Art of Studying

Some people study by reading their books. Other people study by reviewing notes. Still others quiz each other.

I believe that studying, in the academical review sense, is an obsolete practice.

In my experience, when people study by reading texts, they merely skim over it. They believe that in para-reading, they will refresh their memory. However, in almost all cases*, people only look at what they already know. Things that they don't know, they won't know to look at. And if you only look at what you already know, then you have expended effort and time for nothing.
The only way that studying by reading is practical is either by actually going through the text word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph and actually paying attention, which is harder said than done. The only other way books are useful if you know that there is something you don't know and you go back to learn that information.
Worst case scenario is that you simply read, but the information passes through without processing.

Other people study by reading notes. This has the potential to be beneficial, unless you wrote the notes yourself. Chances are, you will make the mistake of looking over what you know, since writing down things helps people remember. On that note (no pun intended), you can take it upon yourself to transcribe the notes, which is almost guaranteed to help you remember everything. But writing (and even typing) entire scripts can be quite laborious and time-consuming.

Peer testing might also be a viable way to study, but unless you have high self-discipline, it is quite likely that your study session will degenerate into an entirely different tangent**.

Completing mock tests and reviews are probably the best way to go. Like transcribing, however, it is quite the time consuming, and it assumes that you will not fall prey to procrastination.

I personally tudy very little, if at all.
My philosophy: Either you know it or you don't.
If you don't know it, tough luck. If you do know it, well, then you can pride yourself on avoiding an atrocious, inefficient act in studying. You have saved time, eye strain, and brain strain better spent on self-gratifying activities such as composing blogs and instant messaging.

*Throughout my testing and limited studying career.
**Girls will end up talking about boys and shopping. Guys will end up verbally assaulting each other's mothers and begin a fist-fight. Girls and guy might end up flirting.
Note: This post should not be considered as professional advice on studying. Moufflets is not responsible for any negative results incurred by the influence of this post.