Heeeelp Pleeeezzz!!!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

sistahnik

Senior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Messages
1,523
Reaction score
0
Hey everyone. I need some serious help! I am having so much trouble being disciplined to study. I'm really not sure how to change the habit of not studying. Can someone please give me some advice or some tips on a way to reverse this nasty cycle?? 🙁 🙁
 
Schedule your week out in advance, planning study time. Then stick to it.

Then consider the consequences of what will happen if you don't study...you get bad grades...you don't get into medical school, despite what people will tell you on here.
 
well now these are very interesting. things that I don't do. I really appreciate your comments, thank you!!! 👍 anyone else?
 
sistahnik said:
Hey everyone. I need some serious help! I am having so much trouble being disciplined to study. I'm really not sure how to change the habit of not studying. Can someone please give me some advice or some tips on a way to reverse this nasty cycle?? 🙁 🙁


First of all, chill out. To be honest, we all go through this. Secondly, be consistent -try to manage to study atleast two hours for a few days and break the daily boring routine whatever it is - hangout till 1-2 am and get up late . you will slowly in two weeks find yourself studying hard and effectively

remember, you want to be a doctor - learn to schedule things properly and you will, yes you will be able to do everything. may be cut a few hours here and there. Good luck.
 
I'm big on highly focused yet little amounts of studying. Either study or be social, do not mix the two. Studying with your friends while you chat is not studying. It's much more effective to just sit and put 200% of your energy into studying for just 1 hour than group studying for 3 hours.

Also, dont waste time with the nitty gritty when you dont know the big picture. People often get bogged down with the little facts cause the "professor always asks the one obscure question". Who cares, it's just one question. Study and memorize the bigger important concepts that will definately be asked, then you can go back and learn the other stuff. I like to call this Maximizing your score with the least studying......boy I feel like a dork for saying that.
 
Lochmoor said:
just sit and put 200% of your energy into studying for just 1 hour than group studying for 3 hours.

100% is the max possible amount of effort one can do, despite what 110% of sports players will tell you.
 
sounds good guys. for the most part, I wasn't doing any of these things. so it's worth it to me to make some changes in my boring day to day patterns. ok looks like I have some adjustments to make, and it won't be easy but I'm willing to try anything!!! 😀
 
Read a paragraph three or four times if you have to making sure you understand and can link up the concept before moving on to the next paragraph. Take a break every hour or so to stretch your legs and get a drink. Give yourself ample time to get the studying done. Everyone learns at a different speed.
 
Try going over material before classes too if you have it- itll make the lecture seem more like a review session. Outlining material before a test helped me alot too. Scheduling is important too. Good Luck!
 
patzan said:
100% is the max possible amount of effort one can do, despite what 110% of sports players will tell you.

Yes! 100% is the upper limit. I'm glad someone else states this. People think I'm picky when I say that.
 
yes 100% is all I have right now because I'm trying to work 40hrs and school time so I'm putting out alot. I guess if med school is what I want then I'll have to continue to put out!!!
 
sistahnik said:
yes 100% is all I have right now...

yes, 100% is all you will ever have.
 
adderall? what?

what were we talking about?

hehe, i "200%" agree with lochmoor. focused studying, even if in small amounts works. but you have to keep it realistic and stay on top of it regularly. a couple hours a day of real intense studying can free up your time. efficiency is everything, efficiency with time and material.

we all run into problems when we do hours of social studying and don't get anything done or we don't stay on top of things. thats when you find you have to go through mountains of material the night before or a couple days before, and most of us just can't go hours and hours of super-intense studying and actually retain stuff without some chemical supplements. but 1 or 2 hours at a time, we can do that.
 
Hey sistahnik,

I am a huge procrastinator and also unfortunately fairly lazy, I'm sorry to say I haven't found a way to completely change this about myself (and lately have been wallowing in it whole-heartedly 😛 ). There have been times during my college career, though, when I've been able to pull it together ; generally, I have found that I am most effective when I'm really organized and schedule my time out. Junior year, for example, I was taking o-chem and physics (both with labs) + 2 other classes + working; I developed a triple notebook system to manage my time: first, I wrote down all assignments/tasks in an academic planner, then I made weekly "to do" lists in a different notebook, then I further broke down my "to do" lists in another notebook that had little boxes for each day, where I wrote down what I needed to do on a daily basis to get all my weekly stuff done. I literally checked things off with a red pen as I completed them. 😀 Sometimes, during midterms and finals, I would actually schedule out what I needed to do on an hourly basis for a day or two. This may seem excessive, and indeed, I only stuck with it for a year or two; but I got way more done, and in a more timely fashion, than I have before or since. This helped me to be disciplined and stay on top of what I needed to do; in fact, I am thinking of bringing it back this summer while I study for the MCAT and work full-time. Good luck!
 
I seem to detect some similar ideas. I guess planning and making a daily time schedule for studying wins the popular votes!! you guys are great. thanks 😀
 
If you just can't face a particular subject, set a timer and promise yourself you'll study only an hour. Give yourself a 10-minute break (TIMER!) and then go back. It makes the studying less painful if you're only facing a short dose instead of a marathon.
 
I guess what I try and do is to cover every piece of material and then see what I remember. this method has not given me any luck as of recently. 😕 the timer method does sond cool because if I get frustrated then it's got to be OK to take a freaking break!!
 
hey everyone what's going on? well I just came in to say hello to everyone!! 😀 😀
 
just wanted to refresh the thread and say hello to everyone!!!
 
sistahnik said:
just wanted to refresh the thread and say hello to everyone!!!

Get off SDN and go study...... 👍
 
I know thewzdoc!! I just needed to take a break and see what everyone was talking about. thanks for the swift kick though, much appreciated!! 😀 😀
 
the best thing i can suggest is to schedule out everything. Even by the hour if need be and also reward yourself with tv/music/etc. good luck!
 
Find a group of friends/study partners that are in the same situation (i.e. need to study also) and be accountable to each other. I did this when studying for the MCAT. We said we were going to read 2 chapters in our MCAT books today and then explain them to each other tomorrow. Something like that. That way, you'll feel like an idiot if you don't read and study because you'll have to teach your friends the stuff.
 
thanks snowhite and pluto6, those are very good suggestions! I have every intention on using a daily calender type method so I can stay on top ofc everything. I think that is where I am falling short, because if I don't have a written out schedule then I will just go by day to day not even keeping up with everything I need to do. sometimes I feel like I just wake up, go to work, go to school, go back home and go to bed, then repeat this throughout the entire week which turns into a month, into a half of year, into a year. now you see what I mean. :idea:
 
Best of luck to you and remember that a few months of pain will pay off when you get your awesome MCAT score. Also, another tip....Buy one of those big sticky pads kinda like post-its but the humongoid ones and write stuff and hang them around your walls. I wrote glycolysis stuff, hormones, etc. etc. Nice to see them around and maybe something will stick as you pass by them...at the very least they are interesting pieces of art which will make you look smart whenever anyone comes over.
 
Try and always have something to study with on you. My first semester I had these huge breaks in between classes and I just took out a notebook and studied. It was possibly the best study time I have had because I was in school where no one could bother me. I often did not even need to do any more studying. I schedule a nice break into at least one day a week now, just because that enforced study time was so valuable. Sure I could have gone and plaid pool or surfed the internet or something, but I had the notebooks on me so I just sat down and studied.
Also, try and stay ofline a little when you have a mojr study backlog. It is a huge time killer.
 
I hate studying. I remember when I studied for the MCATs, several friends and I would drive 30mins to go to a quiet library, study for 30mins. Go out to eat, and then call it quits. It wasn't very productive. Anyone had similar experiences? 😀 😀 😀
 
keep it positive people!!! :laugh: (junathon that was for you..but I was just kidding.. 😀 ) thanks for all the positive feedback guys. keep it coming!!!
 
Top