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You can only get ahead if you start. So this is your friendly reminder to start whatever that you've been ignoring/procrastinating.

hey! do you have any tips for avoiding burnout when there’s just so much to do? i usually go really hard the first few days of the week and then crash for the rest, which ends up making me fall behind and feel worse. i’m really struggling to find a balance between staying productive and not completely draining myself :D

Hey Anon! :) Thanks for the ask :D

You can also refer to How To Study / Work During A Burnout

How To Avoid Burnout While Studying

Periodic Gaps

Breaks are seriously important. I don't follow pomodoro and it doesn't really work for me. I recommend taking breaks when you are actually tired. It doesn't matter if you work straight for 1 hour and then take a break. I feel like it's better than taking unnecessary breaks.

Snacking / Hydration

Snacking and hydration are a must. I recommend light snacking like nuts or fruits or some chocolates. I wouldn't go for heavy meals because they always make me feel sleepy.

Breaks

Breaks should be taken when you start feeling tired. Don't push yourself. The best way to recuperate is to rest. Appropriate break time is important. I usually divide my study time by half and that is my break time.

Break = Study Time / 2

Sleep

Sleep is a must. Don't sacrifice your sleep for studying. During exams, 7-8 hours of sleep is a must. Don't stay awake after 12, you'll regret it. And sleep is different from breaks. You should not consider them the same.

"Off Days"

This concept worked well for me because i'll be honest, it was relaxing. Have "off days". At least 1 day per week. On this day, you don't work, you don't study. You just relax. And I know you may say, "I don't have time to rest" or "I'll fall behind" but it's better than forcing yourself to work and grind and then ending up not working for days. So, have off days.

Tip: I'll recommend Saturdays because it's perfect for the day off. On Sunday you'll be worrying about the work due on Monday. The rest of the days wouldn't give you rest because of school.

Prioritize

You need not do all your work at the beginning of the week. Work should be spread out over days. Prioritizing work is what needs to be done. Write everything that should be done (or make a mental check list) and then write the due dates for all the assignments and then align your energy and study sessions accordingly.

Manage Energy

Managing your energy is quite easy. You divide your tasks based on three categories. Low level. Middle level. High level.

Low level tasks include reviewing notes and flashcards.

Middle level tasks include assignments and projects.

High level tasks include learning a topic from scratch, solving a practice paper.

Now figure out your energy level tasks and accordingly align your tasks to your energy. It's easier than forcing yourself to do a high-level energy task when you're on low energy.

These tasks may be different for everyone. A high-level task for you may be middle or low level for someone else.

Burnout Effect

In one way, burnout is good. Honestly, some people's highest point is 30 mins or an hour. They find burnout creeping in after some time had passed. And that is why, if you want to reach at least two hours of studying. You need to push that limit. Every single time. Try moving 30 mins every week. Your max limit is 1 hour. Then this week, study for 1 hr 30 mins. The next week, study for 2hrs. then 2hr 30 mins. Do it for a few weeks.

If you don't push yourself to the max limit. Then you'll never actually reach your goal.

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Additional Posts That May Be Helpful

How To Study For Longer Hours

An Absolute Guide To Manage Your Time And Energy For School

Floor To Ceiling Method

How To Study Multiple Subjects

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Hope This Helps :))

How to avoid distractions while studying.

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Social Media.

I personally know how hard it is to study when constant social media notifications are popping up so i just turn them off. This is obvious and the easiest way. Keep your phone in another room while you're studying.

Youtube

Here's the thing, YouTube is something we can't avoid, especially when it comes to studying because many times, we want to learn from the videos but end up getting distracted and therefore, i maintain 2 accounts. One, a personal account where I watch all my own channels like vlogs and other content videos and another account only for studying. I don't subscribe to any other channels beside the channels that help me with my studies in this account. I've noticed that I get a lot less distracted because your recommendations would only be study related or the content related!

Write them down

When you're studying and you noticed that you're getting a lot of distractions. Take a paper and write down the distractions with the timings and then continue studying.

Distractions - Time

Phone - 20 min (specify time: 8:20-40)

By this, you can analyse what's distracting you more than the others and you can actually calculate your study hours better and help yourself improve it.

Reduce everything by 5 mins

It's okay to get distracted. Everyone gets distracted and the best way to decrease your distractions is to decrease them by 5 mins for some days and then keep decreasing them gradually. It's the best way to work honestly because it helps you remove the distractions over time as a habit.

Complete your chores before sitting down

You might know that whenever you sit down with a firm motivation to study and then you take your notes, books, materia etc and a voice from the kitchen comes saying"You haven't finished the dishes!" So, now you go to do the dishes and then another chore pops up when you sit to study and another and another. So, here's my advice, either you complete all your chores before you study or you complete them after or you could complete them during breaks. But make sure you're not distracted by them.

Turn daydreaming into a weapon

Personally, this is something i really really struggled with, like whenever I sit down to study, I ended up daydreaming about a certain book or plot. It would definitely not help me study so recently, I started assigning fictional characters to subjects and personally, like, gosh my economics was alittle more interesting when I was "teaching" it to Cardan Greenbriar (tfota). It's kinda childish to have like an imaginary friend or such but it certainly helps with boring subjects. Imagine scenarios or do anything with your imagination as long as you're studying the content. It helps you remember important points even though it may be absurd.

Q and A sessions

From time to time, get in the habit of quizzing yourself, I do it after every topic i complete. I'll ask questions which are not in the book, I'll twist the questions just like in the tests. This means that you have to stay focused if you truly want to answer the questions or even form the questions. You can even do it with a friend/study buddies!

Tennis method

This method is really useful and i kinda made it up. You hold your hands up in the air facing towards each other. Now, after you completed a topic, you "throw" your first point from one hand to another and the other hand should "throw" back the second point and so on until you're completely done with it. If you can't "throw" a point back in less than a minute, you need to revise more. Personally, I love doing this because I'm focused on answering and it's actually kinda fun "throwing" points like balls, even though it may look crazy to any outsiders xD (You can use this for maths for formulae, vocabs etc!)

Hope this helps! :D

126 days left

Did I do my mid term well? Of course not, because the paper was given 25 mins late and they didn't give us extra time either. I finished the paper but I'm pretty sure my Arabic essay made absolutely zero sense T-T

Right now we're doing HRM [Human Resource Management] unit and i absolutely love this cause why the heck not? XD

Today I:

Completed around 2 and a half lessons in Business Studies (we have 4 lessons for mid term tomorrow, no idea how I'll manage)

Tomorrow's to do list:

Study for Economics mid term (2 lessons)

Study Progress

(Just saying, my notes are not so aesthetic and they're kinda messy so xD)

An over-all (and first) update on my study progress today...

I revised about 7-8 lessons in Computer Science

Did a short revision of MCQs in Economics.

In general, it was an alright productive day and yeah.

I want everyone to remember that studying isn't always aesthetically pleasing and that's okay; it doesn't mean you're not put together.

When your "I'm only comfortable with people i know" type of person is interpreted as "I'm too good for everyone and everything except those whom i approve of" like, no no no, i really wanna participate in the parties and dancing and your fun activities etc etc but in front of everyone ??? Nah I'll pass. Just let me sit in peace and enjoy the damn event.

Hi thanks for your informative posts! I am struggling with my studies and I really don't understand what the goal of studying should be. How do you actually study? And what usually is the aim to achieve? This is not about motivation btw.

Hey Anon!

First of all, i'm glad you like my posts, really appreciate it :)

What Is The Goal Of Studying?

It literally depends on you.

Entirely on your perception.

If you think studying is useless, then it will be useless. I personally would advise you to study for yourself. To be better. And to sharpen your skills. Don't study just because you have to, don't study because you need to. Study because you actually want to.

It may not be a problem related to motivation but it definitely can be a problem about purpose. You have no idea why you study and that may be the main problem. You haven't tied the act of studying to an actual emotion.

For me, the only way I pushed forward through high school was to remember some main purposes of mine.

Get into a good college (that has the lowest fees)

Get into a degree i love

Actually explore things without the hindrance of getting good grades

Purposes will differ from one person to another. Literally.

Goals are achieved by purposes. Have a strong purpose. Make it worthwhile.

So, How Do We Actually Study?

This also differs from person to person. You're asking a subjective question. I'll be honest. Studying is actually easy. Really easy. You just have to stick to the act long enough.

Let me break it down. You want to start getting your grades up, but you don't know how to because you just don't know the purpose of it. So,

1. Replace "Study" with "Learn"

You don't have to study. Studying is a repetitive job. Stuck in memorization and practice. You learn things that literally won't benefit you in real life (especially maths). But that is the whole negative aspect of it, you know how i see it? Like, i'm learning something new. It always excites me. I don't study for an exam, i learn for myself because i just love the prospect of knowing things.

Approach learning with curiosity and not obligation.

2. Chase Deep Understanding

Many students learn. They get good grades. But. If you ask them to show how one thing links to the other? Nope, they can't connect even simple concepts together as if whatever they've learned is completely unrelated when it's actually not. They can't apply the things they learn about. So, learn to apply.

The goal is not to recite but to internalize. Turn your curiosity into something really powerful.

3. Progress > Perfection

I always believe in this. I believe that a step in a particular direction consistently with a purpose is better than running miles in different directions with absolutely no idea where you're going.

I don't think there's anything wrong with perfection. It wastes time and energy. Give it your best and pray for the rest.

What Is The Aim Of Studying?

Not good grades

Not perfection

Not to be smart

But to be better than what we were yesterday.

Let's be honest, if you learn something, how can you not be curious about so many things you're learning about.

There's a difference in learning for grades and learning for the sake of learning. A very minute difference.

Your perception.

You learn for grades; it makes you entirely dependent on it. You seek validation.

When you learn to better yourself, be curious and love the process of the grind? That's a different feeling. You'll love what you do.

And let's be honest. You wouldn't want to be a complete clueless person here, would you? Read more. Harness your curiosity. Be open to failure.

Getting good grades won't mean you'll succeed in life, but it might increase your chances in some cases. If not, most cases.

Your Steps

Take a day off. Don't do anything. Don't pick up textbooks. Nothing.

Take a piece of paper and just write what feel about studying. Get all your frustration out.

Then take another paper and write what studying has thought you. Your accomplishments, not just in studying but for anything.

You learnt something new? Won in a competition? Anything. You will be more aware that maybe, just maybe that you are doing good but you aren't aware of that fact. Writing down the things you've achieved gives you an idea and a direction.

Now take another paper and write:

Why Do I Feel This Way?

Do I Actually Don't Like To Study Or I Just Don't Like The Perception Of Studying?

What Actually Pisses Me Off?

Since When Am I Feeling This Way?

And Most Importantly, Is There Someone Specific That Gives Me Such Ideas/Influences My Thoughts?

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I hope this helps you, even if small. Keep trying and trust the process <33

Be stronger than your excuses.