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March 29, 2024, 01:37:39 am

Author Topic: HELP!! I DESPERATELY NEED TIPS FOR STUDYING MATHEMATICS  (Read 1307 times)

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anf111

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HELP!! I DESPERATELY NEED TIPS FOR STUDYING MATHEMATICS
« on: May 16, 2018, 09:42:09 am »
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Hey guys,
I know you've heard this before but I honestly am the biggest procastinator. I cannot find a way to study effectively for maths.
I try to do exercises and past papers but I honestly can't find the time. I feel like I don't have any time to do anything after school. when I get home I eat and stuff until about 4pm. After that I have chores to do. So I probably dont have the opportunity to study until about 4:30 or 4:45. Then I only have until about 7pm to do school stuff but I also have so much homework on top of that. So I really don't have much time to study. I know I sound like I'm making excuses but i really dont knoww. plz help

MAGGOT

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Re: HELP!! I DESPERATELY NEED TIPS FOR STUDYING MATHEMATICS
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2018, 10:04:03 am »
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I think different subjects have different ways to study for but in general the best way is to get rid of any distractions i.e. turn your phone on airplane mode, don't multi task, prioritize your time because time is money. Since studying maths is difficult for you, maybe have 30 minute chunks and have a break or switch subjects for a bit.

hi.itsjessi

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Re: HELP!! I DESPERATELY NEED TIPS FOR STUDYING MATHEMATICS
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2018, 11:03:30 pm »
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Hello!

So I've kind of touched on the topic of procrastination on another post, but I'm hoping that i can help you out because I can totally relate! Maths I will say, is by far one of the most difficult subjects for me (chemistry wins this round)!

I can completely understand that you dont feel like you have time, so first thing's first, Make a study time table. The thing about study timetables, though, is that 90% of students tend to ditch their timetable after the first week. They start off so motivated but then it kind of phases out, so to avoid that; when constructing a timetable, fill out the times that you AREN'T going to study. So these will be the times during which you have school, outside school commitments, hobbies etc. The point of this is so that you can get a visual of when you can study- this being between the gaps of your availability. So you arent giving up the things you HAVE to do or love, you're just making the most out of your time and doing what you can :)

Second thing, plan out what you need to do. Make a list of all the things you intend to study / work on, make little boxes at the end and tick them off as you go along. Personally, i find that this helps me to stay on track and it really helps me to avoid procrastinating because when you have a list of all the things you have to get done just staring into your soul- a part of you feels like you HAVE to get it done! (also the satisfaction of ticking off the things which I have completed gives me my motivation). Here I'm going to stress, try not to be too ambitious. Be realistic as to what you can accomplish. You arent going to cram 3 past papers from 4-7 so again, be realistic about what you can do. Do one past paper and write up a formula sheet for you to memorise, for example.

Thirdly, when you're studying and aiming to get all this work done, PRIORITISE what is most important and don't focus on the time, focus on completing the task. What I mean by this is that you don't want to be focusing on for example, doing a past paper in one hour, writing syllabus notes the next hour and then go to working on your body of work the next. I know that some people will argue otherwise, but to me, that just seems kind of destructive in the sense that 1 hour is enough for you to become invested into your work and your concentration is at a peak- so when an hour passes and you HAVE to snap out of it, it kind of ruins your whole momentum. I will say though, is that you can set checkpoints for yourself to complete. Instead of saying "I will complete chapter 5 today", be specific- "I will complete my work up until chapter 5.4 today". This way you have a sense of where you want to stop and you won't feel inclined to keep going for the next 4 hours because let's face it, you still have other subjects to study for!

If it's the content you're struggling with, one miracle I found goes by the name of Eddie Woo  ;D He's a maths teacher who also has a youtube channel and he uploads heaps of videos which teach the content. Honestly, I can say that he's helped me go from a 70's student to mid-high 80's (occasional 90) in maths. His lessons are so engaging and I can not stress how helpful he has been for me.

Finally, I know you're going to hate me, but since procrastination is the problem, I would highly suggest downloading apps which block your apps when it's time to study. If you're a mac user, SelfControl is amazing and what's crazy is that if you set a timer for it, say 40 minutes, even if you delete it, you still won't be able to access your social media, etc until the timer has completed. Freedom and StayFocused are also really great apps to use! I know it seems kind of scary at first, not being able to use your social media, but you'd honestly be surprised how much time we spend invested into scrolling around instead of studying. By using these apps and eliminating the possibility of getting distracted by your phone, you're kind of forced to study because you have nothing to do, and as i have stated in a previous post, when you force yourself to do the work, after a while you kind of start to enjoy the work, the momentum builds up and you find that you want to keep going. It's not doing the work, it's starting that's painful! What I would suggest when using these apps, is to start out by not going too crazy. Dont block your sites for 3 hours, maybe for like 40 minutes and at the end of the timer, if you feel like it, just reset it to another 40 minutes

So just to summarise.
1. Make a timetable
2. Make a list and check it off as you go along
3.Focus on getting the task done instead of focusing on the time
4. Eddie Woo
5. Use apps to help avoid procrastination unless you're ok with throwing your phone to the other side of the house and leaving it there for the duration of your study :)

Best of luck and I hope this helps you in some way!!