Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 28, 2024, 08:45:04 pm

Author Topic: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School  (Read 4033 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

temporary1994redovce

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
  • Respect: 0
Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« on: December 17, 2017, 07:58:17 pm »
0
What do you do when you're tired or can't be bothered or lazy?
Do you still study even while you're tired? Or do you use energy supps? If you don't get enough sleep, do you go back to bed or do you study despite being sleepy? I always postpone my study because I feel I'm too tired or too lazy now. I do want to become a doctor, and have the long-term motivation. But, how do you get the short-term motivation to study NOW rather than "later when I feel good"?
Basically: How do you get yourself to study NOW rather than later - given any negative psychological thing making it hard for you to do so?

You know how 'crammers' feel the day before a test? Full of energy and motivation to study as much as possible. I know that very high achievers feel like this almost every day of the year. But how?
« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 08:06:40 pm by temporary1994redovce »

Quantum44

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 756
  • Respect: +313
Re: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2017, 08:16:53 pm »
+8
I found keeping loose regimes helped me a lot along with going to sleep early. After school I’d almost always work from 4.30pm-9.30pm which meant I could get a lot done (unlike people who procrastinated until 7pm) and still go to bed early (10.30pm bedtimes are the best :P). Having short breaks to relax are nice but don’t let them go too long. Also have goals to achieve in each study session so you don’t just waste time. On weekends I’d work from 8am-12pm and 2pm-6pm so I could have an extended lunch break and relaxed evenings which I found were good incentives to have effective morning and afternoon sessions (I probably watched way too much TV during year 12 ;)). I guess I never really felt like being tired or lazy affected my studies as I always pushed through knowing that I’d be able to have a nice relax afterwards and I’d be able to enjoy the feeling of completing a productive day.
UAdel MBBS

temporary1994redovce

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
  • Respect: 0
Re: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2017, 08:26:46 pm »
+2
pushed through knowing that I’d be able to have a nice relax afterwards and I’d be able to enjoy the feeling of completing a productive day.

That feeling when going to bed knowing that you've had a very productive day... <3

Syndicate

  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 797
  • Hard work beats Talent
  • Respect: +139
Re: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2017, 08:33:44 pm »
+6
What do you do when you're tired or can't be bothered or lazy?
Do you still study even while you're tired? Or do you use energy supps? If you don't get enough sleep, do you go back to bed or do you study despite being sleepy? I always postpone my study because I feel I'm too tired or too lazy now. I do want to become a doctor, and have the long-term motivation. But, how do you get the short-term motivation to study NOW rather than "later when I feel good"?
Basically: How do you get yourself to study NOW rather than later - given any negative psychological thing making it hard for you to do so?

You know how 'crammers' feel the day before a test? Full of energy and motivation to study as much as possible. I know that very high achievers feel like this almost every day of the year. But how?

I did 6 six-subjects this year, and found it quite demanding (in terms of the workload), however, I did not study if I felt too tired (unless I had a test/assignment due the next day). I think I roughly studied 3-4 hours daily. Honestly, losing motivation is completely acceptable, and I did as well (I thought I was going to do really bad at chemistry, but it turns out chemistry was my second best subject). To get some motivation through out the year, I simply set myself smaller, more achievable goals (ie. getting an A+ on the next chemistry test, or as simple as completing an exercise from my specialist book etc...). I think procrastination is related to motivation in quite a lot of ways, as in if you don't have the motivation, you will tend to procrastinate (so basically try to keep a positive attitude, and just move on if you do badly on one SAC. It's not worth losing your motivation).

« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 08:39:11 pm by Syndicate »
2017: Chemistry | Physics | English | Specialist Mathematics | Mathematics Methods
2018-2020 : Bachelor of Biomedicine at University of Melbourne

Physics Guide 2017

pi

  • Honorary Moderator
  • Great Wonder of ATAR Notes
  • *******
  • Posts: 14348
  • Doctor.
  • Respect: +2376
Re: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2017, 09:15:04 pm »
+14
What do you do when you're tired or can't be bothered or lazy?

I'm not going to claim to be the high achiever you're looking for, but I've done a lot of study over the years, including through completing medical school. Hopefully you'll find this post useful, it'll take a different line of tact from the others.

You can read all about how everyone else studies, as above or in the numerous other threads on studying on this forum over the years, and you'll notice one thing - they're all different. No two people study the same way. Some people take small breaks, others large breaks, some people make lists, others use timetables, some people study at home, others in the library, some people drink caffeinated beverages, others don't. It's a mixed bag, and that's because studying is so very personal.

I think the most important question is in regard to the part I have quoted. That question is: why do you feel tired or lazy or cbs?

That sounds like an easy question on the surface, but the more you think about it and reflect on studying in the past year, the more complicated it becomes. Indeed, I'd be surprised if you could genuinely pin it down to only one or two things. I strongly encourage you to take the time to reflect on what went right and what went wrong in your studying this year. And I know many students start to roll their eyes at the mere mention of "reflection", but hear me out, it has merit. Make a list of your reflections, a physical list. Edit that list every day for a week until you've come up with a comprehensive list of what it is you did well and not so well in terms of studying/results/etc. for each subject. Only once you have identified all these issues, it will be easy enough to fill in the gaps.

For example, perhaps you realise after reflection that doing textbook questions for VCE physics did not help you to do better. How can you change this? How can you find what will help? Perhaps questions themselves are not useful, or perhaps you need more SAC/exam style questions to do instead, or perhaps you need to invest more time in making a cheat sheet instead, or perhaps... you get the idea.

Another example, say you get bored while writing an English essay, a completely rational response to writing an essay on a book you don't like. How can you change this? How can you find what will help? Perhaps you have too much excitement around you to focus on the essay (e.g. facebook) and a duller place to study might make the essay comparatively interesting, perhaps writing a whole essay at once is too taxing and maybe writing detailed plans with quotes or just introductions might be more productive for now, perhaps studying later in the evening when your mind is more at ease might help, perhaps it's boring because you don't have a solid grasp of the text and the confidence to do well (i.e. your 'boredom' is just an insecurity, not at all uncommon)  and you need to understand the text in more depth, perhaps... you get the idea again.

A final example, perhaps you just can't do a solid hour of study for anything despite the dullest of environments. How can you change this? How can you find what will help? Perhaps a solid hour of study isn't how you learn (and that's ok!) and you need to break your study up into 30 minute blocks, or perhaps you need to set yourself mini-goals (e.g. a page of maths questions and then a break), or perhaps you need incentives (e.g. do a page of questions and then you can play that next Angry Birds level or whatever you youngsters are into these days), or perhaps you've done too much study recently and need a break (I always took Fri nights off), or perhaps... again, hopefully this makes sense now.

Indeed, coming up with those solutions will require you to read and listen to others. That's how ideas will come, and I implore you to search the forum broadly and pour over all the threads that address studying techniques. Threads from as far back as 2009 are just as relevant as those posts above me here. All advice is good advice when you're stuck. Pick and choose what you like, but pick and choose them in relation to your pros and cons list. That's something I've found particularly useful during VCE and medical school.

Good luck :)
« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 10:36:35 pm by pi »

nice!

  • Trailblazer
  • *
  • Posts: 33
  • Respect: +30
Re: Question for High Achievers in VCE (99+) or Medical School
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2017, 10:10:50 pm »
+8
To be honest, if I was too tired to do anything I would take a rare night off and catchup on some homework the next day, or make a timetable to complete it in my free periods. Actually, I was tired throughout most of the year due to bad sleeping habits perpetuated by staying on my phone until 2am every night and waking up at 8. I took days off when I was extremely tired and thought it would do me more good to just relax. If I felt like I couldn't be bothered, I just reminded myself of the feeling when you go into a test with absolutely no study (my yr 11 spec exam lol) and how horrible it is. Additionally, I made a checklist for each SAC with basic stuff like summaries of content, checkpoints, chapter reviews, etc to complete which actually helped a lot bc the satisfaction I got from ticking off a box drove me to do work.

I usually didn't start studying til about 7pm, after dinner lol, and made sure to try and complete my homework asap so I could begin SAC revision. The feeling of not having done anything for 4 hours since getting home made me feel guilty, so I made sure I worked hard from 7-11 pm (or earlier depending on my workload). I think I used my frees really efficiently as whatever work or revision I didn't get to do at night I could just make up for during the day. Also, if you complete homework in your frees you can ensure that you study time at home can be used primarily for revision.

Going back to my point about making a checklist for SACs, I also made a daily checklist in my diary for homework and other tasks each day which made me feel like I was actually doing work, and allowed me to easily keep track of what I had done, where I needed to catchup, and what extra tasks I could complete if I had the time. Seeing the boxes move from one week to the next without having been completed made me feel more anxious and thus pushed me to actually do the work. This may not suit your learning style but it literally was the most effective thing for me.

You're kind of right about having energy and being motivated when studying, but it definitely wasn't all the time. I found it hard to start a task, but once I got into my revision I really enjoyed studying the content because it made me feel more well-prepared and confident, and less stressed. I actually was excited to study sometimes for the subjects I loved because it felt good to know that I was ready for when the SAC came around. Don't get me wrong, I also did leave my studying to the last minute for a few SACs, but once I got the scores back for those and felt the disappointment, I knew I didn't want to experience it again and so I worked even harder next time around.

Another thing I used to motivate myself was using rewards. During exam time, I had an eight pack of kinder surprise bars. I decided that in order to make sure I did actually study, I would be allowed one bar if I did maybe 2 exams that day, or once I completed a full english exam. You could do that with anything you like though! It just helps you focus because you know you will be rewarded once it's over.

I think the best way to stay on top of your work is to stay organised. Even if you make a timetable but don't stick to it, and you change it everyday (like I did during exams bc I definitely could not do four exams a day as I had originally thought), it's better than nothing because that way it's so so so much easier to see where you're at in your studies and it really does help keep you on track.

Then again, this worked for me but would definitely not work for everyone, so just adapt anything you feel might help you in any way!
2017 ATAR: 99.00
2018: Laws (Honours) / Biomedical Science @ Monash University