Ever sit in lecture, furiously taking notes, only to realize 20 minutes in that you have no idea what the professor is even talking about?
Yeah. Same.
For my first two years of college, I thought the solution was studying after class. More flashcards. Longer library sessions. Rereading until my eyes bled.
Turns out I had it completely backwards.
Here's what most students get wrong: they treat lectures like the starting line. Show up, absorb information, study it later.
But your brain doesn't work like a recording device. It's more like a filing cabinet. And if you don't have folders already labeled, incoming information just... floats. It has nowhere to stick.
This is called the "priming effect" in cognitive psychology. Your brain processes new information 2-3x faster when it already has context for what's coming.
The fix? Fifteen minutes. Before class. That's it.
Here's exactly what I do now (and what took my understanding from "wait, what?" to actually following along in real-time):
Minutes 1-5: Skim the headings. Open your textbook chapter or lecture slides. Don't read anything. Just look at section titles, bolded terms, and any diagrams. You're building mental hooks—places for information to land later.
Minutes 6-10: Write 3 questions. Based on those headings, write three questions you think the lecture will answer. "What causes X?" "How does Y relate to Z?" "Why does this matter?" These questions turn you from a passive listener into an active detective.
Minutes 11-15: Connect it to something you know. Find one concept from today's material that links to something you already understand. Maybe today's economics lecture on supply elasticity reminds you of that time concert tickets sold out instantly. That connection is your anchor.
That's it. Fifteen minutes. No actual studying required.
When you study after class, you're essentially trying to decode a message you didn't fully receive. You're filling in gaps, guessing at connections, and hoping your notes made sense.
When you prime before class, you're setting up a roadmap. Your brain knows what's coming. It's ready to catch information as it flies by, instead of scrambling to figure out what's important.
I went from re-watching every lecture recording to barely needing my notes. My midterm grades jumped a full letter grade—not because I studied more, but because I finally understood the lectures while they were happening.
The biggest barrier to pre-class prep is time. You're rushing between classes, grabbing coffee, checking texts. Who has 15 spare minutes?
This is where I started using Snitchnotes. I upload my lecture slides or PDF readings the night before, and it generates a quick summary with the key concepts I need to recognize. Five-minute skim, boom—I've got my mental framework without actually reading anything.
The AI-generated questions feature is also clutch. Instead of coming up with questions myself, I get a preview of what the material is actually about. It's like having someone who already took the class give you a heads-up.
Here's what surprised me most: this habit compounds.
When you understand Lecture 1, Lecture 2 builds on it. When you're not constantly playing catch-up, your brain has space to actually think during class—to ask better questions, make deeper connections, engage with the material instead of just transcribing it.
I used to spend 3-4 hours per class reviewing material I should have understood the first time. Now I spend 15 minutes preparing and maybe 30 minutes reviewing. That's hours back in my week.
Pick one class. The one where you constantly feel lost. Tonight, spend 15 minutes looking at tomorrow's material. Don't study it. Just look.
See what happens when you actually know what's coming.
Your brain is capable of so much more than you're asking from it. You just need to set it up for success.
Ready to make pre-class prep effortless? Snitchnotes turns your lecture materials into quick summaries and preview questions automatically. Try it free at snitchnotes.com
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