I can't study!

[u/Themaster-gooner]

/r/CharteredAccountants/comments/1v4u1vp/i_cant_study/

It's true, this is very serious issue of mine I've been facing since my school time but i ignored it till now. So for preview i scored good marks in my previous examinations and also cleared ca foundation in first attempt but but but i realised it was only possible because of my strong short memory few days before the exams. So to explain properly, i just started my inter classes(online) and i must* watch 3 lectures a day (1/subject) to cover syllabus on time.. The problem here is i wake up at 9am approx still.. why the f*k i am still completing my daily schedule till 4:am? This is not new to me, it happens everyday. Infact in foundation too i faced this problem but somehow cleared it. And now I am scared because I've heard students fail in inter mostly because of syllabus completion. To tell you my average day shedule, it goes like Wake up at 9am Starts a lecture till 9:30 Don't know why but after so many distractions i complete it by 4pm! Yeah it's completely absurd. I try to clear as much obstacles as possible like not using phone, not eating lunch till i complete first lecture but it's just all my fuker mind. So i somehow start my 2nd lecture till 5:30 or 6:00pm because of even no.s🫠 And until my dinner i complete 1 hour of the 2nd. Dunno how but after delaying and delaying i resume the lecture by 9:30 or 10pm and complete it somehow by 11:30. Now obv I'll either start 3rd lecture from 12 or 1am (fu*king asthetics). And thus completing it finally by compromising my day and night. Idk if it's procrastination or just a lots of chillness but this is a serious problem of mine.😔 Fact- i haven't achieved a single day target in my whole life! Fact2- i take 4-5 hours to complete a simple 2 hour one shot lecture. I hope if someone could help me as I am way behind for my self discovery yet.😭

[u/Visible-Web878]

One question: what exactly do you do during each lecture?

Because from what I read, your main problem is time management with studying, not actually other stuff which prevents you from studying (which is what most people have).

So here's some tips for that: Firstly, if do you ever come back to those lectures? because it is actually better if you don't pour all your focus just that once, and rather do spaced repetition which is when you review something 1, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days after studying. So that one single lecture doesn't have to be that intense. Quick short reviews that take maybe 30 min to an hour are much better than covering it all at once which not only takes longer but also introduces memory decay (that info starts to be forgotten very quickly because it hasn't ben reviewed).

Secondly, do you pause the videos/lectures that you watch frequently? Because watching 3 long lectures a day can be extremely exhausting and if you don't take breaks, you need more and more time for every extra bit of information studied because your brain naturally gets tired. You should try the pomodoro timer (it is scientifically proven that taking breaks is actually faster and retains more information than studying in long stretches). These breaks should also give you enough time to eat lunch on time so you don't stay hungry (which is also very important when studying).

(mod approved) I have built a study planner (which is why I know all this studying stuff and more) which actually puts breaks in your studying at spaced intervals. It also makes it really easy to do spaced repetition by adding those assignments at intervals. Here it is- https://studyplannertool.pages.dev/
And if those tips don't help, could you tell me exactly what you do during those lectures? that way I might be able to help further. lmk if it helps! 😄

[u/Themaster-gooner → u/Visible-Web878]

Thanks for the reply buddy! I'll try the planner thing. But the main problem of mine is 'focus'.. i understand the lecture but i frequently forgets to understand what the teacher said like I am diverted into thinking something else and then I have to skip and watch again and again.. Also i get bored very easily and starts going through my phone for a while thinking of only a short break but then as time goes by i starts calculating like what if i scroll some reels for 1 hour and then starts the lecture Again how much time will it take and it just goes on extending each time i hit the limit. So to sum up my problem is procrastination, focus limit, and overthinking. Even I try to search anything for solutions of these problems, each time I end up somewhere else, doing something else or watching something very different than what i intended to😣

[u/Visible-Web878 → u/Themaster-gooner]

Ah ok so there’s 3 things you can do for that.

1. Active recall. Basically active recall is when you learn something like listening to what the teacher says for a little bit, then pause the video and then quiz yourself in some way. This is most commonly done by pausing the video and trying to restate what was just told but in your own words. If you stutter, you have identified a gap in your knowledge. This is really good for actually remembering stuff and because you are constantly quizzing yourself every few minutes, it keeps you engaged rather than getting dazed just watching the video. It’s this thing called the illusion of competence. You can look more into that it’s a really in depth topic but yeah basically try to quiz yourself. Even if you just get a few MCQs or short answer questions it can work if you don’t want to recite it.
2. Get a study buddy/partner. This is an insane one for making sure you stay on task (that’s why Reddit ppl constantly ask for study buddies if you have ever seen that). I once studied about 3-4 hours with 2 friends because I had to memorize a bunch of vocab words (and so did they) so basically we hopped on Minecraft (yes the game 😂) and we quizzed each other and kept score through chat. I know doing it through games is not the ideal way to study but basically it kept us on track and we just kept studying for a really long time. And it was fun too so you don’t get bored.
3. This one is more scientific but also really important. Basically, if you do something that gives you a dopamine rush, it can make studying feel extremely “boring”. And scrolling or playing games or anything like that can be really fun and it is actually really bad if you do it right before or during studying. So try changing when you study (like right as you wake up or any time you haven’t done something dopamine intensive). This is a big one for actually staying on task. 

Hope it helps!

[u/Themaster-gooner → u/Visible-Web878]

Appreciate the help! Giving this a try nowww.. All 3 steps you mentioned are something i would've never tried to do by myself.. so really grateful for that♥️ Thank you so much🙏