Help me break the procrastination cycle!

[linuxgrl]

Hi all.... I decided to post here in hopes of finding some good helpful advice. I'm an MS1 and would like to do better in my classes. I'm not failing but I am barely passing most of my classes and I know it has to do with my studying, or lack thereof. I find it very difficult to sit down and truly study properly until the few days before the exam.

Just this evening, I started with the best of intentions - I got out my course notes and textbook and I just didn't know where to begin! I picked a lecture, read a bit, took a few notes, and then somehow ended up on a totally different lecture. Frustrated, I decided to post here. I don't post here often, and this is my first post since I started med school in August.

I think I need help finding a good system of studying that works for me. If I just sit down and read, my mind drifts off or I fall asleep or something. If I take notes on what I read, I retain some of it but I'll never look at those notes again. Somehow I'm able to pass the tests (barely) by taking the practice tests and listening to the lectures, if I can stay awake through them.

I am really serious and committed to studying better. The guilt that I feel about not doing my best is kind of overwhelming sometimes. I feel like I've been given this great opportunity to study something wonderful and I'm squandering it. Help me to not do that!

Thanks!
linuxgrl

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[psipsina]

I need to have set tasks that are achievable in an hour or two. For me I make my own notes from the notesets or reading (depending on the class) for each lecture topic. So at the beginning of the block I put a list of all the lectures I'm responsible for on a white board with little checkboxes next to them (2/lecture - the second is for a pre-test review of my notes). Depending on how close I am to the test I have a goal of how many I want to get thru during the day and I make little colored dots next to the lectures I hope to complete. I study for only 45min at a time and then I take a break. I don't always get thru all the lectures I planned, but I have an idea of how much I accomplished which keeps me on track. And as the board fills with check marks I can see how much I've done and keep myself from panicking or feeling bad. I can also easily assess if I'm more behind in one class and where my effort needs to be focused on for the day. Its anal and I recognize that but its working so I thought I'd share my weirdness.

 

[linuxgrl]

Yes! That sounds like it would help - breaking things into chunks. Sometimes I just look at the pile of lecture notes I have to go through and just PANIC. I have to think of it in baby steps. I can do that.

Nice to see someone from New Orleans. My little sister is down there at Tulane undergrad right now, another future doctor She has all the study skills I wish I had.

 

[dynx]

Yes! That sounds like it would help - breaking things into chunks. Sometimes I just look at the pile of lecture notes I have to go through and just PANIC. I have to think of it in baby steps. I can do that.

Nice to see someone from New Orleans. My little sister is down there at Tulane undergrad right now, another future doctor She has all the study skills I wish I had.

try this:

www.miniclips.com

 

[psipsina]

Yes! That sounds like it would help - breaking things into chunks. Sometimes I just look at the pile of lecture notes I have to go through and just PANIC. I have to think of it in baby steps. I can do that.

Nice to see someone from New Orleans. My little sister is down there at Tulane undergrad right now, another future doctor She has all the study skills I wish I had.

I actually came down here to attend Tulane undergrad and fell in love with this weird yet lovable city and have now been here 6 years. My hubby and I lost everything except what we could fit in the car during Katrina and yet the pull of this city was so great we still came back. It sinks its dirty beer drenched claws right into your heart.

 

[Chinorean]

Hi all.... I decided to post here in hopes of finding some good helpful advice. I'm an MS1 and would like to do better in my classes. I'm not failing but I am barely passing most of my classes and I know it has to do with my studying, or lack thereof. I find it very difficult to sit down and truly study properly until the few days before the exam.

Ahhhh I have the same problem. When I try to study the lecture material for that day I actually feel physically uncomfortable. What kind of student were you in college and high school? I think my procrastination started with high school being so easy, I could always make the grade with minimal effort. That's a mindset that needs to be changed.

The other problem could be that despite its flaws, your current system is working for you. You're still getting by and so in the back of your mind you know that procrastination is ok.

Get rid of distractors--don't turn on your computer or the tv. Study outside of home so you don't get up to make a snack, do laundry, etc.