Study tips/reminders for the lost
For some reason I’ve never been able to study. To sit down and revise for hours was impossible, especially during A-Levels (luckily I got pretty good grades at GCSE with little revision)- I would sit down for maybe 5 mins at a time before freaking out, getting severely distracted or overstimulated and finally, navigating to somewhere on the Internet, usually Youtube, and getting stuck there for hours on end. And so it continued. I was scared, overwhelmed by how much I needed to do, and felt hopeless because it took me ages to understand or memorise anything properly, and anyway I’d already lost so much time. Unsurprisingly, my final results were poor. I remember opening the envelope and feeling numb, I’d expected it. I tried to put on a positive smile, and slipped away off home on my own. The point is I was struggling and I didn’t get or ask for help. I’m 22 now and doing an apprenticeship at a well-known british media company. University was never something I wanted to go through after Sixth-Form Hell- and that’s okay: it’s not for everyone and there are other options. I’ve also finally found how best I study. If any of the above resonated with you, it may help you too?
Don’t make it into a big deal, literally nothing matters anyway, what will happen, will happen.
Make LISTS - make a to-do list and break it down into manageable chunks. It’s clear then what little things you need to do to make a big difference- and checking tasks off your list will feel so good. You’ll feel productive, accomplished and not guilty, allowing you to sleep better at night too.
Don’t worry if you don’t understand things first time round, just read and let it wash over you.
USE THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE - this time-management technique has saved my shocking attention span and me from my ability to get distracted- breaks are built in too which is amazing.
Decide on the task to be done.
Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).
Work on the task.
End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.
If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2.
After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.
TAKE BREAKS - If you’re not using the pomodoro technique, at least make sure you take sufficient breaks and regularly, set a timer for 25/30/45 min chunks to work and then go outside for 5/10 mins, get a cup of tea, have a screen break, talk to someone, stretch your legs, jump around, dance, sing or do something else that makes you happy.
STEP-BACK/REST - Feeling overwhelmed? Teary? Stressed? Like you’ll never get through and it’s all hopeless? You’re literally just tired- your brain is like “nah I’m overstimmed...I’ll just shut down”. So you need to step back and get perspective or you won’t be productive- try a walk, a break, or an early night. Better sleep will mean you can cope for longer periods of time.
Make up stories - this is the best way I’ve found to memorise info- especially acronyms and numbers. Create a narrative with the information as the characters, and imagine it visually in your head. Add detail, and anthropomorphise/personify objects to make it weird and memorable but also make sense and resonate with you. For example to memorise the order in which to build a PC, I made up a story about the relationship between a CPU and a motherboard... Your brain has the capacity to memorise 3x the Internet apparently, or so my Chemistry teacher once told me (even if it’s only 1x, that’s still a fair bit).
SLEEP - I cannot stress enough how important sleep is. Without it you won’t cope- trust me, I know. Try to get 7/8 hours a night, and make sure to go to sleep before midnight- I like to aim for 10:00pm, then read a book for half an hour to calm down. Getting enough daylight helps, and also writing a to-do list before you sleep. If you still can’t calm down...
Exercise - If I’m still buzzing with thoughts, worries, or maybe the urge to do a million things that aren’t studying but I need to get to bed, I will do a home workout/yoga or just dance to my favourite music. Also my brain gets tired out my listening to music as I fall asleep- kinda like brain exercise.
Remember: this isn’t forever.
And finally....
Always have an evening treat - if you need to study all day, make sure you have time for yourself in the evening, and do something you love, preferably away from the screen if you’ve been on your laptop all day and your eyes are starting to ache. I like to draw, paint, maybe bake cookies or force myself on an evening walk, even if I think I can’t be bothered because I always end up feeling amazing and tired out, in a good way.
You haven’t failed until you give up!
