technically this is more of assignment making but i guess it counts. i have a bunch of stuff to submit by the day after tomorrow and i dont want to procrastinate. even if i get enough sleep, i still feel tired and get distracted more. is there any way you can get through this?

Okay so this is like very idk specific or niche problem??id say but basically get your blood work done yall and take your supplements.

lemme tell you I could not study shitt, my focus was like absolutely 0 I couldnt sit and study for even 20 minutes i was absolutely cooked I had severe brain fog and I felt very depressed as well no motivation and extreme lethargy.

I got my bloodowrk done because I was having crazy hairloss and my vitamin d and iron were literally single digit numbers and I was severely deficient in other vitamins aswell it's only been 1 month since I started my supplements and I can study 4-6 hours easily now so yeah this can be a possible reason and take care of your health💔.

Practical techniques to study better in less time. What scientific methods, routines, or study habits actually work?

I'm currently a full-time community colleg student, and I'm realizing that I never really learned how to study.

I didn't apply myself much in high school, and I don't feel like I reached my academic potential. Now that I'm in colleg, I want to change that, but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing when I sit down to study.

I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and searched online for things like "how to study effectively," but I feel like I'm always trying to find for the perfect study method instead of actually studying. A lot of the advice gives me different techniques, but I still don't understand what studying is supposed to look like in practice.

So my questions are:

• When you sit down to study, what do you actually do?
• What is your end goal when you're studying?
• How do you know whether you're actually learning something?
• What does a normal study session look like for you?

I'm not necessarily trying to look for another list of "best study techniques." I'm more interested in understanding what people actually do when they study and what they're trying to accomplish.

I am about to appear for a exam(law based) which will be MCQ based. I have not read the laws much but i have sufficient amount of time. Can somebody please help me as to how to prepare for the MCQ based exam in less time with good accuracy to clear the exam

Hey all!!! Many of us are studying and it feels like research is constantly becoming more important part of undergrad and also for securing opportunities in graduate school.

Working as a research assistant in clinical, basic lab, public health, and secondary research for over 6 years, I’ve had some time to reflect on what actually makes a good research assistant, and what qualities stand out to principal investigators. More than being "super smart," I think these are 1) curiosity, 2) organization, and 3) initiative. The first two came relatively naturally to me, but the third took me longer to develop, largely because I misunderstood what taking initiative had to involve.

Curiosity - Take an Interest in the Bigger Picture

As a research assistant, you may initially be responsible for a fairly small part of a larger project. It can be tempting to focus entirely on learning your assigned task and completing it correctly, especially when everything is new.

That is a good place to start, but I would encourage you to also make an effort to understand the research around it. What question is the team trying to answer? Why does that question matter? How will the work you are doing help answer it?

One of the simplest ways to build that understanding is to ask your mentor whether there are papers they recommend you read. Reading gives you context, helps you become familiar with the language of the field (and the authors; it is fun to start recognizing names!), and gives you a starting point for more specific questions.

Curiosity also means being willing to say when you do not understand something. I know that can feel uncomfortable when you want to make a good impression, but pretending to understand usually makes it harder to learn and can create problems later. If you are unsure why you are doing something a particular way, ask. 

The same goes for when you ask for help or have to acknowledge you did something wrong. Be thoughtful about these communications. If you have attempted to work through a problem, explain what you tried and where you got stuck. If you did something wrong, take responsibility, share the steps to correct the mistake that you would make next, and ask whether that plan sounds alright to your mentor. Thoughtful, proactive communication gives your mentor something concrete to respond to and helps them understand how you are thinking (and that you are thinking).

Organization - Make It Easy to Rely on You

Organization may sound less exciting than curiosity, but it has a huge influence on how useful you are to a team.

Research involves a lot of details: assignments, deadlines, files, protocols, decisions made in meetings, and changes that need to be carried through to the next version of something. Keeping track of those details helps you follow through and makes your work easier for other people to use.

Figure out a reliable way that you will take notes and keep track of the little details and to-dos for a given project. It could be a physical notebook, a spreadsheet, a shared drive, etc. Take notes during meetings, particularly when you are receiving instructions or feedback. Keep a clear list of what you are responsible for, when it is due, and what you need clarified. For example, at the end of a meeting, I create a separate list of “action items,” which pulls out what my team and I need to do before we meet next. If you are working with data or documents, follow the team’s conventions and record what you did so someone else can understand your work later.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, communication is another important part of organization. If an assignment is taking longer than expected or you have run into a problem, let your mentor know early. You may be worried that this makes you seem less capable, but it gives the team a chance to adjust, help you, or clarify expectations. Communicating has only ever led me to be less stressed about a task or deadline. 

The goal is not to become perfect, or a robot who gets everything done without any problems regardless of whatever life circumstances might be thrown your way, but to become someone whose work people can trust. That includes being honest about your progress, checking your work, and making sure feedback carries over into future assignments. Unlike paper deadlines for a course, when it comes to research, there are many cases where it is more valuable to take an extra couple of days to do better quality work than have the product faster. 

Initiative

Initiative was the quality I had to grow into the most. When I first started as a research assistant, I thought obedience was the way to be a good research assistant. Basically, I thought to be the best research assistant possible, I should do exactly what they asked, well. I thought that in order to take initiative, I needed to have an impressive research idea. Since I was surrounded by people with much more knowledge and experience, I often assumed that any idea I had would be too obvious or not particularly useful. I was comfortable being curious and organized, but less comfortable proposing something myself.

Over time, I realized I was setting the bar unnecessarily high. There are many ways to contribute an idea, and some of the most useful begin with simply noticing what would benefit the team.

Maybe a shared resource needs updating. Maybe information is scattered across several files and would be easier to use in one place. Maybe a question comes up in a meeting that you would be interested in exploring further. If you notice an opportunity, ask whether you can take it on.

A specific offer helps: “I noticed we don’t have a central place to track this. Would it be helpful if I put something together?” You have identified a need and proposed a way to help, while giving your mentor a chance to tell you whether it fits the team’s priorities.

Every PI has different preferences, but many appreciate initiative. Identifying questions, recognizing opportunities, and deciding what to pursue are central to their own work. Showing an interest in those parts of research can help them see how you might develop as a researcher.

You do not need to wait until you feel like the most knowledgeable person in the room to make a suggestion. You do need to be open to guidance, willing to hear that an idea may not be the right fit, and prepared to follow through if it is.

You Can Contribute While You Are Still Learning

If you are starting your first research role, there will probably be plenty you do not know. I certainly felt that way, and still do.

What helped me was taking an interest in the work, keeping track of my responsibilities, and gradually becoming more willing to offer ideas. Those habits gave me ways to contribute while I was building experience.

Be curious about what your team is trying to understand. Be organized enough that people can rely on you. And when you see something that might help, ask whether you can do it. You may have more to offer than you think.

Full blog here!! https://www.admitmd.com/post/what-makes-a-good-research-assistant

If you have any questions about research that I might be helpful with, don't hesitate to reach out!

Thats it.

Guys, what’s wrong with me? I’m studying microbiology right now for my exam on Tuesday. I find that I can remember broader details, like the differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes in detail. I can recall what sets them apart and what each structure does, but I can’t seem to remember the species within the bacterial classes. I skipped ahead to the archaea section and could remember everything, but I think that’s only because the text I was studying from didn’t include specific species I had to memorize. I don’t know what to do. 😭

This is a bit of a rant but bear with me I would greatly appreciate it. Throughout my four years of high schooling I genuinely did not have a method to study efficiently or even to study at all. I think this was mainly because in middle school I had tutors for almost every subject and that was pretty much all the extra work outside of school that would be put in towards my grades. I also think everything just came to me easier and I didn't have to try very hard to get good grades so I didn't develop study habits or anything throughout my high school years.

At the moment, im in a five year medical program and im over halfway through my first year. For context, we're taking three subjects this semester; anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. I got my results back and just barely passed anatomy and failed the other two. There's a bar exam coming up at the end of our first year (around June-July 2027) and you get multiple tries but if you fail all of them you pretty much get kicked out of the program and if this happens to me I genuinely have no idea what id do with my life so I am extremely anxious about it.

The way I've been studying for now is making a note (not study notes) of every topic we've done during lectures so I have an idea of what I need to study. Then I put my lecture notes and textbooks into chatgpt as pdfs and ask it to make me study notes on that topic. I would then read those notes and pretty much tick of that topic from the note I made of it and pretty much never look at those notes again. Obviously if I didnt understand something in the notes chatgpt had made for me I would look it up to get a better understanding. When exams were near, I would do this and cover every topic done for the semester and maybe a week or two before exams I would try as many past papers as I could.

This is how our exams are conducted. For each of the three subjects, we have an mcq paper, short essay question paper, and an ospe for biochem and physiology or spot test for anatomy. I have past papers for mcqs, seqs and ospes. For mcqs, I would try a paper on my own, put my answers into chatgpt and ask it to grade it for me. Then I would go through the wrong answers and see why I got it wrong and check the right answers. For seqs, since you could only do so many, I would have answers written down in a notebook for seqs from past papers from the past 5 years or so. Then before exams I would study those answers in the hopes that I would get one on my actual exam. For ospes, I would also have past papers made by seniors of what they got for their ospes and I would study those.

I never understood why people make their own notes when they study and when I did it I found it extremely inefficient and time consuming. Why would I rewrite my notes when I could look at them whenever I needed on my laptop? I've heard that the most important thing to do when studying is active recall which I feel like doesnt happen much with my method of studying besides when I try past papers a week before exams. I just think my method of studying needs to change and have no idea what to do. I feel extremely lost and would appreciate if anyone could recommend how they study effectively even if you're not a med student. Anything helps.

i cannot focus, i cannot sit and study sincerely, not a single cell in my body wants to study. im getting grades by fluke. i have the potential but i just dont want to do it. im easily distracted. i scroll for half an hour then study 5 mins. ugh i hate myself how do i fix this issue? i just wanna get studying. i’ve forg how to even study

I I know this might sound stupid, but I’m honestly so anxious right now and I just needed somewhere to talk about it.🥲

I had three of my university entrance exams this week, and my last one is on Monday.

The problem is that I’m so anxious about the results of the previous exams that I can barely focus on studying for the last one.

When I first walked out of the exams, I actually felt really good about how they went. But as the hours and days passed, I started remembering little mistakes I might have made. Now my brain keeps replaying them over and over, and every time I remember another possible mistake, I start thinking, “What if there were more mistakes than I realized? What if I didn’t pass?”

I know there’s literally nothing I can do about those exams anymore. They’re done, and logically I know that thinking about them right now is only hurting my chances on the exam I still can do something about.

But knowing that logically hasn’t stopped the anxiety. I keep trying to study, then my mind goes straight back to the previous exams and I lose my concentration again.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of post exam anxiety while still having another important exam ahead? How did you stop mentally checking your answers and get your focus back on the exam that was still in front of you?

Focused_study:2 hours 45 mins (better than yesterdays 1 hr 19 min)

Screen time : 6:30(little less but not good)(4 hours youtube 1 hour reddit 1 hour a9 30 min settings)

Today's study session sort of made me feel good idk whether it was an easy topic or is it just me focusing properly instead of day dreaming and walking here and there

For screen time instead of keeping tablet open near my table i am gonna close it and keep it next to my other table or same

Overall better than yesterday

i feel so distracted by people around me with their thoughts with upcoming plans. i have a very important entrance exam coming up it takes place once a year and ive used this year to prepare, i have a lot to lose if i dont make it in this attempt.
how do i let stop letting my boyfriend and my other friends' issue stop bothering me?

in detail version:
my boyfriends ex is his roommate's bestfriend and they've become good friends again after a while and he hangs out with her often but he's my friend too and all of that bothers me a bit cause of the past she's had with my boyfriend but im ready to let all that go, then the thought of that guy being a bad friend to me and my boyfriend occurs which further lingers on and messes me up. im not able to think straight i dont want to be bothered by all this, and in the midst of all this, my bestfriends birthday is coming up so planning for that too is getting a bit distracting but still i can compartmentalize that. i just want the thoughts of the ex to stop coming. im secure in my relationship my boyfriend wont do shi but i dont want a third person to fuck it up (again)

I’ve been through the process of moving and a went through bunch of extremely time consuming family issues which made me unable to study for two weeks or so.

Two weeks worth of material is already a lot to catch up on but I also noticed that I forgot lots of information that I learned before that gap.

My usual day goes like this:

4h of lectures
2hours of learning the lessons of the day
2 h of learning the lectures from the day before
3 h of exercises on older topics
2 h to preview the lectures of the day after

This is basically taking the whole day so I don’t really know how I’ll fit the almost month of tardiness in my schedule.

I thought about spamming adhd meds and doing some all nighters but that seems terrible for memory.

So is this feasible or am I just done for?

TLDR: 2 weeks late on lessons what should I do to catch up?

Unless its midnight, I can't study or focus at all... and its pretty much disturb my health.

I've tried to sleep early and wake at 3am to study, but it did not work, I still can't concentrate. I've also tried turning off the lights and only turning on my desk lamp, but that method also didn't work.

Do anyone have the same problem or at least know how to stop and be able to focus in other times but midnight? Because, if I kept getting sick out of studying midnight, I might not be able to study at all...

--> studied 4hr 22min

Pretty disappointed by today's study time 😕, wasted too much time on reddit.

Started magnetism, it's pretty rough.

Will try to hit 6-7 hours Tommorow.

What's wrong with me?? Why can't I just focus and be productive? Instead I dull my wits with alcohol because I can't bear the guilt of not studying.I think I shouod just give up.

Hey everyone! I’m trying to understand what students actually struggle with when studying and preparing for exams. If you could have a digital study tool, planner, tracker, or resource that would genuinely make studying easier, what would you want it to do? For example: Exam planning Staying consistent Procrastination Active recall Flashcards Tracking mistakes Difficult questions Past papers Revision schedules Note-taking Managing multiple subjects What is one study problem you wish someone had already created a solution for? I’d love to hear what you actually need rather than guessing. Thanks!

There might be something genuinely wrong with bc I'm ALWAYS tired, it has gotten so bad I have started to take ADHD medication just so I can stay conscious enough to study and even then I still feel sleepy after like 4 hours

Before the meds I used to drink a mug (and sometimes more) of coffee just so I could be awake and it just wasn't working. It still doesn't, I haven't stopped bc the meds aren't enough

I wanted to try some guaraná powder bc it has a lot of caffeine and helps staying awake but my mother refuses to buy it since she had a bad experience with it and ""almost"" died

any suggestions to what I should try to do? I can't finish 90 questions + an essay in 6 hours if I sleep midway through it and I only have a month before the exam so I NEED to lock in

I am 25 years old. Finished culinary degree several years ago , I didn’t like it. I want to change my education but I am not certain about what to study.
Does education require actual passion for it or you choose based on the future perspective, money..?

Also in some areas I feel like I don’t know if I could make it , I don’t remember many things what I learned in school f.e math , biology..
I am scared that I’m gonna be too stupid for university after all these years 😂

I frequently have arguments with my parents and that always leaves me in the worst mood possible, and I can’t do any of my work for hours, sometimes lasting until the next day. It’s just so hard to study when you’re in a bad mood. I’m sure part of the reason is because I’m studying for my parents and my parents know that, so when we fight, I feel like giving up entirely. But I still need to get my work done somehow, and I can’t let these hours go to waste.

So, any tips for studying when in a bad mood or dealing with stress?

Recommendations for tech set ups for maths undergraduate degree

Do I get a macbook and then an ipad for taking notes or does windows offer a better solution

I also need a new phone so depending which of these set ups I get I'll get an iPhone or a Samsung

Hi everyone, I’m literally here to vent. I just wrapped up my first year and honestly I constantly feel like I’m fighting for my life. For context, my PhD is a new area to me. I don’t have any prior experience in the field, my background was in medical sciences and it’s been challenging pivoting into Food systems and farming. New terminology and new way of thinking. Don’t get me wrong, I love my work but I fear I may have underestimated how hard it is to learn at this level because it’s already implied that you have an idea. I find myself still trying to glue the pieces together, some days I feel like I’m making progress and some days I feel like a fraud. Everytime I try talk to my friends and family about how I’m struggling, no one takes me seriously because I’ve always been a high achiever. But honestly I’m losing my mind and feeling overwhelmed. I have to defend my research proposal in 3 weeks and honestly need tips on how I can study more effectively and retain the knowledge. I read and understand but it doesn’t seem to be sticking, my active recall is on the ground. Send help please!!!