Study

5 Study Traps I’ve Fallen Into Myself

My time at university was not without its fair share of study traps.  Today, I list the five biggest issues for me while I was working toward my degree:

Trapped (photo by winjohn)

1. Not making the time / Ignore my own time-management advice

Before I entered Higher Education, time-management was not one of my fortés.  Fortunately, I made a 180-degree turn at uni and was always proud that I could manage my time well.  Lots of free time, loads of fun to be had that didn’t get in the way of study…things were good.

Nevertheless, there were occasions when I relaxed too much and stopped focusing on my time.

That was a huge mistake.

Without the momentum pushing me along, it was as if time no longer mattered.  It did, of course, because deadlines would creep up and nights out started to feel like guilty pleasures.

Luckily, I didn’t go much further than this, because the jolt of realisation was enough to shock me into getting back on top of my plans.  It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, though.

2. Complete the easier & more fun tasks before anything else

I bet we all like to do this from time to time.  You’ve got a list of jobs to be done…some will take about two minutes and others should be a bit of a laugh.  Once you’ve completed those, it’ll look like you’ve completed so much work.  So you launch into those tasks and ignore the more pressing ones.

I liked to do this kind of thing.  It made me feel as if I was achieving a great deal, but it ended up leaving all the crappy tasks to be done.  Worse than that, they all had to be done together, so there was no light relief at the end!

It’s no use putting the less enjoyable stuff off for later…and later…and later…

To be honest, this was one trap I fell into a few too many times.  Even now I might feel the initial buzz of finishing the better work first so it’s all off my list and giving me a fuzzy feeling inside.

Terrible, isn’t it?

3. Put too much importance on trivial matters

It’s probably a bit of an ego thing.  From time to time, there would be a short test or a piece of work for a seminar, worth no marks and not requiring more than a brief amount of consideration.  But if it worked with my way of thinking, I would go into overdrive and spend way too much time on preparation.

This was usually because I already knew about the things the tutors were trying to get us to understand.  To go mental on a project with no real reward at the end, based on something that I didn’t need to learn any more about, was like a double whammy of pointlessness.

To an extent, this trap is a combination of the first two traps.  I wasn’t spending my time productively because I was dealing with the fun stuff to the detriment of everything else.

When I realised this was going on, I decided to craft essays that were important to get good marks in and immerse myself in writing something quite different.  If certain ideas gave me so much passion and interest, it was time to take it to my essays and presentations.

When you find something hitting you so positively, make it a focus of your more important work.  That way, you’ll be driven and the work will be a lot easier to handle.  Also, the marks you get should reflect your passion.

The most pointed example of this is when I wrote an essay that argued how a well-known critic of the Industrial Revolution was actually praising the revolution for what it had achieved.  It was a cheeky little essay and I didn’t believe it in the slightest, but I enjoyed the subject and wanted to deliberately take things one step beyond the obvious.  It was one of my highest marked pieces of work from my time at uni.

Trival matters may spark your interest, which is a great thing, but the best bet is to develop those sparks into something that you can get some recognition from.  It’s a shame to put your heart and passion into a 15 minute seminar conversation that will be forgotten about as soon as it’s over.

4. Ignore the course notes & tutors plans

I kick myself for not having focused enough on some of my tutor’s booklets.

At the beginning of some modules, we would all be presented with a book of notes and questions and various helpful pointers for the weeks ahead.  While most of us would make use of these books in seminars, they gently gathered dust the rest of the time.  If I was writing an essay, I would rush to the library for texts and check the Internet for other scholarly essays.  All the while, the booklet, with it’s ready information, would sit on a shelf, unloved.

Some of the books didn’t even get the luxury of a shelf…

You go to their lectures and listen to what they’re saying then (hopefully!), but as for the notes that you can read up in your own time?  They just get briefly glanced at, but not much else.

But these books are a pointer for you to see where the tutors are coming from.  If you want an idea of what questions your lecturers are going to set for exams, it’s important to see how they have set out their tips at the start of the module.  It may become apparent that they regularly refer to particular texts and take a certain set of ideas as a specific starting point all the time.  Of course, it’s up to you to develop your own opinions and ideas, but it’s a lot easier to do that if you know what kind of direction the tutor is headed.

5. Let temptation get in the way

I call this ‘Internal Peer Pressure’.  It’s like there’s someone inside, coaxing you to go out each night and ignore the work.  Your mind starts whispering, “There’s no time like the present…get everyone over for a laugh.  You can get the work done tomorrow instead”.  You see a magazine you bought earlier and want to read it.  And since you’re only reading a magazine, you might as well listen to the new music you’ve got.

Suddenly, you find so many wonderful things that you could be doing instead of the work on your desk.

Now, I must admit, I frequently enjoyed a lot of my study.  Nevertheless, it didn’t stop other temptations pulling me away on a regular basis.  It’s so easy at university.  Always stuff going on, never a quiet moment (even when it appears quiet, you know there’s some fun just around the corner).  It’s so good, it’s a nightmare!

My way of dealing with this trap was to turn it around.  It’s a simple trick, but it requires a lot of willpower.  If you can manage it, tell yourself that you certainly will do those wonderfully tempting things…but only as a reward for doing your initial studying.

When you’ve finished what you need to do, the rest of the night is yours.  You’re bound to enjoy it a lot more without the threat of work in the background.  And you’ll be partying guilt free!

5 Study Traps I’ve Seen Others Fall Into

You wouldn’t think there were many dangers to studying at uni.  I never thought so until I experienced it.  Trust me, there are dangers.

I fell into some traps myself, but I’ll tell you more about those in my next post.  For now, here are some of the traps that people around me fell into:

Girl in suitcase (photo by MaxMilli0n)

1. Compare yourself to others

Have your mates not started revising yet?  Do they learn everything in five minutes flat?  Is their work always neater and more organised than yours?  Are their working methods more effective?  Are they busy having fun and you want some of that too?

Comparisons generally serve as excuses, because we’re all different.  It makes no difference how those around you complete their study.  It’s one thing to get helpful hints from them, but it’s another thing to complain that you have it worse.  And it’s fruitless to try emulating the style of someone you know, because they are leading a different life.

Place a focus on what benefits you, not what you see benefitting someone else.  By all means try out different ways of working, but make sure the onus is placed firmly on to you.

2. Bow to Peer Pressure

Q – Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?
A – Because it was dead.
Q – Why did the second monkey fall out of the tree?
A – Because it was tied to the first monkey.
Q – Why did the third monkey fall out of the tree?
A – Peer pressure.

This joke is one of my all time favourites.  Not because I laugh out loud, but because it makes a good point.  Peer pressure is a weakness, not a strength.  We all bow to it occasionally, but needn’t do so on a regular basis, especially at important times.

You hold the key to how much revision you need to do and you have the tools to balance your life.

When it’s important to knuckle down, stay strong.

3. Have a closed mind

Old sayings often hold an element of truth and sense to them.  Take this one:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

It’s an old saying, but one we should recognise and use.

We all too often give up at the first hurdle.  And even if we’re persistent, it doesn’t always transpire to try a different method in order to clear the obstacle.

Success is not a given and it comes with a lot of failure too.  Take the Virgin brand of products.  There have been a number of flops over the years, but you can’t seriously call Richard Branson a failure.  In the grand scheme of things, he has been a great success.  And he left school at 15, so he didn’t even venture to university.  His first successful business was at 16 years of age, with a magazine called ‘Student’.

Branson had a couple of failed business ideas before the magazine too, but with an open mind, he has come a long way.

So university or not…you can utilise this tip with pretty much anything you put your (open) mind to.  Get out there and believe in what you do!

4. Use internal excuses to feel better

More than anything else, I hear people making excuses.  I’m not talking about the schoolkid claims of “the dog ate it” and “I left it on the bus”.  I’m referring to our internal excuses…the things we convince ourselves of so we feel better in the short term.

Internal excuses can even be a cue to take offence when friends and family are concerned and try to help you out.  Here are just a few excuses:

“I’ve not been given the right information to revise from.”

“It’s too early to bother with this yet.  I’ll do it nearer the time.”

“I work differently to others and don’t need to think about that.”

“There’s more to do than just study.  I’m too busy.”

“Nobody understands.  I’ve got other concerns getting in the way.  I need to sort those out before I can get on with anything else.”

“I don’t need to revise stuff.  I’ll cane the exams anyway.”

It’s amazing just how difficult it can be to have a truly honest think about yourself.  Denial is a strong force.  If you find yourself agreeing with any of the above excuses, you may still be in denial too.  And you’ll deny that as well, or find a further reason to excuse yourself in the circumstances!

5. Believe it’s less stressful to wait and do all your revision, writing and studying at the last minute.

Just like the scary tactic of leaving an essay until the night before it’s due in, many of us take to cramming for exams, without leaving any alternative.  If it all goes wrong, no matter what the reason, there’s no escape then.

It’s sad, but I’ve seen people fare badly in exams after their attempts to cram their revision into a couple of days went badly wrong.  Without any available time to try a different tactic and claw things back to their advantage, they had to go into their exams, knowing it was going to be pretty tough to pass.  If they were lucky, there was just enough there to scrape through.  But not everyone was lucky.

Nevertheless, this trap claims a lot of victims and it’s sure to claim more.

You’ve got a couple of options:

  • Convince yourself that doing everything at the last minute is not realistic.  Instead, plan ahead and lose the stress.

  • Convince yourself that you’re much better doing things at the last minute, but CREATE A BACKUP PLAN!

Either way, good luck to you!

Mistakes in Study – Why ‘Best Intentions’ Aren’t Always Enough

[Martin’s note: I’m taking emergency posting measures while I’m ill. This is not a finished post, neither is it polished and properly checked. So please forgive any mistakes, shortcomings, and rambling points. You never know…one day I might even tidy this article up…maybe…]

Oups! (photo by scol22)

I’ve always believed that – since we’re so different – we all have different ways of working effectively.

Personally, I worked throughout the year, not just when an essay was due or an exam immenent. I felt it much easier to focus on the study when it was fresh in my mind. With each lecture and seminar, I made the most of the information presented and built my knowledge and ideas up as I moved along.

But that’s just my method. We’re not all the same and some of you may prefer to cram all the information together in one big bundle, just before it’s needed.

I say this because potential problems lie with the belief that there is only one way of working.

It’s not uncommon to hear complaints like, “No matter how hard I try, I still can’t get to grips with my work” and “I can’t understand why my brain won’t take anything in when I want it to”.

It’s true…if a system of working doesn’t gel for you, it won’t make a difference how hard you try.

Let’s look at some of the mistakes that people can make when studying for their degree:

  • Upping the time spent studying, but consequently wasting it

There is a false belief amongst many that the more time you spend on your study, the better you’re going to deal with it. But this just isn’t the case. With a particular system in place, it’s perfectly possible, but spending more time on study will not work in isolation. Much better to enhance the WAY in which you work, rather than the amount of time spent working.

  • Having a lack of focus, even when your intentions are good

If you’re not sure what you’re meant to be studying, how on earth can you push forward with revision and writing? If you’ve set aside quality time, but don’t know where to begin, chances are you’ll end up achieving very little. It’s a recipe for panic and stress.

Step back a bit and try to get a view of the bigger picture. It’s wise to do some general background reading first (from your own books, from the library, on Wikipedia, and any other general info websites out there). It’s no use throwing yourself in the deep end if you don’t know how to swim. So work the basics and overall points first.

  • Spending too much time planning and not enough time doing

Maybe you like to build an elaborate sketch of what you need to work on, which times you’re going to work on it, where the information is available, and so on. Maybe you also like to write your notes up several times, convinced they will be perfect the next time. When I was at uni, I knew one person who would write up their notes in neater handwriting, as if the better handwriting would improve their memory capacity.

There’s certainly something to be said about re-writing your notes to imprint them on your brain (it does work for some people), but it’s never worth making your notes neat just for the sake of it.

My point is, your planning could be down to a complex method of procrastination. Anything but the actual revision itself. But you feel better if it’s RELATED to your revision. Sadly, it’s no excuse, so if you recognise yourself in this example, it’s time to have words with yourself and knuckling down!

  • Letting peer pressure get in the way of your study time

I’m sure most of us have been here before. Your good intentions are blasted out of the water because your mates are pleading with you to spend a day out with them.

Friends are often like this without realising. The only thing you can do about it is to say ‘no’. If you’ve got a clear study time that needs adhering to, there’s nothing to do except tell your mates that you definitely can’t do anything at the moment. They might try and persuade you every which way, but rather than give excuses or ‘um and ah’ about it, just stay strong and say that you must stick with the study and there’s nothing you can do about it. You owe it to yourself to do this. Hang on in there.

  • Allowing your stubborn want for more leisure time to get in the way

You can’t just blame peer pressure on study problems. As I’ve said above, the final say rests with you and you owe it to yourself not to stray from the goals you’ve set. You set them for a reason, so turning your back on them isn’t wise.

  • Not working in the way your brain can handle it best

Just because you’ve heard from a few people that cramming is getting them through exams, that doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.

It’s just the same with the advice I give on this site. You’re not going to agree with all of it, so you have to find your own way to success. The hints and tips you get from books, this website, your friends, or wherever, are for you to take in and then find what’s best for you.

Maybe you’ll take to cramming naturally. But who’s to say you’d get on much better with regular blocks of work instead? Get experimenting!

  • Misunderstanding what’s most important

Don’t be too lax when it comes to your study. There could be several modules that you need to set time aside for and they may all seem of equal importance. But some modules may not be worth as many marks and other tests may not have any bearing on your final grades whatsoever.

For this reason, it’s important to make value judgements and be clear about what’s most important in the whole scheme of things. For example, just because one tutor has set a test worth nothing (except experience) on the same day as you have an exam worth a third of your marks, it’s a bad decision to work just as hard on the impromtu test just because, let’s say, your tutor will have a go at you if you do badly.

At the same time, you’ll hopefully be managing your time a bit better so you can work on both without an issue… 😉

  • My old favourite…BALANCE (not enough leisure time is just as bad as not enough study time)

I’m sure you’re aware of the saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, it’s true even if your name isn’t Jack.

Imagine going through the first couple of months at uni in a daze of fun, partying, socialising at clubs and societies and, of course, getting a bit of work in when you can. Now imagine sitting down for a couple of weeks after all this, doing nothing but revision and writing essays that are due in.

Your mind and body are not going to thank you for shaking everything up so dramatically.

So even if you’ve totally ignored work for the majority of the semester, your intense study time still needs to be broken down with regular break periods and relaxing activities.

Balance (photo by darktaco)

—–

Before you excel in anything, you have to have a grasp of how to do it and what works best for you. It’s also important to have faith in yourself and the drive to do it. Without the faith, you’re in danger of wrongly giving it up as a bad job. Without the drive, you’re in danger of procrastinating and allowing your mind to wander.

So even if you have the best intentions to get that work done, don’t forget to push down any other barriers in your way too. And give yourself a pat on the back when you’re done. Alternatively, just go down the bar with your mates to celebrate!

Why Your Essay Is Still Useful & Important After Handing It In

An essay is for life, not just for the semester.

Yes, you thought you could put that essay at the back of your mind, especially now it’s been marked and you didn’t get the marks you were hoping for.

But the last thing you should do is shelve that work and forget it ever happened.

Those pieces of paper contain your own work. Your sweat and toil. So if you could have done better, or want to do better, then you need to pay attention to your previous labour and what has become of it. For an insight on your essays, look at these 7 tips:

  1. Digest the feedback from your tutor – It’s for your own good. Don’t just moan and tut at your grade. Don’t make excuses or tell yourself that the tutor doesn’t know what they’re on about. Now is your chance to see what you could have done better, or read where you didn’t apply yourself. Put your pride to one side and take in the comments. I gained a lot of valuable help by doing this throughout my degree.
  2. Keep an open mind and take it easy – While it’s important to take in your feedback, it’s not so important to obsess over your actual marks. The more you worry, the harder it becomes to push forward with your academic development. What you need to do is take a relaxed approach to the results. Were you strong in one area and weak in another? Was a particular sentence or theory highlighted with a positive comment? You shouldn’t just make note of areas for improvement, you also need to focus on when you did the right things. With a bit of balance, you’ll find it a lot easier to cope with the less effective parts of your work.
  3. Read your essay again and see what you think – When you take a fresh view of your work from your own perspective, are you happy that you handed the work in? Are you so impressed with certain passages that you think you can’t have possibly written them yourself? Do you want to give yourself a First, or a Third? Be as honest as you can. You will either come to a greater understanding of why you received the mark you did, or you will wonder why you’ve not been uncovered as the greatest writer in the world. If it’s the latter, then you need to take your head from the clouds and get a better understanding of what’s needed in an essay (and read the next tip!).
  4. Have a one-to-one meeting with your tutor for more in-depth feedback – If you can do it, arrange to spend some time with the tutor who marked your piece and see what they would suggest about improving your style, your ideas, and whatever they believe you can improve to pick your mark up. Some tutors actively encourage this, while others keep quiet and need a bit of encouragement themselves. If you can get them out of their shell, you may find out a lot more than anyone else on your course. Don’t give up, because a little bit of extra effort can make a big difference.
  5. Reasonably question your result/feedback – If you still can’t understand what on earth’s going on and you seriously believe your masterpiece has been marked far too low, why not ask for further information and clarification? But be reasonable. Don’t fly off the handle and don’t be cocky about things in the hope of making a point. Your reasons for asking why you got a particular result and feedback are more for you to get a grasp of what you missed and to understand the actual marking process a bit better. You can write the wittiest comments and funniest lines, but if it doesn’t cut the academic mustard, you’ll still not get the best marks possible.
  6. Enjoy your good grades, but keep striving for more – That is to say, don’t be lazy! If your marks improve and the essays grow in quality, that doesn’t mean you’re home and dry. I took my eye off the ball for one of my course modules and ended up with a rather poor mark for the last essay on the module. The rest had been corkers, so I stopped thinking about it as clearly as I should have been. Never wise!
  7. Make notes – Next time you’ve got an essay to write, will you remember what you learned from past feedback? To get the most from past essays, note down what you want/need to improve, make a plan of how you can enhance your essay’s structure based on previous, more muddled writings.

jump (photo by gozdeo)