Study Hacks: "Of all Study Hack readers, pre-meds are among the most skeptical. They tell me that although they like my philosophy of doing a small number of things well, this is impossible for them. Their course load is too demanding. Filling most waking hours with work is unavoidable.
Then there’s Nathan.
3 comments:
This article points out a couple of interesting points that I think are the key reason why this pre-med student is so successful. One is that he gets up early. I don't know about some people, but I actually get more work done when I get up early. It feels like I have the whole day ahead of me.
Point two - no distractions. He studies in a quiet hallway. Most of us work at school and our surrounded by our closest friends. While this is great it can destroy one's concentration.
Point Three - Time to himself. While someone of us can get away from our work for a period of time this student actually has a set time for social life. Not to mention it's everyday! I know for a fact most of us don't do that.
While I don't wake up at 6 in the morning, I would rather wake up earlier and have class. This semester I didn't have class until 3pm on some days, however I decided instead to load on some early electives because I knew that if I could sleep in until 3pm, that I would sleep in until 3pm. Getting up early for a class wakes me up and leaves me the rest of the day to work. I'm always working between classes, but I agree with this student's tactic of taking time to yourself. Sometimes instead of working during a break, I'll watch some tv, especially while I eat. When I eat, I always use that time to relax before getting started on more work.
Focus is absolutely a big part of being productive, but I would say that discipline is essential as well. Obviously it is for this pre-med student. Having a schedule and sticking to it is a useful for a lot of people. However it is important that one can modify this schedule if necessary, in order to anticipate a new issue.
It's hard to say there is a key to Nathan's success, but I will say that the most interesting quality of his schedule is designation. There is a time for work and a time for play; moreover there is a specific place for work, that does not overlap with places of play. I've recently discovered the power of location identity. True, his study location is isolated, providing fewer distractions from study. This is clearly beneficial in an of itself. But I believe that, since human beings are creatures of habit, we associate certain areas with certain activities or states-of-mind. (Proof in point: your memory is often location based - eg you have an easier time recalling something in the place you heard it, and it may have nothing to do with that location) So, having a place you go only to focus and study, even if it isn't the isolated 7th floor of the engineering library, might give it that push. Your work and play/rest areas are clearly defined and non-overlapping, so temptation not to work is lower. That's my theory.
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