385. The best psychology hacks for studying
The Psychology of your 20s
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Want to study smarter, not longer? Today, we're finally breaking down my psychology-backed guide to becoming the academic weapon you always dreamed of being.
I’m sharing the exact study hacks I used to become high school valedictorian, maintain a near-perfect GPA at university, and actually enjoy the process of learning (and the Pomodoro method isn't mentioned once...)
We talk about:
- How to make your brain care about what you’re learning
- The Note-Taking Manuscript Method
- Why personal relevance helps memory
- Using novelty to make concepts more memorable
- Finding your peak productivity hours
- The effort paradox (why meaning follows effort, not motivation)
- How to hack your brain to focus longer and study better
If you want this academic year to be your best, you're in the right place! Listen now!
Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg
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For business: psychologyofyour20s@gmail.com
The Psychology of your 20s is not a substitute for professional mental health help. If you are struggling, distressed or require personalised advice, please reach out to your doctor or a licensed psychologist.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:08.5 | Hello everybody. |
| 0:10.0 | I'm Jemma Spike and welcome back to the psychology of your 20s, the podcast where we talk |
| 0:15.4 | through the biggest changes, moments and transitions of our 20s and what they mean for our psychology. |
| 0:29.2 | Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast. It is so great |
| 0:34.9 | to have you here back for another episode as we of course break down the psychology of our 20s. |
| 0:41.3 | Today, guys, I'm going back to uni. |
| 0:44.4 | I'm going back to the time when I was a full-time student. |
| 0:48.3 | I'm taking a trip down memory lane to talk about the academic and study tips that I absolutely swore by when I was a student |
| 0:58.8 | that I would use again if I was back there. Or if I wanted straight A's, if I wanted to be |
| 1:04.3 | valedictorian, if I wanted my transcript to be the best it could be by the end of the year. |
| 1:17.1 | I'm honestly surprised I've never done an episode like this because I, when I was still getting my degrees, I genuinely loved the art of studying. |
| 1:21.8 | Also, I know there are so many of you who are getting their diplomas, getting their |
| 1:27.0 | undergrad degrees, getting their master's. Some of you are are getting their diplomas, getting their undergrad degrees, |
| 1:27.8 | getting their masters, some of you are even getting your PhDs, and you are still trying to |
| 1:33.1 | find the most time, cost effective and successful study tips to become the academic weapon |
| 1:41.0 | you always dreamed of being. So this episode feels very necessary. |
| 1:46.9 | These tips aren't going to be boring. I'm not going to tell you to use flashcards or to read |
| 1:54.6 | the lecture notes or the Pomodora technique. We know that. Those are tried and true. We are talking |
| 2:00.7 | instead the really strange things I would do based on research because |
| 2:06.3 | when you understand the psychology of how to study well, everything changes. |
... |
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