How to become more disciplined at studying?

[cryhavoc]

I've been having a lot of mental fatigue lately when trying to study. It just seems like there are a million things to learn and like my head has daily limit where it says, "Nope, you're full for the day."

I notice it is especially bad on days when I have labs and classes all day. I get home at five and by 7 my mind is shutting down.

I find the material fascinating and all, but I just want seem to bring myself to focus 12-14 hours a day. I don't think it is even a attention disorder, I don't think humans are built to study that long.

But I need to. How can I get there? I do sleep well and exercise every other day. Eat good too. Still, get mentally fatigued and I'm worried I'll start falling behind if I don't fix this problem soon.

And I've worked 60 hour weeks before starting without issues focusing so I'm not worried about the demands of being a doctor someday. I just need help getting through the years where all the time is spent studying . . .

And the rush of it all is frustrating because I feel like I don't have the time to learn it as deeply as I would wish.

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[songl4a]

I'd like to piggyback on this thread. All my classmates are treating this as a job and study all day. On the other hand, I'm cramming before the exams and doing average-slightly above average because I can't will myself to study a set amount of time daily. This has resulted in me getting behind in other classes as I focus on the upcoming exam.

How can I become more diligent in studying? I know in the long-term this cramming isn't going to help me with retention of this crucial info.

 

[cryhavoc]

My classmates are like that too! They literally just sleep and study. And from listening to them, they always seem a day or two ahead of me. And they somehow find time to read the textbook, something I honestly wish I could do more often. It just doesn't seem like there is enough time as it is.

I don't understand how they can do nothing but studying all the time. I wish I could get my brain on that sort of schedule. I've tried isolating myself in places like the library, so I have no choice but to study. But after a few hours, 4 or 5, my head starts to pound.

It is like they're more physiologically robotic than me or something. And I want to be a good doctor someday so I want to learn this stuff well, so I need my brain to get with the program.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I'd like to piggyback on this thread. All my classmates are treating this as a job and study all day. On the other hand, I'm cramming before the exams and doing average-slightly above average because I can't will myself to study a set amount of time daily. This has resulted in me getting behind in other classes as I focus on the upcoming exam.

How can I become more diligent in studying? I know in the long-term this cramming isn't going to help me with retention of this crucial info.

Not to say that this is recommended, but many people do this. It's not likely that you'll end up in the top 25 percentile doing it. But chances are you'll be more healthy as a person.

 

[songl4a]

I don't know if I'll be more health per se. Everyone else seems to be able to still have time to exercise, sleep well, and eat well. My problem is just time management. I need to learn to study a bit every day rather than cramming; should help with long-term retention.

Grades in pre-clinical don't matter, especially for DO (which has no AOA), but doing well will in pre-clinical will set us up better for Step 1.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I don't know if I'll be more health per se. Everyone else seems to be able to still have time to exercise, sleep well, and eat well. My problem is just time management. I need to learn to study a bit every day rather than cramming; should help with long-term retention.

Grades in pre-clinical don't matter, especially for DO (which has no AOA), but doing well will in pre-clinical will set us up better for Step 1.

Idk, sometimes you'll be more behind than others at times. Occasionally my friend is reading the next chapter of Robbins before I finish. I'm a slower reader and kinda lazy. But in the end I still finish reading it on time and etc.
I think the best thing for you is to say you're going to do this much and then do it. If you can't finish it on time cut something else out, ex don't watch that episode of etc or go to sleep a bit later ( Not recommended), etc.

 

[Dr. Death]

I've been having a lot of mental fatigue lately when trying to study. It just seems like there are a million things to learn and like my head has daily limit where it says, "Nope, you're full for the day."

I notice it is especially bad on days when I have labs and classes all day. I get home at five and by 7 my mind is shutting down.

I find the material fascinating and all, but I just want seem to bring myself to focus 12-14 hours a day. I don't think it is even a attention disorder, I don't think humans are built to study that long.

But I need to. How can I get there? I do sleep well and exercise every other day. Eat good too. Still, get mentally fatigued and I'm worried I'll start falling behind if I don't fix this problem soon.

And I've worked 60 hour weeks before starting without issues focusing so I'm not worried about the demands of being a doctor someday. I just need help getting through the years where all the time is spent studying . . .

And the rush of it all is frustrating because I feel like I don't have the time to learn it as deeply as I would wish.

You have to take a break. By 5 pm my brain is shot. So I'll eat dinner, chill and pick back up at 8 or so if I need to. Taking regular breaks keeps me fresher too. I'll take a 10 minute break after every lecture worth of material I study.

 

[cryhavoc]

I see. I'm sort of a "work first, play later" person. In that I try to get all my work done so I can have a nice, longer break at the end.

I guess I got to get used to splitting my "long break" throughout the day. Just seems so weird to me to only read a book for fun for ten minutes or only watch a tv show for ten minutes.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Listen to your body.
If it's tired, head to bed.
I study at home 90% of the time when I'm not at lecture.
Once I'm tired, I only waddle maybe 5 steps to get to my bedroom, turn on my 3 cooling fans, and pass out for hours. Wake up at odd times and go back to studying.
It's really not that bad.
Gym and stuff usually comes 3-4 times a week too.

 

[Andeve33]

I see and I think there are some really good advises here, thank you very much for sharing them.

 

[Dr. Death]

I see. I'm sort of a "work first, play later" person. In that I try to get all my work done so I can have a nice, longer break at the end.

I guess I got to get used to splitting my "long break" throughout the day. Just seems so weird to me to only read a book for fun for ten minutes or only watch a tv show for ten minutes.

Then just do 2 lectures of stuff and take a 20-30 minute break. I have a really short attention span so I take more frequent short breaks.

 

[ortnakas]

Break it down into smaller chunks. That helped me a lot. Studying for five hours (or ten hours... or fourteen hours...) is overwhelming. But five individual hours with breaks isn't so bad. It helped me to switch topics every hour, so I wasn't fighting being tired AND being bored. And then every couple hours I'd take a 10-30 minute break.

 

[Andeve33]

Break it down into smaller chunks. That helped me a lot. Studying for five hours (or ten hours... or fourteen hours...) is overwhelming. But five individual hours with breaks isn't so bad. It helped me to switch topics every hour, so I wasn't fighting being tired AND being bored. And then every couple hours I'd take a 10-30 minute break.

Good advice, tried it for some heavy exams and really works )))

 

[Goro]

Go visit your school's learning or education center.

I've been having a lot of mental fatigue lately when trying to study. It just seems like there are a million things to learn and like my head has daily limit where it says, "Nope, you're full for the day."

I notice it is especially bad on days when I have labs and classes all day. I get home at five and by 7 my mind is shutting down.

I find the material fascinating and all, but I just want seem to bring myself to focus 12-14 hours a day. I don't think it is even a attention disorder, I don't think humans are built to study that long.

But I need to. How can I get there? I do sleep well and exercise every other day. Eat good too. Still, get mentally fatigued and I'm worried I'll start falling behind if I don't fix this problem soon.

And I've worked 60 hour weeks before starting without issues focusing so I'm not worried about the demands of being a doctor someday. I just need help getting through the years where all the time is spent studying . . .

And the rush of it all is frustrating because I feel like I don't have the time to learn it as deeply as I would wish.

 

[Peach Newport]

This is probably terrible advice, but I have the same schedule and I get seriously burned out, also. I push through it. It's miserable. I don't listen to my body. When my body says "stop reading histology" I say "f**k you." I'm doing alright so far, though it's probably not healthy and I think my girlfriend is is planning to murder me.

 

[atomheart]

Your only purpose in life and destiny now is to serve medicine. You can only accomplish this goal by repeatedly drowning yourself in it. It's not about knowing the material, or even being fascinated by it. Give your mind to medicine and let every detail consume you. Your identity as a physician operates at a loss every time you are not breathing medicine. The sooner you stop fighting it, the easier this process becomes, and the less tired you will be mentally.

Physically, sleeping, exercising, and feeding are signs that your body wants to come up for air, but are ultimately distractions. Same for Xbox, family, and even SDN. Yet, taking good care of the body you live in is essential as a means to achieve your purpose. So when your body says it is tired you should sleep. If you must, download programs that prevent you from fooling around. Take melatonin before sleeping and less than 400mg of caffeine daily to sustain your energy. Cut activities that drain energy away from learning, and seek consistency so as to not waste mental energy on what you're supposed to be doing. Spend less time planning and more time executing.

I still get mentally tired as a yr2, and I still fail to follow my own advice. Yet when I follow it perfectly, everything flows and then I put in 16 hour days and I find myself wondering why it can't be like that all the time. The goal is to tweak my habits until i can do it consistently and weekly for boards.

Good hunting.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Your only purpose in life and destiny now is to serve medicine. You can only accomplish this goal by repeatedly drowning yourself in it. It's not about knowing the material, or even being fascinated by it. Give your mind to medicine and let every detail consume you. Your identity as a physician operates at a loss every time you are not breathing medicine. The sooner you stop fighting it, the easier this process becomes, and the less tired you will be mentally.

Physically, sleeping, exercising, and feeding are signs that your body wants to come up for air, but are ultimately distractions. Same for Xbox, family, and even SDN. Yet, taking good care of the body you live in is essential as a means to achieve your purpose. So when your body says it is tired you should sleep. If you must, download programs that prevent you from fooling around. Take melatonin before sleeping and less than 400mg of caffeine daily to sustain your energy. Cut activities that drain energy away from learning, and seek consistency so as to not waste mental energy on what you're supposed to be doing. Spend less time planning and more time executing.

I still get mentally tired as a yr2, and I still fail to follow my own advice. Yet when I follow it perfectly, everything flows and then I put in 16 hour days and I find myself wondering why it can't be like that all the time. The goal is to tweak my habits until i can do it consistently and weekly for boards.

Good hunting.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

This was the distraction tbh.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Notice the theme of this thread. Take a 1-2 hour break, your mind will not be in the grind after classes. Unfortunately you will have to give up the "work now play later concept," this is not effective with 8am-5pm classes. Take 10 minute breaks for every 1 hour. If that is too long, take 5 minute breaks every 30 minutes. Or 2 hours of study and 20 minutes of break.

The key here is break time, break time, break time...

 

[Andeve33]

Notice the theme of this thread. Take a 1-2 hour break, your mind will not be in the grind after classes. Unfortunately you will have to give up the "work now play later concept," this is not effective with 8am-5pm classes. Take 10 minute breaks for every 1 hour. If that is too long, take 5 minute breaks every 30 minutes. Or 2 hours of study and 20 minutes of break.

The key here is break time, break time, break time...

Do you really think that studying every 30 minutes and then having a 5 mins break would help? i mean... isn't it already too much?

 

[ortnakas]

Do you really think that studying every 30 minutes and then having a 5 mins break would help? i mean... isn't it already too much?

Maybe, but if you can maintain the pace, you might actually get more done. Ten half hour chunks might be more doable than one five hour chunk.

 

[JustPlainBill]

So this is a common question from MS1/2's, but especially MS1's. I too questioned how much was enough -- you can reach overload points but let's view this through a bit of a different prism, ok?

1) Make sure you're "studying" the right material -- don't study things you already know/are good at/don't matter for the exam (last one is a bit difficult to sort through but see my other posts on this topic). "Studying" by rereading, highlighting with all the colors under the rainbow, etc is really not studying....it's activity designed to look like studying. Studying is first understanding the concepts and taking notes on those concepts -- this can come from powerpoint lectures, listening to lectures, however you can get the info. Then making sure you clarify whatever points you don't get from various available resources (here's where textbooks, professors, tutors come in). Once that's done, then organizing your notes over the key areas and their requisite minutiae. Then you simply go over those notes until you have the minutiae memorized and the concepts embedded like a rock in your mind and appropriately placed in the database of info you are building. Check your understanding with practice questions.

2) How are you organizing your study time? Well, let's look at how you'll be tested. COMLEX testing comes in 2 hour chunks (or it used to when I was in the game) with a 5-10 minute stretch break in between; after four hours, you had 30 minutes or an hour for lunch (forget which) and then back at it for another 4 hours for a total of an 8 hour exam day. Organize your studying accordingly so you get used to sitting and focusing for that long on medical concepts. Add practice questions and randomize them as soon as you are able.

Your brain needs 7.5 hours of rest nightly to recuperate and kick off GHRH to restore the body -- get it. Eat like a sports athlete preparing for a contest, exercise regularly and get plenty of fluids....you know this....

Discipline is what gets you out of bed in the morning, keeps you going when others have quit a long time ago -- if you do the things you do now that other are unwilling to do, you'll do the things you want to later because the others won't be able to as they haven't put in the time.....

Get some...

 

[Azete]

So this is a common question from MS1/2's, but especially MS1's. I too questioned how much was enough -- you can reach overload points but let's view this through a bit of a different prism, ok?

1) Make sure you're "studying" the right material -- don't study things you already know/are good at/don't matter for the exam (last one is a bit difficult to sort through but see my other posts on this topic). "Studying" by rereading, highlighting with all the colors under the rainbow, etc is really not studying....it's activity designed to look like studying. Studying is first understanding the concepts and taking notes on those concepts -- this can come from powerpoints lectures, listening to lectures, however you can get the info. Then making sure you clarify whatever points you don't get from various available resources (here's where textbooks, professors, tutors come in). Once that's done, then organizing your notes over the key areas and their requisite minutiae. Then you simply go over those notes until you have the minutiae memorized and the concepts embedded like a rock in your mind and appropriately placed in the database of info you are building. Check your understanding with practice questions.

2) How are you organizing your study time? Well, let's look at how you'll be tested. COMLEX testing comes in 2 hour chunks (or it used to when I was in the game) with a 5-10 minute stretch break in between; after four hours, you had 30 minutes or an hour for lunch (forget which) and then back it for another 4 hours for a total of an 8 hour exam day. Organize your studying accordingly so you get used to sitting and focusing for that long on medical concepts. Add practice questions and randomize them as soon as you are able.

Your brain needs 7.5 hours of rest nightly to recuperate and kick of GHRH to restore the body -- get it. Eat like a sports athlete preparing for a contest, exercise regularly and get plenty of fluids....you know this....

Discipline is what gets you out of bed in the morning, keeps you going when others have quit a long time ago -- if you do the things you do now that other are unwilling to do, you'll do the things you want to later because the others won't be able to as they haven't put in the time.....

Get some...

This should be stickied. Especially the part about eating -- the surest way to perform sub-optimally is to eat a bad dinner/breakfast prior to an exam. I see people all the time stay up until 4am the night before an 8am an exam, eat nothing but junk (or don't eat at all), and wonder why they struggle to pass.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Do you really think that studying every 30 minutes and then having a 5 mins break would help? i mean... isn't it already too much?

This was a tip I got from a learning specialist who helps the medical students in my home state. This tip right here is for those who cannot give full concentrate for an hour. However, the vast majority use the 50 minutes study and 10 minute break rule. I have only used the 25 minute study and 5 minute break rule when I am nearing the end of my 5 hour study period (when I am insanely tired). And yes it is rather effective.

 

[Andeve33]

This was a tip I got from a learning specialist who helps the medical students in my home state. This tip right here is for those who cannot give full concentrate for an hour. However, the vast majority use the 50 minutes study and 10 minute break rule. I have only used the 25 minute study and 5 minute break rule when I am nearing the end of my 5 hour study period (when I am insanely tired). And yes it is rather effective.

25 minutes and 5 break, i like it! It always worked for me!

 

[Andeve33]

Maybe, but if you can maintain the pace, you might actually get more done. Ten half hour chunks might be more doable than one five hour chunk.

never tried it before, maybe you're right

 

[Andeve33]

Your only purpose in life and destiny now is to serve medicine. You can only accomplish this goal by repeatedly drowning yourself in it. It's not about knowing the material, or even being fascinated by it. Give your mind to medicine and let every detail consume you. Your identity as a physician operates at a loss every time you are not breathing medicine. The sooner you stop fighting it, the easier this process becomes, and the less tired you will be mentally.

Physically, sleeping, exercising, and feeding are signs that your body wants to come up for air, but are ultimately distractions. Same for Xbox, family, and even SDN. Yet, taking good care of the body you live in is essential as a means to achieve your purpose. So when your body says it is tired you should sleep. If you must, download programs that prevent you from fooling around. Take melatonin before sleeping and less than 400mg of caffeine daily to sustain your energy. Cut activities that drain energy away from learning, and seek consistency so as to not waste mental energy on what you're supposed to be doing. Spend less time planning and more time executing.

I still get mentally tired as a yr2, and I still fail to follow my own advice. Yet when I follow it perfectly, everything flows and then I put in 16 hour days and I find myself wondering why it can't be like that all the time. The goal is to tweak my habits until i can do it consistently and weekly for boards.

Good hunting.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

I agree, especially with the part " The sooner you stop fighting it, the easier this process becomes". So true !

 

[cbrons]

Adderall vyvanse ritalin

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[Andeve33]

Adderall vyvanse ritalin

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

you do realize that before trying drugs (especially such drugs as the ones you've recommended) you need to try natural methods. Plus, such drugs should be gotten only if your doctor would allow you to, but they won't given them to everybody just like that or because "you've asked"

 

[cbrons]

you do realize that before trying drugs (especially such drugs as the ones you've recommended) you need to try natural methods. Plus, such drugs should be gotten only if your doctor would allow you to, but they won't given them to everybody just like that or because "you've asked"

Who r u again?

 

[67552931811]

you do realize that before trying drugs (especially such drugs as the ones you've recommended) you need to try natural methods. Plus, such drugs should be gotten only if your doctor would allow you to, but they won't given them to everybody just like that or because "you've asked"

Lol.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Lol.

What -- do I detect sarcasm for natural methods --- like the patient I had on a surgery rotation that removed the bandages placed after surgery and followed up in clinic for suture removal with a 'potato poultice' in place...and this wasn't out in the boonies, but in a metroplex area in the south.....

 

[Major]

SUB

 

[Michael_Scott]

when I started college, I had the same problem. over time, i realized that my parent's cannot support me and I would have to support them in the future. This realization along with the fact that I wanted to have a career which gives back really gave me the boost and energy to go through.

 

[oOKawaiiOo]

Adderall vyvanse ritalin

The "Competitive Edge" starter pack

 

[37Base]

you do realize that before trying drugs (especially such drugs as the ones you've recommended) you need to try natural methods. Plus, such drugs should be gotten only if your doctor would allow you to, but they won't given them to everybody just like that or because "you've asked"