Creating a study schedule

how many of you are on a study schedule?

i'm in the first semester of nursing school and my two most important classes right now are fundamentals and pharmacology. so far, i'm doing well (compared to my classmates, not what i'm used to, which is that nice little shock of nursing school!), but i feel like i should have a better study schedule. i study with a group and independently. as it stands now, i take mondays off from studying if possible, tuesday-wednesday study with group 1-2 hours/solo study for about 1 hour, thursdays solo study (we have clinicals and it's too hard to meet after), friday afternoons i catch up on reading and over the weekend i do any papers/assignments and study for tests both alone and with my group on saturday or sunday. i have fundamentals tests on monday and pharm tests on fridays. i feel like i should have a more sensible schedule to stick to each day so that things are a little more orderly. before i start, i was just curious if anyone had any pointers. i'm generally organized to a fault and i'm feeling that this is too disjointed and could be streamlined.

also, my instructors set up our test questions as nclex-type format to start getting us used to critical thinking. i was wondering if anyone had any websites to give me some practice with dissecting the questions and the critical thinking process.

thanks!

hi:

this is the nclex 3500 series, it has questions, including the alternate format type questions....

http://198.146.4.5/nclexrn3500/mainmenu.do;jsessionid=78d87026bdb43ae42f8deb0fc4f821c3

jadu1106

I like to have my reading done before it is covered in lecture, and I have to make a schedule in order to get it done in time. I make little paper bookmarks for each chapter that needs to be read. On each bookmark I write down the date I'd like it read by. For example, if I need 10 chapters read in a week, I'll read 2 chapters a day for 5 days, and have chapters assigned to each of those 5 days with my bookmarks.

My school gives us our exam schedule for the entire semester, which makes it easier for me to schedule appropriate study times. Everyday, I try to do one reading assignment and one writing assignment. My travel time to school is 2 hours each way, so I get my reading done then most of the time. It leaves me more time to do my writing assignments at home, plus any studying (I study best at night, in my living room, on the couch). If I don't have any writing or reading assignments due any time soon, then I get a head start on them. The faster I get them done and hand them in, the faster my professor grades them, so it's good for me. (She encourages us to hand in assignments early)

So far, this has worked fine for me and I've been doing good these 5 weeks. I usually have one "lazy" day a week when I just relax and do no work, but I'm usually still studying and going over information in my mind. I have yet to freak out.