Studying while tired?

[Goran]

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How do you guys do it? I find myself wasting the afternoon away because I'm too tired to focus. Then I end up staying up late to study. Which makes me tired the next day, and the cycle repeats itself. Even so, I happen to study best at night, when everything is calm and quiet. Any advice from fellow night owls?

 

[samenewme]

How do you guys do it? I find myself wasting the afternoon away because I'm too tired to focus. Then I end up staying up late to study. Which makes me tired the next day, and the cycle repeats itself. Even so, I happen to study best at night, when everything is calm and quiet. Any advice from fellow night owls?

Well, if the afternoons are wasted anyway, try a nap.

 

[Goran]

Well, if the afternoons are wasted anyway, try a nap.

I've tried this before with mixed results. Either I'm exhausted enough to fall asleep, which is great until I wake up feeling headachy and groggy. Or I can't fall asleep and lay in bed tossing and turning, until I finally get up to waste more time. One option I'm considering is sleeping during the afternoons. Ie, coming home after school, sleeping the recommended 7-8 hours, then waking up at 2-3am to study until I have to get ready for school. Then I'd be able to study during my prime study hours and also get enough sleep on a regular basis. Has anyone tried something like this?

 

[Goran]

Nobody else has this problem?

 

[78222]

I've had this same exact problem. I think the key is to force yourself to sleep early and make yourself get up early. It takes a few days to alter your sleep schedule (especially, if like me you hate mornings). If all else fails, ask your doctor if Ambien is right for you 😉

 

[sendwich]

Nobody else has this problem?

how many hours of sleep are you getting a day?

also, are you taking enough breaks? you cant expect yourself to run for days nonstop w/o a break. i take way to many breaks but when I get down to business, it's very very effective.

 

[JERI]

This may sound weird but I personally think hitting the gyms and doing some exercise (for an hour) can help you feel more energised.

 

[WiscDoc]

I've had this same exact problem. I think the key is to force yourself to sleep early and make yourself get up early. It takes a few days to alter your sleep schedule (especially, if like me you hate mornings). If all else fails, ask your doctor if Ambien is right for you 😉

I had the same problem and still kind of do. If you spent college like I did, sleeping 4-5 hours at night and taking a 2-3 hour nap in the day, it will take a lot more than a couple of days to fix your sleeping habbits. I agree that you should sleep early and get up early, and after a while, night time will no longer be effective study time because you will be too tired. Since you had enough sleep and are no longer used to naps in the daytime, you should be able to get more done during the day. Hope this helps.

 

[45408]

Listening to music and chewing gum helps me when I start feeling drowsy. Eating munchies helps too (unless you're trying to lose weight), because it keeps your hands and mouth active.

 

[ZagDoc]

This may sound weird but I personally think hitting the gyms and doing some exercise (for an hour) can help you feel more energised.

That's what I do. After class and lab I go run for a couple miles, rinse off with a cool shower, and I'm normally down to hit the books after that.

 

[AlejandroD]

Exercise is really the key.
but either way you get exhausted. take 200mg of caffeine. works for me. gives me an extra couple hours at least of focus.

 

[Slide]

Try more sleep, more exercise, more coffee, and more breaks in between studying in that order. If that still doesn't help, it's time to see a doctor.

 

[Blade28]

Sometimes I'll stand up or go outside (where it's colder) to read. Coffee helps too.

 

[Goran]

Great suggestions, thanks everyone. I've tried all of the above except getting more sleep (and drinking coffee- never adapted to the taste of it), so I'm going to start readjusting my sleep schedule.

Napping has never worked for me. Even in college, I'd go on little sleep most of the week and catch up on the weekends. Somehow I don't think this will fly for clinical years and residency, so it's time to tackle the issue.

sendwich, I also take way too many breaks and therein lies the problem. My break to studying ratio is 5:1. I only start to focus when it's late at night. Unless it's a few days before an exam, in which case I can study most of the day with lots of breaks, but again, always a lot more focused when it's dark out.

 

[Anka]

I've tried this before with mixed results. Either I'm exhausted enough to fall asleep, which is great until I wake up feeling headachy and groggy. Or I can't fall asleep and lay in bed tossing and turning, until I finally get up to waste more time. One option I'm considering is sleeping during the afternoons. Ie, coming home after school, sleeping the recommended 7-8 hours, then waking up at 2-3am to study until I have to get ready for school. Then I'd be able to study during my prime study hours and also get enough sleep on a regular basis. Has anyone tried something like this?

I did this and it worked great -- especially eased my adjustment to my first clinical rotation, where I just woke up and studied early in the morning so that when I got home I could just crash (much easier than studying after spending all day standing in the OR or doing scut).

Anka

 

[cobaltgreen]

and don't forget to stay very well hydrated...particularly with exercise and caffeine...makes a huge difference

 

[tacrum43]

One option I'm considering is sleeping during the afternoons. Ie, coming home after school, sleeping the recommended 7-8 hours, then waking up at 2-3am to study until I have to get ready for school. Then I'd be able to study during my prime study hours and also get enough sleep on a regular basis. Has anyone tried something like this?

I'm also a night owl and I like to study at night when it's quiet too. I have tried this particular strategy several times. It works pretty well in that it allows you to focus on your school work, but it's kinda bad in that it feels like all you do is school or sleep.

The key is not letting yourself stay up really late one night because then your sleep schedule is shot.

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

Listening to music and chewing gum helps me when I start feeling drowsy. Eating munchies helps too (unless you're trying to lose weight), because it keeps your hands and mouth active.

Awww ride

 

[SnowTown]

Nobody else has this problem?

I find myself trapped in an unhealthy/abnormal sleep cycle as well... 🙁

This may sound weird but I personally think hitting the gyms and doing some exercise (for an hour) can help you feel more energised.

Me too, except I can't pull myself out of the gym to study once I hit the gym. 🙁

Listening to music and chewing gum helps me when I start feeling drowsy. Eating munchies helps too (unless you're trying to lose weight), because it keeps your hands and mouth active.

Yeah, I'll eat just about anything I can get my hands on when I study. You can probably tell it's around exam time or not based on how fat I am. 🙁

 

[peace zealot]

i wonder how people stay awake at afternoon after attending school.....???
since my childhood i am in a habit to sleep atleast 2 hrs after comming back to home,and without that i cant go farther than 9:00pm at night.....so to study at night till 12am (or sometimes 2am depends if there is some exam) i take a good sleep at afternoon....
but i have got one habit thats not much seen in guys now a days.....i wake up 5 to 6 am in the morning whether its a working day or a sunday, i think thats why i need to sleep at afternoon.......
but thats good you should sleep at afternoon,its necessary!

 

[diosa428]

Stop going to class. Wake up when you feel like it, then you won't be tired in the afternoons.

 

[GodoShingo]

Here it's 2 in the morning. I use to stay up like you because of that I use to lack motivation. I just sleep less and drink alot of coffe.
Right now I'm almost exhausted but I'll be able to do my credit in biochemistry tomorrow. After that I'll become a zombie.
Remember to eat too, it will help you some.
But in the long run, try to build up your motivation. It not good staying up too late.

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

Stop going to class. Wake up when you feel like it, then you won't be tired in the afternoons.

Great advice, especially if the lectures are taped. I'm so much better when I study at home instead of going to school.

 

[Abducens]

How do you guys do it? I find myself wasting the afternoon away because I'm too tired to focus. Then I end up staying up late to study. Which makes me tired the next day, and the cycle repeats itself. Even so, I happen to study best at night, when everything is calm and quiet. Any advice from fellow night owls?

I see my classmates talking about studying till 2 in the morning on a regular basis and how tired they are. I am an M2 and have not studied past 12 a single time since med school started.

I go to class and study in the afternoon. Take a break and study some more at night; rarely after 9pm. If I get tired, I go to bed. There is no sense in staying up studying if you have to hold your eyes open with your fingers. It is not productive.

Bottom line, if you get tired then sleep. You will feel much better the next day and get alot more done.👍

 

[MartianOddity]

Alright, you probably lack motivation for studying. You can get it by :

1. Fooling yourself that you like the subjects you study (such as in Biochemistry for example). Believe me, it works for me.

2. Actually sit and study believing that it'll work.

3. Not having any expectations on how well you'll be studying that day; some days are good study days when you learn everything well, other days you just can't figure out the difference between vastly different things.

4. Scaring yourself into studying such as a specific girl in my class does before every class. She's like acting as if she doesn't strike a 4 out of 5 at least, then she'll die for certain, or suffer the greatest pain ever. Anyhow, she acts scared and stressed all the time for no apparaent reason...but I believe that's her way to isolate herself into studies 24/7. Anyhow, I don't recommend this unless you're in a worst case scenario as she's pitiful. This is also called "learn by fear".


Either that or you'll have to force yourself into a better everyday rhythm, and that can be obtained by sleeping earlier in the weekends for the first weeks of your rhythm-changing period.


Both these things require dicipline. (By the way people, I would like to point out that martial artists who study medicine don't nessecarily have higher dicipline than their non-martial artist-friends...so if you do train martial arts, don't get overconfident about your diciplinary skills. That applies to people who fared well in their military training.)

One word can conclude my long and boring post, and that's DICIPLINE. If you read through my long post then you have some dicipline in you. In that case you can manage to study pretty well as long as you set your mind to it.

 

[persia]

I used to come home from lecture, study a little bit and then go to bed. Sleep 8 hours and then get up at about 3:00 or 4:00 am and study again before class. Depending on what time I got to bed, I would get up 8 hours later.

I could not study well after the frizzle of classes and whatnot. Had to 'wipe the slate clean,' so to speak by sleeping. Would wake up refreshed and raring to go even if it was 0200. I got a boatload of quality studying in those early morning hours in the deep dark. 👍

If that's what you feel like you need to do then trust your instincts and do it. Now is the time to listen to your instincts, you will need them as you progress in medicine.

 

[Hoooba]

Is anyone here unable to keep an eye open after eating lunch? Even if I just have half a PB&J sandwich I find myself very drowsy and unable to focus. When I don't eat I can focus just fine. Anyone with a similar problem?

 

[CampUnity]

I'm also a night owl and I like to study at night when it's quiet too. I have tried this particular strategy several times. It works pretty well in that it allows you to focus on your school work, but it's kinda bad in that it feels like all you do is school or sleep.

The key is not letting yourself stay up really late one night because then your sleep schedule is shot.

I am having the same issue as the OP. I've tried this also and found that I was much more productive. But after a week, it changed my mood and make me more grumpy so I quit. Nowaday, I am sticking to studying til around 1:30 am, go to bed and get up around 7:45. But then I'll have to take a break around 4pm or 5pm after school before I study productively again.

 

[CampUnity]

Stop going to class. Wake up when you feel like it, then you won't be tired in the afternoons.

I tried this strategy too. But then I went from scoring pretty much all As in my first set of exams to flunking most. I'd be too undiscipline if I don't get up early and go to class. LOL

 

[BoBaE]

i have tried going to bed early, telling myself i will wake up in the morning. well the problem is, i never wake up in the morning. i stay in bed until the very latest i can...so i lose time at night, because i am forcing myself to go to bed early (also trying to establish a new sleep pattern, bc we have exams in the a.m.) and also lose time in the morning bc i can't pull myself out of my warm bed, esp now that it is so dark outside...

 

[CCLCMer]

One option I'm considering is sleeping during the afternoons. Ie, coming home after school, sleeping the recommended 7-8 hours, then waking up at 2-3am to study until I have to get ready for school. Then I'd be able to study during my prime study hours and also get enough sleep on a regular basis. Has anyone tried something like this?

I like doing this. I get up at 5 to study before school, and I also study a little in the evenings while I eat and in the afternoons on days when I don't have clinic (which isn't very many any more, unfortunately). Maybe you could try working out in the afternoons? That helps me sometimes too.