What keeps you focused to study?

ScientistSalarian · Sep 13, 2013

I'm easily distracted at home so I try to get most of my studying done at school. I don't generally do any reading or assignments on the weekdays that I have lecture or scheduled lab time, so after that I plan out what I need to study for the coming week and then figure out the order in which it needs to be done. Once I know what I need to do I schedule my study time in small chunks, making sure I've budgeted in plenty of break times. When I break it up into small, manageable pieces it alleviates a lot of my study anxiety and allows me to really focus on what I'm doing.

vitamingirl722 · Sep 13, 2013

Can't wait to see the other replies on this thread bc I'm having the same issue. It's so strange Im on my last two pre-reqs right now but I can't seem to focus completely on my studies.

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Alisonisayoshi, LVN · Sep 13, 2013

I turn off my phone, the TV, and block Facebook and reddit on my laptop. I study for 30 minute chunks and then take a break. I never do more than 3 hours at once. I you tube Crash Course on the subject. The guy who does them makes subjects entertaining. If I still cannot focus, I stop for the moment, do something different, and come back later.

righteousjenn · Sep 13, 2013

What keeps me focused is the fact that I want to be done already. I can't believe there are at least 6 people in my physiology class who are taking it a second time. that is a whole semester wasted for nothing, I don't want that to happen. I also went to my volunteer orientation the other day at this hospital I want to work at and I LOVED it. I'm almost done with my prereqs and feel like I've been doing them forever and will be doing them forever, but doing stuff hospital related keeps me extremely motivated because I feel like I'm actually working towards a goal.

What helps me study is taking breaks often, but not long enough where I don't want to study anymore. The only time I can really study is after 8pm when my daughter goes to sleep, but when I do have some downtime during the day I will sneak in a review of my notes. If I'm extremely tired, even after drinking coffee, I will just go to sleep because when I study while tired, I retain nothing.

Mandy0728 · Sep 13, 2013

This is my last semester of pre reqs & you would think I'd have all the motivation in the world, but I don't. I do my homework & I study...I think I'm just desperately waiting to hear if I got accepted into my BSN program for next semester.

carefulcare · Sep 13, 2013

Thank you everyone for your input. I will try the taking more breaks in between. My family life keeps me busy (I have two children who are young), I drive an hour to and from campus, and by the time its night time where I can study I am exhausted. So the only time I can is when I am on campus right after lecture.

whealer · Sep 13, 2013

I'm on prereqs now and next semester I'll take some of them alongside nursing courses.

As mentioned I just don't want to risk having to take them again.

I'm not that involved in FB and the like so those aren't a bother for me. It's really an issue of figuring out what is taking your mind off of studying and addressing that particular issue. Personally, I can just get bored after a while. That's when I change up my study style. I engage in practice tests. I try and think critically about how my studies apply to me as nurse. I feel like I've seen people mention that there are few, if any, connections you can draw to some liberal arts courses but that's not the case, especially when you're working in an industry that deals heavily with people. If I get bored with studying one subject, then I start to study another subject and try to make connections between the two. If I feel sleepy, I take a walk, workout, play with my kitty cats, bug my boyfriend.

Just make studying into a ritual and you'll find yourself focusing more.

dtaleton88 · Sep 14, 2013

I have to agree with righteousjenn the fact that I don't want to take the course again is a motivation to being one step closer to the goal. I have to take my Chem course again I feel like if the 19 year old me knew the 24 year old me then I would have had some direction and strived to make better grades. Retaking the course does help me out a bit Im able to get a higher grade but it puts me a semester behind and the wait to apply to nursing school is the current motivation currently.

When I do study I have my headphone in Greys on tv on mute and my blackboard on the wall to make sure that everything that needs to get complete is done. I try to study 2 hrs per subject I have to take breaks every 45 min. I start with statistics, A&P, then Human growth then Med terms. If I start getting off track my switch to connected subjects or work on a pcr to get the juices flowing. I cant study during the day unless on campus. At home I have to study around 10-10:30 once my house is quite and my wife at her desk writing her teachers plans.

sacha bell · Sep 15, 2013

I record all my science lectures, and I re-listen to them again, and take my own notes on the subject. Like today, I realized how funny and intelligent my teacher truly is, and I'm waiting for my next class with him! Have fun, and think about the reward at the end, that's what's keeping me going! I have no real support at home, but the prospect of being a nurse one day, focuses my attention away from all other distractions!

elprup, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2013

Definitely record lectures and listen while driving. I was always amazed at what I grasped the second/third time round.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

I just know I have to do it. Nursing is so competitive. I know I need to stay on top of things to get where I need to go. I am a single mom to a 7 year old boy who is in competitive judo fighting and we travel on most weekends so I have to get everything done during the week. My motivation is my son who is so happy I am becoming a nurse. When he tells me how proud he is of me, I am sufficiently motivated.