Study Motivation

[research life]

It’s a pleasure and a privilege to learn. Not only is it a privilege to study, but you should be aiming and striving to take science, medicine, law, philosophy, art further than the marker we have reached. It’s a comforting thought to think, from your work generations of humanity down the line will benefit.

These are some of my tips that I used for studying for longer hours during my junior and senior year in high school. I generally studied 4 heavy content subjects and 2 languages. And, yes, i did get good grades.

Studying is a task that requires you to be consistent and driven. That is why, I want to make one thing very clear. This is not a promotion of toxic studying when you feel too tired.

I will start with a simple process that i formed.

Work => Compensation => Repeat.

Quality Matters

By quality I mean. One hour spending time recalling facts and answering questions and filling gaps is better than 5 hours of reviewing notes. Just focus on improving your focus and methods. I call it the "FM Method"

You choose one specific method, and you consistently follow it for a specific period.

Longer Hours Should Not Exceed 5

If you have to study for long hours, don't let it exceed 5 hours. The reason is simple. It's useless, and your body will drain up and use all your energy. I used to study for 9 hours some days in my junior year. Now i study only for 3-4 hours every day. The results? Practically the same. My grades didn't drop but i feel more motivated to study and complete everything.

So, don't extend the hours you study. Make your focus and methods better.

20 Second Breaks

When you complete a topic, small or big. Just close your eyes for 20-30 seconds and lean back on your chair and calm your breathing. Process the information. Let everything sink in. Take out the tension. DO NOT TAKE YOUR PHONE. And then after those 20-30 seconds, just glance through the topic before moving to the next one. So, take 20 second breaks.

Active Studying > Passive Studying

This is the same thing i spoke before. Use active methods of studying. Active recall and filling gaps, visual representation, learning through stories and mnemonics.

Passive studying is when you learn through notes, repeating things over and over again, trying to memorize instead of learning and understanding the concepts.

One hour of active studying is better than 5 hours of passive studying.

Rewards

When you complete an hour or two, give yourself a small reward. But the reward should be as productive as your time spent. If you spent the last two hours studying and then you watch 3 hours of your favourite tv show then that is not a good reward.

A reward should actually compensate, you need you calm your brain, not indulge yourself in instant dopamine hits.

Actual Rest

A reward is different from rest.

Rest is essential for your body. Sleep is the body's soother. You used your brain for hours and if you don't let it rest than definitely it doesn't matter how well you're actually studying. You. Will. Feel. Tired.

Burnout Effect

In one way, burnout is good. Honestly, some people's highest point is 30 mins or an hour. They find burnout creeping in after some time had passed. And that is why, if you want to reach at least two hours of studying. You need to push that limit. Every single time. Try moving 30 mins every week. Your max limit is 1 hour. Then this week, study for 1 hr 30 mins. The next week, study for 2hrs. then 2hr 30 mins. Do it for a few weeks.

If you don't push yourself to the max limit. Then you'll never actually reach your goal.

Consistency

This is an indefinite rule. You want to improve your grades. Do it every day.

Your work ethic and your willingness to stick to habits will determine your success.

Make a "Your" Environment.

This is a very underrated thing; you must have a "you" environment. It doesn't matter what it is. Basically a "you" environment is whenever you're there, you're motivated to do work. It doesn't have to be a place really. Another example would be, whenever i'm on my phone, i'm likely to waste my time doing unnecessary things but whenever i'm on my laptop, i'm automatically in "work" mode. So, for you it might be your study desk or even school sometimes.

(I remember, during the last 2 months in senior year, i used to go to the very corner of my classroom, sit on the ground, face the wall, put my headphones on, placed my bag in front of me as a table and just solve accountancy sums because that place was my "work" environment. Honestly, it looked so weird but whenever i was there, my focus was just amazing)

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the key, for me at least, for studying for a big exam like the mcat consistently for several weeks, is to switch things up. rigid and strict routines make me not want to do them, especially if they are not enjoyable in nature.

this week has been all about finishing up content review. i'm doing 4 chapters a day from a different subject. for example, today i'm studying chapter 6 of chemistry, chapter 5 of biology, chapter 10 of physics, and chapter 3 of organic chemistry. i'm using the review books from the princeton review because they have practice questions and practice passages after each chapter. sometimes it does tend to get into the weeds, but content is content.

i start at 8 am and do one hour of the milesdown anki deck. this gets my brain prepped for the day. i have a nintendo switch remote that i use to flip through the anki cards which immediately makes it more fun and less taxing.

then, i break for breakfast. my breakfasts are either half a bagel with cream cheese, oatmeal with fruits and granola, or a breakfast sandwich. i also have a cup of coffee or an energy drink (depending on my energy levels), a hydroflask full of water, and a fairlife protein shake.

from there, i study in one hour intervals until lunch. i read through the chapters and make flashcards for unfamiliar terms and concepts. each chapter normally takes me an hour to an hour and a half, meaning i get about two chapters done in the morning and two chapters done in the afternoon.

after i finish my chapter reviews, i do 3 practice cars passages from the aamc review deck. i'm a little rusty on cars, so doing daily practice is necessary to keep both my reading stamina up and to work on my "aamc logic."

this past week has been really busy with having things to do in the evenings, so post mcat study if i'm free, i will eat dinner and then watch some tv or read or game. it's whatever i feel like, which is a great feeling.

i've been averaging about 5 hours of studying a day, but that will ramp up as i finish up content review and go into practice problem and practice section sets.

this is the routine that works for me right now! i'm sure this will change as time goes on and i continue to study for this pretty grueling exam.

for those of y'all out there studying for this thing, we've got this. for those of y'all that aren't, you lucky bastards.

my finals are finally OVER. now i begin studying for the mcat on june 15th. i've been doing some light studying throughout the past few months but now is really the time to hit the books

the goals/plan:

study 7-8 hours every day, with half days on sundays

take a practice exam every week and a half

focus on uworld for the first two to three weeks, then change to aamc content

do a daily cars passage

i really want to make higher than a 510, but my dream score would be a 518. realistic goal is 512 but striving for a 520+ always

shoot for the stars, friends. happy studying.

At the end of the day, it's always important to remember this.

an active recall study method where you "blurt" everything you remember on a blank page or whiteboard. steps to follow:

write anything you remember from your notes (generally blurt the equivalent 1-2 pages in your notes every time)

look over your notes again, this time correcting any mistakes/topics you forgot in your blurt

"blurt" again, and continue doing it until you've mastered the material

this method works best for history class and other classes that rely heavily on memorization. i personally recommend using a small whiteboard for convenience.

optimizing your study environment

creating an optimal study environment is great for enhancing concentration and productivity. here's some tips to help you:

design a dedicated study area ☄ choose a quiet, well-lit space where you can focus without interruptions ☄ arrange your desk for productivity, keeping study materials within reach ☄ personalize the area with inspiring items (like pictures or quotes) that won't distract you

minimize distractions ☄ turn off or silence your phone to avoid interruptions ☄ select a study spot away from high-traffic areas and noise sources ☄ consider using noise-cancelling headphones or background instrumental music to drown out external sounds

invest in comfort ☄ position your desk at a comfortable height and use a good chair ☄ proper lighting and a good temperature contribute to focus

study tips

plan your studying around tests:

check your syllabus for tests and be generally aware of how far you're into a unit/topic

don't cram, but ramp up the studying as you near the test date

studying doesn't have to be 2 hours of flashcards; it can be 20 minutes reading over notes

methods of studying:

don't limit yourself to notes - you're going to get bored and inattentive, and then you will dread study.

USE THE INTERNET! it's the best resource for studying - all the information is out there are there's always quizzes and games for whatever your studying.

for students who study anatomy especially, or anyone who needs to memorise information, find a song version of the information on youtube. LEARN THE SONG. SING THE SONG.

flashcards!! i have a love/hate relationship with flashcards. they're great for vocabulary, but not for a deeper understanding of a concept. if you want to grasp anything that can't be related in less than 3 sentences, don't put it on a flashcard.

when you study using flashcards, DO NOT simply read them. of course - read your notes, but take advantage and test yourself. ACTIVE RECALL!

make sure to answer practice questions. this is key to your success and confidence in an exam.

taking breaks:

make sure to take breaks. it may not seem important - may even seem like a waste of time. but i promise you that you will crash significantly less if you take time to take care of yourself.

as you get closer to exam dates, you'll notice less time to do other day-to-day activities and leisure time. you must learn to prioritise. try to meal prep before exam season to lessen the load. write up a calendar/schedule to ensure that you get enough exercise, sleep, food, and social time.

if you find yourself taking too many breaks (more than you would like) - try to make your studying more enjoyable. gamify it!

end notes:

a link to my study corner, here. it's a masterlist of all of my study-related posts.

Spaced repetition with ANKI and Quizlet can also help.

If studying Undergrad or Graduate in the STEM/Medicine fields, and more of a visual learner; Pixorize, Picmonic, and Sketchy are also very helpful sites.

Reliable and factually based AI apps like Perplexity can also help with studying. If you don't understand a concept, you can ask it to explain it in simpler terms for you or generate mock questions for you.

[ID: A screengrab of an app, with the heading "2024"; beneath the heading is an image of a grid decorated to look like a grassy field, covered with little digital plants such as trees, cacti, and toadstools. In the corner is a count of the plants, 117, and also the number one to indicate one real tree has been planted.]

Duolingo, for all its faults, has been really helpful for learning Italian, because it gamifies it exactly at the level I want. But it's also stalled in terms of what it can teach me; I've completed all the modules and it has started to become simply repetitive drilling. I decided I'd go off the paid subscription when the year is up, because I can do flashcards and translation on my own, and I wanted to find new ways to gamify that so that I would keep at it.

Enter Forest! When you want to focus on something, you open the app, set the amount of time you want to focus, and "plant" the timer. It basically locks your phone to a handful of apps (you can select which ones) so that you either have to focus outside of your phone, or focus on the apps you've allowed. If you successfully spend the entire time without "cancelling" the plant, it gets added to the grid. It also awards you coins which you can use to buy new kinds of plants, but slowly enough that you have to work a little for them. There's also a "friends" function where you can friend and compete with others, although I haven't explored that yet.

For me it's useful because it locks me out of stuff I shouldn't deal with while I'm studying, preventing me from, for example, feeling guilty that I haven't responded to a text immediately. It also gives me a little dopamine hit when my plant grows successfully, and unlike some other apps I looked at, once your plant has grown, you don't have to do anything further -- there's no maintenance, per se, which keeps it from getting overwhelming. It's primarily useful to me as a way of rewarding myself for doing something daily, which I will need once I'm not getting night owl chests and streak rewards from Duolingo. I've been on Forest long enough now that I know it'll work for me so I thought I'd recommend it.

Forest has a free version, but a lot of the features I wanted (custom tags, the ability to create a library of favorite settings, etc) were only in the paid version. That was a bummer until I looked at the cost of the paid version which was literally a one-time payment of $3. So I paid the $3 and honestly, more than worth it.

So, i saw this on TikTok. If you have multiple chores, and don't know where to start, just write them all down, and then number them.

Then roll a dice, and whatever chore that number is, do it. (And if you don't have a dice, there are thousands of apps for that.)

It makes the chores approachable.

You don't see the mountain of all chores anymore, it's just one thing. Also you don't have to think about the next thing, because you don't know what it is.

And then it's done, and you can move to the next thing the dice tells you

I just did this to clean up my room.

I put bed, couch, nightstand, desk, chair, floor etc. And hell it worked. My room is actually clean now...

solid unproductive today, idk what got to me but i was just lazing around without a care in the world 😭 but i'm holding myself accountable, this won't happen again i promise.

i also deleted what little social media i had, like the texting app :D so let's consider it a digital detox for a while at the very least, all i have rn is tumblr and pinterest 😞✊🏻

anyway, here's the to-do for tomorrow:

solve previous year problem sheet on area under the curves

electrochemistry notes rev + problem solving

indefinite integration notes rev + review the types and mech

more problems on current electricity

revisit biomolecules (since it's very theory heavy, i keep forgetting stuff so imma revisit and relearn)

how to stay motivated long-term

trust, me i know that long-term motivation and consistency is hard. long-term motivation might be difficult to maintain, but there are effective techniques to help you stay focused and determined. whether you're seeking personal ambitions, academic achievements, or professional success, here are some strategies to help encourage motivation:

understand the reason behind your goal ☆ does your goal contribute to personal growth or meaningful relationships? ☆ how does your goal impact others? ☆ is your goal meaningful to you? if your goal lacks meaning, it may be hard to maintain motivation.

positive and negative motivation motivation can come from different places ☆ positive motivation: the desire to experience pleasure ☆ negative motivation: the desire to avoid something (an outcome) both types of motivation have their place, so learn to recognise what type fits in where.

set up systems use your initial motivation to set up structures: ☆ create routines, systems and habits that help you towards your goal even when your motivation fluctuates ☆ when your emotions wane, rely on these systems and disciplines to maintain momentum

break down goals ☆ tackle one goal at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed ☆ set achievable milestones and celebrate each step forward ☆ keep the momentum going by focusing on manageable tasks

validate good work ☆ give yourself a little reward, or thank yourself, for completing hard tasks ☆ this reinforces motivation and encourages effort

remember--motivation isn't in a constant state, it ebbs and flows. these small tips will help to stay motivated. i'm going to provide more information in upcoming posts, and i will link them here once they are published.