Self-study
Hi Guys, I work full time and study and I find it hard sometimes to be able to dedicate a lot of time each day, only because I cannot get myself past brain fog and inability to focus. Does anyone have any tips and tricks that have worked for them?
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I work full-time and have a hard time studying after work, so I will stand and read aloud whatever it is I am looking out. Reading comp is my weaker side and I have naturally fallen into the habit of reading the material like I'm gossiping with a friend. It has personally helped my retention. Plus you don't get distracted for as long and put your phone down faster when standing.
Hi! I work full time while studying for the LSAT. Here's what has worked best for me:
1) Carving out the same times and days each week so it becomes a habit. I just do 30-45 mins in the mornings before work and 1-2 hours after work. It seems short, but it adds up. At this point, taking studying out of my daily schedule would be harder than keeping it in.
2) I think someone already mentioned this, but blue light glasses for sure!
3) Brain fog is very real and I'm glad you're bringing it up. It was very deceiving for me because there were some days that I did significantly worse than others on drills/sets and couldn't focus. I thought I was just not improving, but it was actually brain fog. What's surprisingly helped me is napping if I'm tired (if I'm doing a PT on the weekend) or moving around a little before studying. That usually looks like blasting some good music on my drive from work to the library to study or doing fun dance choreos I know. Basically, moving around for like 10 mins helped increase blood flow to my brain I guess? (don't quote me on that)
4) Getting enough sleep.
5) Lastly, spacing out time between my PTs has been really helpful. I've found that doing one PT every two/three weeks (as opposed to one or two per week) helped my score increase a ton since I was spending so much time studying strengths/weaknesses/repeated mistakes/habits/etc. Spent more time reading over my WAJ too and retrying questions I'd gotten wrong in months prior.
These are the things that helped me. Best of luck to you! You got this :)
Sounds silly, but sometimes on days when I really don't have the energy to study, I'll go and get a soda or a little sweet treat to motivate myself. I have a little bit after each drill set, core curriculum video, etc. Gives me a little something to look forward to (and maybe a temporary sugar rush to wake me up).
Tips:
use blue light glasses/ night light feature on laptop
I added 7sage on my phone since I would often take phone breaks from my laptop.
downloaded the note app I would use on my laptop to my phone and reviewed material during down time. add same note app to home screen as a widget to be a friendly reminder to stay focused
Listen to brown/black/adhd frequency noise on youtube with noise canceling headphones
use Pomodoro technique on youtube- dedicates 30 min study with 10min break/ other options
I'm in the same boat. I have no definite answers, I am just so happy to open this thread and see I'm not alone, ha-ha. I think what's worked for me thus far, is to really maximize the times and days that I'm ready to attack, fight through the tough days, and the days that I flat out don't have it... I extend myself some grace and realize not much good will come of those days anyway. Of course, the key to that approach is to really maximize the "good days..."
I also work full-time. I've found that if I use my lunch break to go through the core curriculum and then spend time after work to do drills or attend a class it breaks up the studying. Work can get mentally exhausting for me, so I try to stay away from drills at lunch since they take so much energy and focus. By separating what I do throughout the day, it helps me to continue to enjoy studying by making it feel less like a chore especially after a long day.
I started studying in December while also working a full‑time job. Looking back, even though I tried to study as much as I could, I felt foggy and unfocused. I would take ‘social media breaks’ while learning, and I can say with 100% certainty that this was the main reason I wasn’t getting everything I could out of the CC. I deleted social media at the beginning of this month, and the difference in the quality of my studying is night and day.
This may not apply to you, but if you’re struggling to focus and notice that you find yourself scrolling for dopamine, I highly recommend taking a break from social media. Once you get used to not having it, you’ll find you have a much easier time focusing mentally and physically while studying.
Someone gave the tip on here a while back to start doing drills of like 5-10 Qs or one RC passage on the 7 sage app (and blind review!!) whenever you have a free moment (I do this on the train to work or during my lunch break). I find these shorter bursts of studying to be easier than having to force myself to sit down for 2 hours of studying after/before work. It also helps train my brain to get used to answering questions in potentially distracting environments, which has been helping me power through distractions when I take full PTs. Hope this helps :)
I have this same issue, but I accept that the feeling of brain fog is my brain learning. I'll take a quick break to do a couple squats and push ups. Doing something physical seems to get me reenergised.