Clinical/Cohort Balance

oceanblue52 · Jun 19, 2017

1. Get a planner and start practicing blocking time out. Write a list of assignments, chores, paying bills, date night, self care time, etc., then go down the list at least every week and figure out a block of time to do each thing. Check in periodically and cross things out, which can be a good motivator.

2. Start learning how to prioritize. Is it more important to do the dishes or spend some time with your loved one? If you have two tests tomorrow and only a few hours to study, figure out which content you need to review more. It's not ideal, but it's important to accept that you cannot always get everything done. Practicing this mindset will really help once you are in the profession too.

3. Do some self reflection about what needs to be fixed with your study habits. Do you get easily distracted by texts or take lots of breaks to check Facebook? Do you have difficulty engaging with material? Lots of solutions to improve study habits, but it's difficult to offer specific advice without more info.

Habits don't change over night, but setting intentions to improve your study habits and keeping a planner are a great start. Finally, unless you are prone to losing stuff I'd really recommend using a paper planner over a cell phone or computer calendar. Flipping through the pages and actually writing tasks down helps you conceptualize timeframes better, and the very act of pulling out a physical planner can help you develop better habits of managing your time. It's also fun to personalize with stickers, colored markers or whatever and will make managing your time more engaging and less of a chore.

oceanblue52 · Jun 19, 2017

One last study tip: Avoid cramming! Try and take at least a half hour a day per class to review lecture material. Repitition is key to making things stick long-term.

RSP.SN · Jun 19, 2017

Wonderful advice. Thank you so very much. I will take note of this.

RSP.SN · Jun 19, 2017

1. Get a planner and start practicing blocking time out. Write a list of assignments, chores, paying bills, date night, self care time, etc., then go down the list at least every week and figure out a block of time to do each thing. Check in periodically and cross things out, which can be a good motivator.
2. Start learning how to prioritize. Is it more important to do the dishes or spend some time with your loved one? If you have two tests tomorrow and only a few hours to study, figure out which content you need to review more. It's not ideal, but it's important to accept that you cannot always get everything done. Practicing this mindset will really help once you are in the profession too.
3. Do some self reflection about what needs to be fixed with your study habits. Do you get easily distracted by texts or take lots of breaks to check Facebook? Do you have difficulty engaging with material? Lots of solutions to improve study habits, but it's difficult to offer specific advice without more info.
Habits don't change over night, but setting intentions to improve your study habits and keeping a planner are a great start. Finally, unless you are prone to losing stuff I'd really recommend using a paper planner over a cell phone or computer calendar. Flipping through the pages and actually writing tasks down helps you conceptualize timeframes better, and the very act of pulling out a physical planner can help you develop better habits of managing your time. It's also fun to personalize with stickers, colored markers or whatever and will make managing your time more engaging and less of a chore.

Oh and also to answer your third point about my studying habits, I do seem to get easily distracted at times. My boyfriend and I are both studying in the science field, so we both understand the severity of the work, but while I'm studying, for example, he may text me and I'll stop what I'm doing to respond back and even while we're together (his campus is 30 minutes from mine), we'd study or do assignments together one day of our weekend together. As for social media, I log out of my Facebook while studying, but wish to just have a week where I don't have the need to get on there. So I have good potential with improving my studying, I just need the push. I also keep a planner, but don't really like the one I have. I've heard great reviews on the Erin Condren planners, so I plan to invest in one before heading back to school in August.

EDIT: I also found that studying in the library at certain times would allow me to lose motivation. Like after dark, I tend to just want to sleep after 10pm, so I try to get everything out of that way during the day. I understand that sleep it very important also, but I really want to balance that out as well in order to be successful and in order to study smart, not hard.