Time frame for Step 1 studying and burning out

[DrMasochist]

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I know there have a been a few posts similar to mine, and i guess the consensus is 4-6 weeks dedicated study time for Step 1.

I am planning on taking 7-8 weeks to study (still deciding on a test date), and I would like some advice on how to not get burnt out and peak too soon. I am planning on doing 8 hour a day of non-distracting, diligent studying (not including breaks) and taking saturdays off. Also one month into it I will be taking a 3 day vacation with friends.

Advice from people that have actually taken the Step 1 is much appreciated. I know everyone learns differently , but I am bit curious about what you guys did with your test prep, like what things you wish you did or hadn't done.

How much time each day did you study?
Did you take a day offs every now and again?
Are mini 2-3 day vacations recommended?

Sorry in advance if this topic has been beaten to death already.

 

[HotLikeSauce]

I took 6 weeks to study for Step 1. I think I "peaked" at about 5.5 weeks.

I'd study about 12 hrs/day of solid work, put my laptop in another room and so I was pretty productive haha.

I think one of the things I did best was work really hard up front. Towards the end, I would start wanting to finish studying earlier, would start wanting to watch TV instead of listen to Goljan, etc.. I didn't take any days off for the first 4 weeks, but during my last 2 weeks of prep, I became very emotionally stressed (would take an NBME and then freak out if it was lower than what I had usually been performing at haha), and I started taking half days off. I think it really helped, not because my brain was tired, but just because I would start to hype myself up otherwise. I never really felt fatigued in terms of body/brain because I always made sure to get 8h of sleep per day or even more.

You can certainly take 2-3 days off, but just be aware that depending on your personality, you might feel really guilty about it or feel like you should be studying. I know classmates who went to family weddings, etc. during boards studying and did fine, but I know that personally, I probably would have felt bad that I wasn't working and not really enjoyed the time off. So if you want to go on that vacay, I would highly suggest you make sure all your reservations are refundable, because once you get stressed, you might change your mind and not want to go.

The worst part about boards are the first few and last few days before your exam lol. It really sucks getting into the routine of studying so much, btu once you get used to it, it's not so bad. I took the entire day off before my exam, and I think that was a great idea. At that point, your studying is already done, and you don't want to start thinking to yourself, "crap, I didn't know this!"

I think the big thing though is to listen to your body. If you're mentally checked out, don't bother trying to study stuff. You'll just end up tricking yourself into thinking you studied a bunch of whatever subject when you actually absorbed nothing. Better to just take a break at that point and come back to it when you're game again.