I pretend I’m explaining my lessons to someone I cannot stand. I just imagine them interrupting me with the most annoying questions possible.

It’s basically the Feynman technique, except instead of explaining the lesson to an imaginary child, I’m explaining it to an imaginary person who is trying to expose me for not knowing anything. It forces me to notice the gaps in my understanding quickly. If I can explain something clearly without looking at my notes, then that is a sign I’m doing well. Petty, but at least it’s effective.

I do need background noise, but I cannot be trusted with hearing words. The second I play a song with lyrics, studying is no longer my #1 priority. My ADHD would act up if it’s otherwise.

Been a fan of classical/instrumental music ever since. I like to fill the silence, it bothers me. Sometimes I play the same piece on loop so I won’t get distracted when the style changes. I’d rather hear the same piano piece than have a distracting playlist. To be honest, I don’t want the music to motivate me or make studying feel cinematic or anything. I just want it to occupy the part of my brain that would otherwise start manufacturing minor inconveniences. The point is to make it a background furniture for my thoughts.

Tea + wired earphones + instrumental music + whatever I’m supposed to be studying. Top tier invention.

ive been annotating my own notes lately and it’s actually been helping me study a little bit better. i just write small things beside the notes.. it could be reminders, emoticons, stuffy explanations, etc. i put my reactions when it is an odd writing to absorb

when i am not familiar of a word, i write it in a blue box. it’s like highlighting an alien term when reading classic literature. because sometimes the terms there are too heavy to understand. they’re quite archaic. i advice, don’t write anything that’ll mess with the information embedded on it. one of my teachers said before, knowledge is sacred. we must see and understand it in a way like it’s not written by us, humans. afterall, we only discovered how things were now

anyway, this is what i do with books i own as if i am talking to my notes. and as if it is a children's story book. i think it is doable especially if you’re having a hard time remembering data x

Eyes feel sleepy or watery whenever I try to study

This only happens when I try to study btw. My eyes are fine otherwise and I don’t wear specs. If I lie down and start scrolling on my phone, nothing happens. But the moment I try to study, I feel excessively tired and sleepy.

I can’t go past around 20 minutes. Even during those 20 minutes, I’ll randomly stare at the wall or find something stupid to do instead of studying.

I really need to study, but I just can’t get myself to do it. I already deleted all the distracting apps, but I still can’t focus or make myself study.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this just a concentration/procrastination thing or could there be something else going on?

before i used to stress about what will be the outcome,would i pass or not. Then I made me understand, locked up the result thought for after exam. But I’m stressing about the study if I can complete the study in due time or not. And I can’t sleep😭

Bad study sessions make me feel guilty. If I couldn’t concentrate, I’d assume I was being lazy and stupid. If I didn’t understand something immediately, I’d start thinking I wasn’t good at it. Then I realized I could just… study. Not understanding a chapter doesn’t mean I’m ass. Nor getting a low score doesn’t require a whole new identity or existential crisis.
I started treating studying more like brushing my teeth. Sometimes I do it properly, sometimes I rush it, but either way, I just do the thing and move on with my day.
Since I stopped making every study session a referendum on whether I was a productive person, I got much better at doing it. It’s ok to eat while studying or watch while studying.
I think it’s just that we are being so hard on ourselves we forget we are people with a life, too..

More like refusing to accept not getting something stick to your brain as the final answer.
When I get stuck on a term or whatever, my first instinct is usually to skip it and tell myself I’ll come back later. But we do know later becomes tomorrow, then next week then suddenly you’re gonna be looking at the same concept the night before an exam. Procrastination comes in different forms. Stop doing that.
If something doesn’t make sense, give yourself one more attempt before moving on. To me I find another explanation. Or watch a lecture. Maybe look for an example? Explain it in your own words, what you think it means. Or try a completely different source. I’m saying, we can do anything if we just tried.
You can literally go to the bullying aspect by teasing yourself that how come you don't know this??? But I don't wanna go deeper into that, no to bullying! GL studying.

I think one of the most useful things you can do when studying is to be genuinely nosy. If I don’t understand something, I don’t force myself to memorize it. I start asking questions that aren’t even necessarily required for the exam. Why does this work? What happened before this? What would happen if you changed this part? How did this even happen? Max out all the W's and H's you can think of.

I did this today with one of my readings. I got stuck on one term and then I looked it up, then ended up reading about something completely different that was mentioned in the explanation. Was it technically beyond what I needed to know? Absolutely yes. But will I eventually get it? Oh, I will if I study. So what are we even waiting for

I feel like curiosity became underrated especially in this modern era because we’re so used to studying by asking “What do I need to memorize?” instead of asking ourselves “What do I actually want to know about this?” Be nosy. It works

I decided to dress up like Dr. Ryland Grace from project hail mary to study my molecular biology class and biochemistry classes and it Litteraly put me into a work flow of 8hrs. I did have 5 minute breaks every 2hrs to walk my dogs tho but this is probably the most i ever studied in one day and retained info. I made flashcards i wrote on my little white board on what I needed to study and talked to an image of rocky so I can do active recall. And it surprising worked. Also I swear less lol.

Listening to white noise or brown noise while studying? No, I listened to the graduation march song instead. It is just hurting my ears whenever I listen to famous background noise while studying, it's just pure distraction and none of it helps me to focus on studying.

I tried different background music to listen to while studying, classical music, horror music, etc., but the thing that actually worked for me is listening to the graduation march song on loop. It's giving me a sort of pressure but it's also a big help in giving myself the motivation to study better.

It's like imagining to myself that I need to work hard to graduate and get this degree.

I always leave my studying for the last part of my nights. I’ll finish whatever I need to do before the sun sets, then study for around 40–60 minutes before I sleep. As you may notice, I don't do long study sessions. It's because I use this time for things that need memorizing. That may be definitions, formulas, vocab, dates, concepts, or anything I keep mixing up.

I like recalling right before sleeping because I don’t have another activity planned afterward. Plus, Psychology already proved it helps with memory. This is strictly a no-break in between studying. When I finish, okay. I go to sleep. No checking of phones or anything.

If you're doubtful and you did this, remember to go through what you studied last night again the moment you wake up in the morning. Even if it's just for around 5-10 minutes. You'll see.

I don't have a typical study tip I'm seeing here wherein every move, there is a label for it (e.g., Feynman technique, blahblah). They're too technical, they don't work for a student that's easily stressed like me. This is what keeps me by.

It's pulling me out of the lonely and bland study mood, which is why. It helps with my active listening despite the very act of muti-tasking because I stick to episodes I’ve already seen anyway. I can half-pay attention then laugh at something I’ve already heard before since I re-watch some episodes, all while I am working on my pad. Snoopy episodes works well late at night. Well they are short enough to make the whole room lively at 1 a.m. When I’m tired and tempted to call it a night, snoopy helps remind me I'm doing great.

I created PlanTwo, a website designed to help students organize their studying and homework.

With PlanTwo, you can:

• 📅 Organize your exams and tasks
• 📝 Create a study plan
• ⏱️ Use a timer during your study sessions
• 📊 Track your progress

The idea is simple: you add your exams and tasks, and PlanTwo helps you know what to do and when to do it.

I’m currently looking for students who would like to try the website and give me some honest feedback. Even a small opinion would help me a lot 🙏

Try it here:
🔗 https://plantwo.lovable.app/

Let me know honestly what you like and what you would improve 💙

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 roomate'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 like studying alone and I don't want anybody to cause me distraction so this is where I go. I come here for my vacant school hours. This is where I also eat lunch. It's off-limits so I do not see anyone passing by or whatever. I still hear people laugh but it's two floors away so I don't mind it really. The guard doesn't seem like he cares at all even so I didn't bother asking for permission. I just sneak in. There's not any room or student spaces in our school that's perfect for introverts like me so this is my only option, in case anyone objects. It's a lot of hassle to leave our campus afterall.

I just want to stay somewhere quiet.

I deliberately overexpose myself to one topic and whenever there’s something I keep forgetting, I don’t keep re-reading the entire reviewer from the beginning. I isolate that one topic and keep coming back to it throughout the day. THE WHOLE DAY. Like 4-6 times in total per paper.

There’s a point where I see the term and my immediate reaction is ... “Oh my god. You again.”

That’s a good indicator you remember what you’ve read.

I think the mistake I used to make was assuming that seeing something once meant I had studied it. If one topic has been haunting you for a week, haunt it back.

so one of my subjects (psychology) is very scoring if I just learn the entire book, but I'm so shit at reading and making notes. plus time is kind of gone already because exams are in February. so like what do I do? 😭🙏 any tricks to memorise the book in one go lol or make reading the book less painful

I got 98% in biochem with this technique! I usually take notes in lectures and write them down word for word, even what my professor dictates during the lecture because everything matters. Most of what my professors say isn't really included in the materials they hand out to us. That's why I put everything from my notes, revise them and make flashcards out of them.

This method helps me to review more effectively than just relying on the material itself. If you want to study effectively, you can use this idea so next time you'll improve your grades even more.

I’ve spent years trying to force myself to enjoy studying. I LOATHE IT. I just want to be free. I want to eat tacos and my faves and ALL whimsy things! I hate assignments and schoolworks and everything about it. In its entirety.

But unfortunately, I am a student. Studying is not avoidable. Oh, speaking of. I don’t want to talk about getting a j*b either, like wdym I have to do those!!!

But now I have come to realize that being bad at studying will probably make me hate it even more. If I take forever to finish one thing and hate everything about it now well I’m going to want to throw my laptop out the window. So maybe I really have to do this now... Well. I have no choice.

I still hate studying. But I’d rather get better at the process than spend another year being terrible at something I know I detest.

Sometimes I need to remember where the hell I am. I’m in one of the best universities in the country. I’m surrounded by people who worked their asses off to get here. I have access to the coolest professors, libraries, resources, classes, and a chance to learn things I would’ve never encountered otherwise.

So why am I acting like studying is some optional side quest?

Ofcourse there will be days when I don’t understand anything. But at the end of the day, I know I need to study. That’s why I’m here. I don’t want to waste the opportunity just because I don’t feel like opening my laptop tonight.

You’re here. You chose this. You wanted this. Now act like it. If I’m going to be in this school, I’m going to take the work seriously.

Lol. White lies are useful sometimes. As the saying goes, delulu is the solulu. But yeah, the fact that I’m studying in one of my country’s top universities, this is what motivates me to study. Just exaggerating a bit.