1. READ the big words first. The Survey, Question, Read, Review, and Recite (SQ3R) method can save hours of time. Glance over titles and headlines to ascertain relevancy first; read closer and ask yourself what wisdom the words are trying to impart; as you read, note facts; reflect on what you've learnt and highlighted; then say all this in your own words.
2. NOTE important stuff for future reference. Make a file of salient points for upcoming essays, tips on motivation and strategy, and those gems of inspiration that keep you going when working for McDonalds starts to seem like a viable second choice of career. Evernote is a great application for keeping notes organised.
3. SHARE everything you know and others will share in return. It's easy to end up with a study group consisting of your closest friends and allies, but curate a study group full of people with disparate passions and talents instead. Learn from the different perspectives and skip the murky waters they waded through.
4. SKIP TED. TED is awesome, but why listen to an introductory talk with no follow-up analysis when you could be listening to video lectures from Treehouse? The series is catered to those wanting to go into business and they're easy to follow. Play them while you're cooking dinner and let the ideas filter in by osmosis. When the same concepts come up in textbooks or lectures, you'll be familiar with them already.
5. TRANSFORM obstacles into advantages. If there is anything that might hold you back, the greatest hack is to face it right away and turn it to your advantage. For example, there are fewer women in business and women often lag behind when it comes to tech skills. Skillcrush to the rescue. The site is not for women only (it just happens to be run women-to-men 3-1); it helps people brush up on tech skills that might otherwise hold them back.