, you can solve this problem as you can also see the content under the sticky note. So you can use transparent sticky notes whenever you add additional notes to your notebook.
Arrow sticky notes
I mainly use these sticky arrows as bookmarks. Since we can paste them between the pages of the book, keeping the arrowhead facing out, they are very useful for marking a page.
Bubble sticky notes
We can use them to embellish our books. Writing dialogues or important facts using this kind of sticky note makes our learning process more interesting.
Heart sticky notes
We can use them not only to take notes but also to beautify our room. I remember my best friend used these sticky notes to take notes on them and beautify her whole room. Like stars, you can also use sticky notes that come in other shapes.
Sticky tabs
As these are small in size, which allows us to carry them even in our pockets, it is more beneficial to use them as flashcards.
Conclusion
Sticky notes help us to improve our productivity in almost all the tasks of our learning process. That's why I used this entire article to talk about 19 Effective Ways to Use Sticky Notes through my own experiences. You may also have other sticky note usage ideas. So be sure to comment below, and don't forget to share the article with your friends.
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