I've been a chronic procrastinator throughout med school, the kid that crams everything the night before an exam and ends up doing better than the kid that studied for a week. I keep telling myself that I'll just do the same thing for Step 1, cram Pathoma/FA the week before and do fine but I know deep down that that's impossible. Even while on my ADD meds, I do 1 block of UWorld and take the rest of the day off only to come back home in the evening and watch 30 minutes of Pathoma. Even though I have a high goal (240+?), I just can't seem to find the motivation or fear or drive to work for this exam.
I have 2 months of board prep time left and, not only am I behind my own schedule by weeks, but I am also not hitting the NBME/UW percentages that someone aiming for my goal score should be hitting and that just doesn't seem to bother me. I am just incredibly burnt out, despite taking a few days off last week. The end of MS-II was tough but not time-consuming. I really don't know where this is coming from.
What keeps you motivated to study for this test? Any advice on how to break this bad habit and #get****done? Thanks again SDN. Really appreciate the help/insight.
[Mods: I decided to post this in MD page instead of the Step I page because of the broader question of burnout and motivation]
I've been a chronic procrastinator throughout med school, the kid that crams everything the night before an exam and ends up doing better than the kid that studied for a week. I keep telling myself that I'll just do the same thing for Step 1, cram Pathoma/FA the week before and do fine but I know deep down that that's impossible. Even while on my ADD meds, I do 1 block of UWorld and take the rest of the day off only to come back home in the evening and watch 30 minutes of Pathoma. Even though I have a high goal (240+?), I just can't seem to find the motivation or fear or drive to work for this exam.
I have 2 months of board prep time left and, not only am I behind my own schedule by weeks, but I am also not hitting the NBME/UW percentages that someone aiming for my goal score should be hitting and that just doesn't seem to bother me. I am just incredibly burnt out, despite taking a few days off last week. The end of MS-II was tough but not time-consuming. I really don't know where this is coming from.
What keeps you motivated to study for this test? Any advice on how to break this bad habit and #get****done? Thanks again SDN. Really appreciate the help/insight.
[Mods: I decided to post this in MD page instead of the Step I page because of the broader question of burnout and motivation]
As a fellow procrastinator myself, you can't do that for Step 1. Unless you're that smart- I know I'm not- and even then you'd maybe be able to do it in 4 w, you have to find a way. I felt that way after the 2nd week of studying 9-10 hrs/day. It was miserable. BUT there are things you can do. I learned from Ned's Declassified way back when (lol) that if you're a procrastinator, start with small things. 8 weeks is good enough for focused study. If you've taken a baseline exam and it's at least 170 and/or higher, you're heading in the right direction.
1. Don't wake up early and sleep late. Maybe towards the last week you want to wake up around the time you'd take your exam (ie if it's at 8AM, then 7:30) to get used to it, but maybe 8:30 AM you wake up, eat/shower/etc. Around 9 AM work on doing practice questions and reading the answers for each of them...do that for 2 hours. TAKE A BREAK, ie 15 min. Then go another 2 hours of questions. THEN take a 30 min lunch break- leave your study area, eat and watch tv/netflix 20min show/youtube, whatever. Then another 2 hours of reading/studying. 15 min break...etc. In the evening, go exercise for 20-30 min. Maybe listen to music then or a goljan audio file. Then REVIEW. Go to sleep around 9 or so. Repeat.
I did a practice exam every 2 weeks. Those days it was dedicated to taking and reviewing the test. Don't go studying more than what's on the exam that day.
In the beginning I would take 1 day of each week a day off or a half day, depending on how I felt.
Try to stay relaxed. For the most part, I don't get stressed out that often, but THIS EXAM, good heavens...every time I took a practice exam, panic and nerves got the better of me every time. It was that bad that I took 8-9w instead of the 6 w I planned.
Have things to look forward to at the end of the day, so that way you can do all the work you need to and watch that show or w/e.
You can do it. It's hard, especially when you feel less motivated to do so. Just remember that it will be over soon and you'll barely remember what or how you studied.. it's been almost 1 yr since I took it and I can't remember all of the 8-9 w that I spent. I just remember getting GERD because of it and seeing the PASS when I got my score back. Just keep in mind that if you can get a good step 1 score, you have a better chance of matching with all other things set aside from that. It's bad enough that there are more applicants than residencies, and I don't know what you're interested in, but don't let your procrastination become something of a regret in the end. GL!!
