Hi guys…
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m trying my best to get you the best grades possible in your exams. Having firstly failed exams and then going on to become an ‘A’ student, I probably have a lot of good ideas to pass on to you about what works and what doesn’t.
So… I had this brainwave that it’d be a great idea for you to tell me your biggest ‘how to study’ problem so I could focus my attention on giving you the most help possible. You’ll also be able to see some of the problems other students are having so you don’t think you’re the only one with the problem.
Just tell me in the comment box below, what you’re having the most difficulty with in your study. For example, it could be time management, memory, exam anxiety, too much information to process etc… anything you can think of!
Hope to see your comments…
Hi Rob, you’re course has been very very useful! I need only another advise from you…I’m an Italian college student and here in Italy we don’t have written exams..they’re all oral..so the model questions and answer is a great tool but I feel like if I’m missing something because during our exams teachers ask 3 to’ max 5 questions that often need BIG answers from students..so.. With your studying technique it is difficult to’ manage the deal because the fact that you study on many many questions and you build your reflex on many small and specific answers become difficult to’ train when your exams focus on 3 questions that need more ‘long’ answer..(a combination of many answer)..what do you think would be a good study strategy with oral exam??
Thank you very much!
Francesca
Ps I apologize for my english …it’s not perfect!!
hi everyone! I have great problems with attention and time management, I was diagnosed and I have ADD.I just can not remember so much and I am already failing my midterms.
How to prepare the right material to study? I’m not doing the right thing. It’s hard to take notes in class and concentrate. I’ve been spending too much time at home to go over the topics but it is not working. In the end I go to the exam without confidence and in the test there are a lot missing information. I would like to know how to prepare the material that could cover all possibilities of questions…
Sleep! My faith prohibits me from taking any kind of stimulant. I work full time (military) and have a family with young children. When I study I soon fall victim to sleep or I am so tired that nothing sinks in.
dear sir,my main problem is time management & distraction from study some time without any cause………i want to give 100% but i canoot able to do it.please help
Hi John…
You bet it’s the longest comment I’ve ever had! Unfortunately, my answer is going to be short in comparison because I only have 2 things to offer you as advice.
Firstly… you have an impossible timetable. You’re probably squeezing what would take the average person two years to do, into one year. Maybe you should consider spreading what you have to study over two years. The whole travel thing only adds to your problem.
Secondly… you must have a study system. Most students I talk to don’t have a study system. They only have a collection of unrelated study tips. Imagine your computer if it didn’t have an operating system like Windows. You’d never be able to use it efficiently if at all. The reason I developed my own study system is because I couldn’t find one. The hard work’s been done John and it’s there for you to follow.
Take care and I feel your pain…
Rob
Hi Rob!
I probably have the longest post in this page but I hope that you won’t be scared from reading it 😛 .
My problems are that I get very tired when I come home from school. I currently read 4 courses (which is one too many in our school system) in university where two of them I read in another city since the university is based in two cities. So I take the bus to the other city when I need to participate in lectures or labs. But when I take the bus to return back to home I feel so tired that I need to take a nap that has endured as much as 4 hours which is enormously much. That time could I have used to study instead.
When I am home I also need to cook dinner in order to save money, do the laundry and take care of the dishes which too take some time.
During weeks people need my help to fix their computers and my parents wants me to visit them during the weekends since they also live in the same city as I do. And I have taken time to hang out with friends too.
We are doing computer labs right now in one of the courses and since those labs are taken place in the other city I am traveling to I need to work on my lab assignments on my own computer. But I have wasted a lot of time to get it work on my computer. I needed to go so far as installing a new operating system on my computer in order to manage to work on the lab assignments. Because of that I am behind of the time schedule and I need to fasten up the study effort quite a lot in order to demonstrate the lab assigments in time.
I don’t have time to everything, I feel that when I am studying material in one course I will lose time to study the material in the other courses. I am a bad planner, I haven’t taken time to write down model questions and answer as you have mentioned. Time just flies away during the breaks in school, you don’t have any time to reflect to the material, you just think of going to the next lecture room that is up ahead or even hurry up to the bus stop.
Procrastination is of course a problem for me, I feel anxious when I can’t solve a problem in the right way. Especially with the computer labs I feel a lot of pressure to solve them because these involve thing that I wish and are suppose to work on in the future when I apply for a job. And you just rather want to do other things like play a game or listen to music.
I hope that you can help in this moment because in three week I am going to have my first of three exams in October and I would appreciate your help a lot.
Best regards John.
Hi Rashmi…
It also sounds like you don’t have a good study system to process large amounts of information. Can you imagine trying to build a house without a plan. It’s the same with studying. You have to have plan otherwise you’ll experience the fear you mention and spend a lot of time just reading over the same study material without learning anything.
What if I could show you a way to convince yourself that you know everything you need to know to get A’s in all your exams? Well I believe I can so join my course to find out.
Regards… Rob
Hi Nish…
As I explain in How To Study Bootcamp, the main cause of anxiety is the ‘unknown’. You don’t know what’s in the exam and you don’t know what you know and what you don’t know. There is a way around this ‘fear of the unknow’ believe it or not, and it’s all in my course so I can’t explain it in depth here.
It also sounds like you need a disciplined study system that you can stick to and measure your progress every day. If you don’t have a system then you won’t know where and how to start studying. This is why you can’t bring yourself to make time.
Join my course and I’ll explain it all. If you don’t like the first 8 weeks you can get a refund or cancel any time.
Take care… Rob
My biggest problem is anxiety. Like I usually know everything that I need to know, but once I get there i just blank. And as for everyday studying, it would probably be making it a habit. As in, I find it really hard to get myself to review notes unless I need to for the test. And I know this is really bad, because everything would be so much easier if I did the work everyday, but I just can’t bring myself to make time…
If you have any tips that would be great! Thank you!
I have a lot of trouble with attention as well as motivating myself. What distracts me the most is the reaction of other people concerning my grades or my performance (good or bad: compliment or criticism). If I could just concentrate I know that this would solve most of my problems. Cheers!
Hii Rob,
K my major problem is that i generally have a fear in the beginning of studying anything that i may not remember it and that its too much information. It takes a long time to simplify what i am reading to a small sentence so that i can take down points from a big chunk and read it later on. Then i do not know how should i revise those key points and remember them that these points should be under this topic. Finally i get so frustrated and discouraged.
My main complaint is having too much to learn and cram in too little time. I also have a bit of problem processing what is written in textbooks, handouts etc and getting the meaning from them. I can read a whole sentence and not really know what i just read in extreme cases. It takes me a few readings to really grasp what the textbook writers really wanted to say.(and its not due to language barriers)Really find this a time waster.
I guess information overload, being sick, memory of too much material, and being marked down in essays.
I can’t remember anything that was read or studied. Have a hard time concentrating on or focusing on the material. Loose interest after the 2nd sentence. Start projects and do not complete them. Was diagnosised with ADD. Any help for people that have been considered “Stupid” thru grades 1-12 by other kids. I want to build websites, write programs, and a lot more.
I think I understand things when I read them but when I try to tie topics together in an essay it all falls to pieces and I have trouble even remembering the facts let alone how they support or vary from each other.
I need some suggestion frm u abt my preparation to my exams
Thanks for all your great comments so far. A common theme seems to be a problem with concentration and motivation to study.
What I’ve found in my own experience is that this is caused by not having a study system or plan. There’s no way you can maintain concentration and motivation when trying to study if you don’t process the huge amount of information you’re required to learn, systematically in a way that works.
Imagine trying to concentrate or stay motivated when building a skyscraper if you don’t have a plan. Impossible.
Find yourself a study system, either one you create yourself, ask other successful students for theirs, or use mine.
I’m also a forex trader (I trade currencies), and it’s a well known fact in this profession that only winners have a trading plan. Those who don’t always lose.
Be a winner and get yourself a study plan.
Hi Rob
My biggest problem is time management when you have four or more exams to study for, I also have a family of two young children. The other problems that I have to deal with is to much information to process with so many subjects to study for.
Thanks Peggy
Hi LindaB…
I’ve put together a short course on writing essays. Hope it helps…
https://www.howtostudybootcamp.com/writing-essays/
Rob
Hi Bob,
The biggest problem is-I can’t concentrate,specially when Exam knocking at door.10 to 15 min or at most 30 min continuous study makes me exhausted very quickly.I can’t tackle the strees.But I want to study at a stretch.
– How to remember everything in the readings. (eg definition of ‘democracy’ as put forward by a number of authors)
– How to weave every topic together before exams.
I have a hard time finding support for my thesis’ in essays. I usually find books that might aid me however I find it too frustrating to read through the book to look for the support. I know this problem may only be fixed by not being lazy but thats my biggest study problem.
Hi Rob,
to be honest i don’r really know where I’m making a mistake.Even if I study say 2 months and after I’m repeating it to myself I think I know enough in order to pass the exam.Unfortunately in some cases I succeed after few attempts, but in majority I don’t.When I spoke to the teacher as to what they think where I’m doing a mistake,they said I didn’t study enough,which i don’t think is true.It’s devastating cause after a while they just say:You’re stupid and you should try to study something much much easier…am on my way to just give it up and stop trying,so if you think you can help me i would really appreciate it.
Hi Rob
Biggest problem – working in a system and having the right system to study. And also motivation.
My biggest problem in studying is that i cannot manage my syllabus for preparation before exams.
When i do think of studying some topic and sit down to study,i easily get distracted so that i waste hell lot of time while just sitting and staring away…i lack a certain will to study,i donot have a long lasting routine and i simply cannot follow my planner…
hi rob
the biggest hurdle i face during studies is to stay motivated as i am studying some distance learning course and have to study by myself at home i dnt have any study group or friends who are taking same course so it’s very easy to loose motivation and concentration.
Rob, My greatest problem in studying is the fact that i want to master the subject matter instantly and ofcos this is impracticable. So i’d like tips on how to be patient while studying … i am a perfectionist and lately i haven’t even been able to write any exams due to the fact that i feel i will not get good results.
Hi Rob,
Thanks for your concerns, There are various problems regarding studies they are as follows:
1) Have a habit of memorising the answers and not understanding the answer.
2) Due to lack of understanding. Their is always less interest developed for studies cause i am byharting the answers.
3) my in ablity to focus on studies for longer duration,i.e i cant stay focused in studies more than 30 min.
4) Inspite of having a well set time table i simple can’t follow it. I feel sometime its simple impossible to follow whatever i have planned.
5) Also there are several social distractions like, Television,girls etc..
6) My mind is autonomous i feel its not in my control. whenever i start studing i concentrat for 15 min and suddenly without my knowledge it venture some where else thinking about things other than studies.
7) My mind is always sharp during the exams days. whatever i study i am able to grasp it. but if i tried studying well before the exams like 2 to 3 months before exams i simply can’t grasp the study.
Hi Rob
I have similar problems like others. Concentration – get distracted easily and miss the train of thought, even while listening important conversation. Could not stick to the schedule.
Hi LindaB…
Thanks for your comment. This is not really a “How To Study” problem but I think I have some information that might help. I’ll try to put it up on my web site in the next 24 hours and I’ll let you know via a comment here so stay tuned.
Rob
Well my major problem is too much information to process and not being able to remember it all.
I guess its the part where you just get bored of studying a subject for like an hour!
Rob, I’m having most difficulty in adapting and following the protocols of academic writing as I’m finding that I cannot develop a clear argument; every statement or assertion has to be backed by a reference or proven by an academic authority. So I now dread writing academic papers and feel much more comfortable writing business papers and reports, creative writing etc, I’m losing confidence in my academic abilities and wondering if I should abandon the Masters programme that I’m currently taking. Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.
Hi Rob,
My biggest problem is “Distraction”.I am not able to focus on something for a long time.I usually have a timetable for my studies.But i am not able to stick to it.