How much time do you guys ACTUALLY spend studying during a study session?

[The Broccoli Industry]

---

Members do not see this ad.

.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[frosted_flake]

Is your phone out with you? Is SDN pulled up?

What are your distractions? Or do you just doze off? I find that when I can't focus, I walk a few laps and take a few sips of water... helps me quite a bit 🙂

 

[DingoPingo]

I don't do study sessions with time objectives, I do them with learning objectives. As in, I study until I've mastered the material, and then I don't look at the material again. Sometimes this takes 12 hours, sometimes this takes one hour.

But procrastination is obviously normal. I procrastinate until the last minute, and I think most people do. The key is not wasting your time trying to study before you feel motivated enough to focus.

 

[eteshoe]

I don't do study sessions with time objectives, I do them with learning objectives. As in, I study until I've mastered the material, and then I don't look at the material again. Sometimes this takes 12 hours, sometimes this takes one hour.

But procrastination is obviously normal. I procrastinate until the last minute, and I think most people do. The key is not wasting your time trying to study before you feel motivated enough to focus.

Truth

 

[Dr.Kitty]

I would suggest studying for 50 minutes then taking a 10 minute break; do whatever you want during those 10 minutes, check your phone, walk around, etc. You could do that cycle for 2 hours all the way to 12 hours, up to you. That way you can consistently keep studying, but also reward your brain for doing the hard work. It definitely keeps me motivated knowing I will have designated time to check my phone, that way I don't keep checking it while studying. For example, if you complete 5 hours of that cycle you would have studied for 4 hrs & 10 mins, and had 50 minutes of doing other things. This allows you for your brain to grasp your material better as well; for most people, the retention of material drops once the 45 minute mark hits.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

I can't do actual studying for more than 2 hours without losing focus completely. I can do practice problems for 8 hours straight though.

 

[rocklobstr]

If I'm studying for 4 hours, about 3 of those hours is productive. This decreased somewhat (significantly) during my last semester though

 

[terra330]

Back when I studied for the MCAT, I would take a half hour break about every hour or so. I figured if my eyes are glazing over, I'm not absorbing the material anyway, I may as well recharge.

 

[Gurby]

Depends on how screwed I am. If I really have a lot of material to cover and I'm worried about not getting through it, I can be laser focused for 12 hours straight. If I feel like I'll probably be fine, I end up wasting 80% of my time on the internet like I'm doing right now......

 

[Dr.JD.House]

I've probably never focused for more than 45 minutes to an hour at a time. Then I get up and walk around, check Twitter, go on SDN for 20 minutes, the usual procrastination. It seems once I go on first study break/procrastinate, my next bit of studying will be shorter than the first before I go on another break, I get distracted easily! I also don't usually study for more than 4 hours at a time. I get burnt out, and I tell myself that I probably am not retaining anything anymore

 

[MaxPlancker]

Hehe I should lock up my phone and computer but that never happens when I study 🙁

 

[----x----]

You need to train stamina.

When you lose focus, take a ~5 minute break. Then return. Repeat this process, never forcing yourself to study when you're unfocused.

Eventually you'll study longer and longer periods without being mentally fatigued or losing focus. However, forcing yourself to "study" without breaks despite passing this threshold will not be fruitful.

 

[Scrubs101]

Depends on how screwed I am. If I really have a lot of material to cover and I'm worried about not getting through it, I can be laser focused for 12 hours straight. If I feel like I'll probably be fine, I end up wasting 80% of my time on the internet like I'm doing right now......

+1^^^^^^^^^


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[kiwifriend]

I highly recommend this thing you can download for your computer called "Self Control" (aptly named!) if it still exists. It allows you to blacklist websites that distract you for up to 24 hours. It definitely helped me focus more.

 

[frosted_flake]

Back when I studied for the MCAT, I would take a half hour break about every hour or so. I figured if my eyes are glazing over, I'm not absorbing the material anyway, I may as well recharge.

EXACTLY how I feel going through this gen chem/organic chem MCAT content...


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[terra330]

EXACTLY how I feel going through this gen chem/organic chem MCAT content...


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Ha, well if it makes you feel better, I still managed to score a 96th %ile score studying like that. You don't have to be hyper focused for hours at a time

 

[ATPsynthase123]

Since its finals week, I've been trying to study a lot...however, whenever I go on a say 4 hour study session I really only spend around an hour and a half actually studying and the rest of the time procrastinating. Is this normal for the rest of you guys?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I find that im more productive if i study for 1 hour then take a 15-20 minute break and then study more. I retain info better and i stay focused. If i try to "marathon study"( 2+ hours without a break), i end up falling asleep or getting distracted more than if i did the intermittent breaks

 

[Dr.Forssmann]

I don't do study sessions with time objectives, I do them with learning objectives. As in, I study until I've mastered the material, and then I don't look at the material again. Sometimes this takes 12 hours, sometimes this takes one hour.

But procrastination is obviously normal. I procrastinate until the last minute, and I think most people do. The key is not wasting your time trying to study before you feel motivated enough to focus.

This plus time management. I find when you have a schedule or use google calendars you can accomplish multiple things durring the day. You can also track your efficiency. If you find you didnt need 3 hours to study. Change it for next time. Or if you found you cant do 3 hours straight break it up and grab dinner with a friend or hit the gym. I do like 2 hours of studying for every hour of class. Or maybe you need an extra 20 minutes cause you didnt think about commuting. The concept is more powerful than it seems. My 108 hours studying a little everyday compared to your 13 hour cram session. Whose gonna win?


If you appreciated this comment and want more, check out my blog where I share all kinds of new and exciting information regarding medicine here:www.mdlogbook.blogspot.com[/url

 

[moisne]

Ha, well if it makes you feel better, I still managed to score a 96th %ile score studying like that. You don't have to be hyper focused for hours at a time

I did that until... board prep... then I had to study for long hours and it was torture.

 

[frosted_flake]

Depends on how screwed I am. If I really have a lot of material to cover and I'm worried about not getting through it, I can be laser focused for 12 hours straight. If I feel like I'll probably be fine, I end up wasting 80% of my time on the internet like I'm doing right now......

Same here, but sometimes I know I am screwed either way, so I reason (incorrectly) with myself 'oh, you won't do well anyways, lets just spend 5 hours on SDN rather than studying, it will be fine.' Then I am kicking myself in the rear throughout the entire exam 🙁


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

During studying for finals in undergrad I'd usually do 8-12 hours a day, for maybe 3-10 days straight. Obviously stopping for bathroom breaks and lunch in the middle of the day.

When I was prescribed vyvanse I could easily crank out 16 hour days with not much more than a water bottle and a cliff bar, but don't think that was very healthy...

 

[mimelim]

I have found that students I have worked with became a lot more efficient when they bought a cheap watch with a timer. Then they studied by the clock. 50 minutes of studying, 10 minute break, repeated until studying was completed. The timer would go off and they will switch activities. It feels odd to give up control of your time to the beeping of a watch, but once you take the beeping as absolute, things start to fly.